Next Step Independence

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 1 Next Step Independence Registered provider: Next Step Independence

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a private provider. The service can accommodate up to 15 children and young people, in seven shared or group living homes that are limited to accommodating looked after children and care leavers.

p.1

provider

At the time of this inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 15 children.

p.1

provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since the provider was registered in May 2024.

p.1

provider

Inspection dates: The inspection began on 7 October 2024 when we announced the inspection. The inspectors were onsite from 9 October to 11 October 2024.

p.1

Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

p.1

Summary of findings

Although staff understand children’s needs, the support plans and risk assessments for some children do not provide staff with the strategies that they need to better support children.

p.1

Summary of findings

Leaders and manager do not always fully consider children’s needs at the referral stage. Children who require higher staffing levels and are not appropriately placed in supported accommodation.

p.1

Summary of findings

There are weaknesses in quality assurance systems, some safeguarding communications, the recruitment process, staff supervision and staff training. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 2 Leaders and managers are aware of the work needed to improve systems underpinning the service. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 3

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children

Children were generally positive about the support that they receive and the relationships that they have with other children and with staff. They told inspectors that they were happy and had staff that they could talk with. Children’s accommodation is well furnished and provides them with private spaces and spaces to socialise. Communal areas are also used by staff. While inspectors recognised that staff would be sensitive to when the children wished to use the communal areas, it was considered that staff’s presence in these areas could be a contributory factor in children not fully using them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children are settled in their homes and are supported by staff who know them well. Leaders and managers regularly review both the quality and frequency of this support. Not all children engage with their support packages. Despite attempts by staff, too many children do not attend education and are not involved in learning opportunities or employment. This prevents children from reaching their potential.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff seek children’s views, opinions, wishes, and feelings through conversations, direct work sessions and planned group meetings. They advocate for children and work hard to respond to children’s requests. Managers are working on ways to better capture this information to sure that children are fully involved in decisions about their support needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

All children are registered with local health services and staff ensure that this occurs soon after admission. Staff facilitate initial health appointments such as with a dentist. Managers and staff work closely with children and their social workers to help children to access other services such as mental health services when needed. This means that children’s can access the health services that they need.

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

Children said that staff help them to keep themselves safe. They can identify staff who they trust and can speak to if they have any concerns. Children take part in key work sessions with staff and these help them to explore areas of risk and help them to develop effective strategies to mitigate them. Despite the attempts by staff, some children continue to engage in behaviours that place them at risk of harm. Leaders and managers are reviewing these children’s placements to ensure that the service can meet children’s needs and help to protect them from harm.

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

All children have risk assessments and support plans. However, the most relevant and current information is lost in the volume of information contained in these extensive documents. This means that these plans are not always meaningful for children and do not provide staff with clear strategies to support children. This also hinders staffs understanding of how to respond to and support the children when they are upset or anxious. Furthermore, not all children contribute to their support plans or risk assessments and this is a missed opportunity for children to be involved in discussions about their support. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 4 When children go missing staff follow the agreed protocols. This includes notifying the police and the child’s placing authority. While some children’s episodes of going missing have significantly reduced, this is not the case for all children. In these

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

circumstances managers quickly arrange an emergency meeting with the child, and their social worker, to agree actions to prevent further escalation.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

Staff use their skills and knowledge of each child to de-escalate incidents and there is no use of physical restraint. Records capture the support children receive when they are upset and worried, and staff report all incidents.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers record safeguarding concerns and share these in a timely manner with the children’s social workers. However, since registration in May 2024, leaders and managers failed to notify Ofsted of a serious event that had occurred. This prevents Ofsted’s oversight of how the provider responds to these situations to protect children from harm.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

There are safer recruitment processes in place. However, in some cases managers did not follow their own processes. For example, dates of employment, quality of interviews and the assessment of suitability had not been sufficiently explored. The provider started to address this shortfall during the inspection although this could not be evaluated at that time.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are experienced and want to improve the outcomes for the children that they support. A particular strength of the service is their knowledge of each of the children and their individual support needs.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Some children have complex needs, and leaders and manager have not fully considered these at the referral stage. As a result, these children require a higher level of staffing and are not appropriately matched to living in supported accommodation. This also potentially limits opportunities for children to develop independence skills. Leaders and managers recognise that their staffing model is, at times, too high and that this confirms that not all children placed are ready to live in supported accommodation.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have systems in place to monitor, review and evaluate the service and outcomes for children. They recognise that as the organisation has grown these systems need to be reviewed as they have not all been effective. Managers are developing new and improved systems. These remain in their infancy and further time is needed to embed these into practice. This has led to inconsistencies in the effectiveness of reporting and auditing.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers promote a learning culture by providing staff with regular training. However, monitoring systems have failed to identify that some staff have not refreshed their mandatory training. This means that leaders and managers can Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 5 not be assured that all staff have the knowledge and skills that they need to support children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff said that they receive regular supervision, and that these sessions include discussions about the children and allow staff time to reflect on the challenges of their role. However, records of supervision and the frequency of these sessions are not in line with the organisation’s policy.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Professionals involved in children’s lives gave extremely positive feedback. They recognise how children benefit from the support and encouragement that staff provide as they gain greater independence. One professional said, ‘I am happy with the professional style of the staff and the manager who promotes a child-friendly environment and a culture where there is open communication’. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking's statement of purpose;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(f))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the register person must ensure that the model of support they provide is in line with The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. They must ensure that referral processes mean that only children who are ready to live in supported accommodation are admitted to the service. 10 January 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to 10 January 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 7 participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

keep the child's support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child's needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure a plan for support is in place to support the child to develop the resilience and skills required to transition out of supported accommodation when the child is ready to live more independently;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that children are supported to access education, training, or employment. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(k)(m))

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

p.7

Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation;

p.7

Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

p.7

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(f)) 10 January 2025

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that recruitment practice demonstrates that managers have sufficiently explored staff suitability and fitness to work with young people and that they have the relevant skills, qualifications and recent experience to meet the needs of young people. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 16) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 8  The registered person should ensure that managers have systems in place to track and record supervision. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered. It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record, which may be electronic. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that managers actively scrutinise the settings and make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. In particular, ensure that monitoring and review systems are fit for purpose and support the scrutiny and development of the service to meet children’s needs. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 53)

p.8

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 9

p.8

Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Next Step Independence

p.9

Supported accommodation provider details

Nominated individual: Bridget Drew-Spyer

p.9

Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Melissa Taylor-Ware

p.9

Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: bridget.drew-spyer@nextstepindependence.co.uk

p.9

Inspectors

Linda Bond, Social Care Inspector Sharron Escott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Next Step Independence 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.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10