Children's Home run by Cove Care – Residential Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 1 Registered provider: Cove Care Residential Limited

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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 registered to provide care for up to three children with social, emotional and complex mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager started work in the home in September 2024 but has not yet applied to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: At the full inspection in June 2024, the home was judged inadequate. Nine statutory requirements were raised due to regulatory breaches. A compliance notice under 22a of the Care Standards Act 2000 was issued. This related to Regulation 6, the quality and purpose of care standard. A monitoring visit was completed on 2 August 2024 and the inspector found that the compliance notice had been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2024 Full Inadequate 27/02/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/12/2022 Full Good 25/10/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the same two children continue to live in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children have made some progress with education in that they are now engaging more readily with their tutors. One child has developed their creative writing skills and now writes insightful diary entries about their life. However, children’s education plans and targets are not kept under review. Managers do not effectively escalate their concerns about this to relevant agencies. Consequently, children are not receiving enough support to help them to increase their learning hours and consider a return to school.

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences of spending time with family are mixed. The manager has not advocated for one child when the local authority has not arranged family time in line with their plan. This means that the child is missing opportunities to spend time with people who are important to them. Another child is spending more time with their family and relationships are continuing to improve. As a result, this child is working towards returning to live with their parent.

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improvement to be good

Overall, staff help children to attend routine health appointments. In addition, managers seek support from health professionals to promote children’s wellbeing. For example, they sought health advice and intervention to help a child to improve their sleep patterns. Staff are providing improved support to children with their daily routines that promote good self-care. One child does not have a current health plan. Staff have not spoken with the child about the importance of attending their annual health review.

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improvement to be good

Children are developing some positive relationships with staff. They are able to speak with them about things that are important to them. Staff respect children’s identity and encourage their individuality.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote children’s independence. They are encouraged to use public transport, keep their bedrooms clean and help with cooking meals. This helps them to develop skills that will support them in adulthood.

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improvement to be good

There continues to be lapses in staff supervision of children. On two occasions since the monitoring visit, a child’s girlfriend has come into the home without staff knowing. This is a recurring issue and while managers have taken some action, this is not yet robust enough.

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improvement to be good

The provider has appointed a new manager and deputy manager. Most recruitment checks for new staff are completed. In one case, the provider had not confirmed one Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 4 staff member’s right to work in the UK and could not demonstrate that their relevant qualification had been verified. Checks that are routinely completed include Disclosure and Barring Service checks, reference checks from most recent employers, reasons for leaving previous jobs and identification checks.

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improvement to be good

Both children understand how to raise concerns about the care they receive. On one occasion, a child made an allegation against a member of staff. This was taken seriously by the provider, who shared information with relevant people and undertook an internal investigation. The local authority designated officer was informed of the outcome of the investigation and a plan made for the member of staff to return to work.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, staff respond well. Staff share information with relevant people and search for the children. When children are found, they are supported by staff to return home.

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improvement to be good

Medication is better managed by staff, with greater oversight from managers. Both children are discouraged from vaping, and staff have spoken to them about the impact this has on their health. As a result, one child no longer vapes. This achievement was recognised by the provider and the child received a reward. Although children receive some good support to help them to keep safe and be healthy, more could be done to help children to understand more about sexual health and relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual has been in day-to-day charge of the home until the new manager has started to work at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Regular agency staff are used to ensure that there are sufficient staff to care for children. The frequency of staff supervision has improved. This contributes to staff feeling supported. Team meetings are held regularly. These forums provide a relatively new staff team with opportunities to discuss children’s experiences and to reflect on and develop their own practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual understands the home’s strengths and some areas for development. The effectiveness of monitoring is mixed. Incidents are reviewed promptly; however, the responsible individual and staff do not always reflect and learn from things that happen.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have undertaken training courses relevant to some of the children’s needs. However, a clearly identified training plan is not in place and some staff have still not undertaken important training to help them to further develop their understanding and skills to meet all children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff do not have their performance appraised formally. The provider is intending to implement a new appraisal system that will support staff’s personal development. Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 5

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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 within the given timescales.

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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

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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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)(vi)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last full inspection and has been repeated. 20 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 20 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 6 This requirement was raised at the last full inspection and has been repeated. 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;

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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

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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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and has been repeated. 20 December 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that, each child has an up-to-date health plan, take steps to encourage children to attend their annual health review and provide children with support in line with their needs about sexual health and relationships. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)  The registered person should ensure that staff should understand, for each child, what the placing authority has recorded in the relevant plan as an appropriate level of contact with family and friends and help to implement this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.3)  The registered person should maintain good employment practice. This includes verifying qualifications and a person’s right to work in the UK as needed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph

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Recommendation

13.1) Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 7

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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: 1231311 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cove Care Residential Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 51 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton WV1 4QJ

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Inspector

Helen Dunn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1231311 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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