Children's Home run by Vcare - 24 Limited in East Riding of Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 1 Registered provider: Vcare - 24 Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for one child who experiences social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 5 September 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2023 Full Good 31/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living in the home spoke to the inspector during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has developed positive relationships with staff. Staff understand the child’s preferred communication methods and support them to share information about themselves to inform their own care and decision-making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has been supported to share their wishes and feelings to help plan for their move to a different home. Children who are leaving the home or are new to the home have positive experiences. Where possible, children are supported by staff to develop their own moving plans. Where this is not possible, staff support children to feel welcomed and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is treated with dignity and respect. Staff explore cultural aspects of their identity with them to be responsive to their needs. Staff celebrate diversity. The child has been exploring different styles of cooking with staff and ways of styling their hair. This has supported them to deepen and explore their own sense of cultural identity, overcoming previous negative experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate for the child to ensure that their voice is heard in their plans. The child knows how to make a complaint if they feel unhappy. They have access to a complaints form and a live link so that they can raise complaints anonymously and without staff support if they wish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to explore and engage in activities. Staff share information about local facilities or day trips to provide the child with wider experiences and choices. This means that the child can explore any hobbies and interests or try out new opportunities they have not experienced before.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have not supported independent studying, informal learning or provided access to educational activities when the child is not engaged in formal education. Staff have not ensured that the child is supported in a healthy sleep routine to be prepared for education when a setting is identified.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child feels safe and happy and can identify trusted adults who they can share any worries with. The child said they feel safe and identified a member of staff who they said ‘gets me’ and who they would talk to if they had any worries.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risks associated with the child are understood. Risk assessments are robust and provide plans for staff to follow to reduce known risks. Staff know how to access the child’s plans Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 4 and understand what actions to take and how to review them when they have been updated.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are skilled at de-escalation techniques and supporting the child to promote positive behaviours. There have been no incidents when physical interventions or restrictions have been needed to support the child to stay safe. The approach from staff is child focused and encourages the child to make safer choices. This is in line with the model of care.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff help the child to understand how to stay safe. Where there is a risk of criminal involvement, staff help them to understand the risks and possible outcomes. Staff use discussions with the child to promote safe decision-making and ensure that the child can make an informed choice. When children have conditions imposed on them, staff work with the child to ensure their understanding and prevent further risk of criminality.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff know how to respond if the child goes missing from the home. They actively search for the child and follow their missing-from-home plan to support their safe return. However, missing-from-home records are incomplete and inaccurate, and staff are unsure what is necessary to record. There is no evidence of a return home interview being carried out for one child and no manager review. This reduces the ability to reflect and learn from the incident and identify any actions which could be taken to prevent further incidents.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The fire risk assessment helps managers and staff to provide a safe environment for children. However, all exit doors of the property are locked with a key at night. This could prevent the child from having a safe escape from the property in the event of a fire.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home requires some attention for repair and redecoration. Marked walls, damage, and a lack of maintenance in the garden detract from what could be a nice environment for the child to live in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a qualified and experienced registered manager. A recently appointed deputy manager and a senior team support the registered manager to maintain consistency in the quality of care provided. Staff sufficiency has been addressed with positive recruitment to provide consistency and stability of care to a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has developed good relationships with external agencies. External professionals speak highly of the staff’s communication and the support they provide to the child. This supports a cohesive multi-agency approach and consistency for the child. One professional said they would look forward to working with staff again in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. This is child focused, considers staff’s well-being and offers the opportunity for reflection. Training, development and induction processes are Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 5 in place for staff to ensure that safe and effective care is provided. Staff have confidence in their managers and describe them as ‘approachable’, ‘visible’ and ‘supportive’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses a monthly monitoring tool to provide a review of the care provided to the child. Not all the information on the monitoring tool is accurate or reflects other records consistently. This means that the review and monitoring of the care provided to the child do not reflect the care being provided, which is misleading.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment checks are carried out to ensure that staff are safe to work with children. Safer recruitment files are maintained over two databases. Some checks for staff who have moved or relocated are unclear and required further scrutiny. The registered manager needs to be confident in the checks carried out to ensure that staff working at the home are safe to do so. Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b)) 23 November 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(v)(viii)) 23 December 2024

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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— 23 February 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 7 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(c)(h))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets children’s needs. In most cases, children’s homes are homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. The information provided by such interviews should be considered when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 10, Halifax Way, Pocklington Industrial Estate, Pocklington, York YO42 1NP

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Inspector

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2538267 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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