Children's Home run by Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 1 Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to four children. At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. No children have moved from the home since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 22 November 2022. The acting manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

During an assurance inspection on 11 September 2024, it was determined that there were serious and widespread concerns in the following areas: managing allegations; risk management; fire risks; missing-from-care incidents for children; ineffective recording; and damage to the home not being responded to appropriately.

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Information about this children’s home

Following the assurance inspection, a notice restricting accommodation was issued to prevent the admission of any other children. Two compliance notices were also issued in relation to Regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and Regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard).

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This monitoring visit

When allegations have been made against staff, the manager has informed appropriate professionals. Although staff understand the basic actions that are required following an allegation, they require further clarity around the process. The manager recognised this as a development need and shared her aim to obtain expert advice and training for the team to further build their understanding and confidence. One child said that they feel able to talk to staff and that they feel listened to if they have concerns. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 2 Although the manager ensures that staff have relevant training for their roles, the effectiveness of the training is yet to be tested. The manager does not have robust systems in place to ensure that knowledge is embedded or to monitor staff competency. The manager is in discussions with key professionals, such as the police, to facilitate further training and development for the staff team.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has implemented a system to ensure that children’s bedrooms are regularly seen by staff. Staff have explained to the children the need to see in their bedrooms. Although children are not always happy that staff need to see their bedrooms, they understand the reasons why this is necessary. Overall, children allow staff to enter their bedroom and carry out a room search.

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This monitoring visit

When children leave the home without permission, staff follow them and try to dissuade them. Staff record the period that children are away from the home, which includes communication with the child. Staff ensure that professionals are kept informed. Where appropriate, staff liaise with children’s family members to help locate the child.

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This monitoring visit

Staff take pride in deep cleaning children’s bedrooms when they are away from the home. One child said that the children in the home like this. Two bedrooms were viewed during the inspection. Children’s bedrooms were filled with age-appropriate items linked to children’s likes and hobbies. The manager recognises that communal areas of the home still require attention to build a homely environment that children and staff take pride in. The manager is taking steps to rectify damage to the home and address maintenance issues. Children are included in the decision-making of major redecoration, such as the choice of colour for a new kitchen.

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This monitoring visit

Following the visit, a decision has been made to lift the notice restricting accommodation as of 23 October 2024. The manager has been able to evidence that they have met the steps required to rectify the breach of Regulation 12. Progress has been made towards meeting the steps of Regulation 13 and no further compliance action will be taken in respect of this. A requirement under Regulation 13 has however been made. The six requirements and five recommendations remain in place from the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/05/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home:

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to leaders and managers providing quality assurance and scrutiny of the home, providing staff with relevant training to improve their knowledge of children’s needs and ensuring that monitoring systems are in place to make sure that improvements are implemented to the standards in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 18 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 5 In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to working with local authorities to build relationships with children’s families to enable working together to meet children’s needs and ensure their well-being. This also relates to finding effective strategies to ensure that children’s health needs are met by relevant professionals and, in situations where the provider is unhappy with services, escalation of concerns happens in a timely way. 18 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; 18 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 6 support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; and

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children are regularly engaged in education and are helped to overcome any difficulties they have in achieving this.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, that children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children take part in fire evacuation drills and have regular discussions about how to exit the home in the event of a fire.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last inspection and is restated. 18 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the responsible individual providing regular support and oversight to the home to help development and improvement of the standards in the home. 18 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— 18 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 7 any incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; and

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records (see regulation 36). (Regulation 38 (i))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to ensuring that all children’s records are available and accessible to staff or relevant professionals. 18 December 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to children’s behaviour. The home must also meet children’s basic day-to- day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. This is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that, just as in a family home, children are able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only

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Recommendations

be put in place to safeguard each child in the home. Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff seek to identify and provide appropriate opportunities for children to develop themselves in accordance with their wishes and feelings and as part of the home’s plan for their care. Each child’s talents and interests should be understood and nurtured, with children Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 8 selecting activities based on their personal preferences and abilities, so far as is

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Recommendations

reasonable. Staff should also support children to try activities that are ‘new’ for them, where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.4)  The registered person should encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and be reminded of the complaints procedure as necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barratt House, Office G3a, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton NN2 6EZ

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Inspectors

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Mark Broomhead, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2594233 10 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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