Children's Home run by Cynhenid Care Ltd in Shropshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2667401 1 Registered provider: Cynhenid Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation and provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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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: 11 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: 2667401 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/09/2023 Full Good 16/08/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2667401 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection. Three children have moved out and three have moved in since the last inspection. Children that move into the home benefit from thoughtful planning. Children’s needs are crucial in determining appropriate timescales. This approach helps them to adjust to their new surroundings and provides a positive start to their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a clean, well-decorated and stimulating environment. There are multiple areas for children to relax and spend time socialising. Three children live in the main house, and one child lives in an adjoining annex. Children have use of games rooms and play equipment, and their bedrooms are well presented and personalised to their wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities both inside and outside of the home. Paddleboards and bikes are available for children to use, and children are encouraged to partake in external groups such as football and boxing clubs. The varied activities provided support children to have a wide variety of opportunities and experiences and help to develop their self-esteem and promote their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Door alarms are used for the purpose of alerting staff in the event that children go missing from home and to monitor their well-being during the night. However, there is a blanket approach to how these are used, which is not based on children’s individual needs. In addition, staff are not clear on how they are used. This detracts from what is otherwise a homely environment and affects children’s privacy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with praise and encouragement. Incentives motivate children to make positive choices. Clear boundaries are set by staff, which help children understand the expectations of them and support them to develop the skills that they need to manage their behaviour now and prepare them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive consistently high levels of care and support. They benefit from positive relationships with adults that know them well. Staff support children to continue to build relationships with people that are significant to them. This has included supporting a child to have family time overseas, enabling them to not miss out on family celebrations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to access appropriate education, and as a result, attendance has improved. When children have difficulties attending school, staff work with education professionals to create a bespoke plan to improve attendance. This supports children’s experience of school and helps them progress educationally. Inspection report for children's home: 2667401 4

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

Incidents of children being missing from home have been rare. When these occur, staff take prompt and appropriate action to ensure that children are located and returned to the home. Follow-up education is provided to ensure children understand related risks, and multi-agency meetings are held to share information. This robust approach supports children to keep safe, and incidents have been reduced over time.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviours well. There have been occasions when it has been necessary to use physical intervention, but only as a last resort. The manager provides oversight of all incidents. However, there has not been a robust assessment around the length and type of hold used to consider whether these are the most effective and proportionate.

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

Staff help educate children about risks. For example, one child has intermittently used e- cigarettes, and this has been deterred through the use of education about the risks to their health.

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

Staff and children are supported by the organisation’s forensic psychologist who provides regular consultation to the home and advice on how to support children. When concerns arise, there is a thorough examination of these, and this improves plans and the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and passionate about the care being provided to children. He is a good role model for staff and highly regarded by his team. The registered manager is supported by senior leaders and a deputy manager. There is a collaborative approach to the home’s management, which enables the registered manager to be supported by others with a range of skills and experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers use a variety of monitoring tools. These help to identify any shortfalls in practice. When shortfalls are identified, the manager is quick to address them. This promotes a consistent quality of care and drives improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When one child moved to another of the organisation’s homes, staff who knew them well moved with them. As a result, there has been increased recruitment of staff to fill this deficit. This has had minimal impact on other children in placement who have benefited from an otherwise stable staff team. The approach taken minimised any disruption to care while supporting one child’s move out of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular practice-related supervision and annual appraisals that support their development. New starters receive a carefully planned introduction to the home, and there are regular and reflective team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a range of training. This includes some staff completing additional training, which is not required for their role. This helps increase staff’s skills Inspection report for children's home: 2667401 5 and expertise. However, training has not been provided in relation to some children’s individual diagnoses. This affects the ability of staff to fully understand children’s needs. Inspection report for children's home: 2667401 6

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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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 30 December 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that limits on privacy and access are only put in place to safeguard each child in the home (Regulation 21(c)(i)). 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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. In particular, the length of restraints should be kept under review to consider how proportionate they are. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.26) Inspection report for children's home: 2667401 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: 2667401 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Swift Accountants, 1b Chowley Court, Chowley Oak Business Park, Bolesworth Estate, Chester, Cheshire CH3 9GA

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Inspector

Chrisoula Contoyianni, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2667401 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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