Children's Home run by Formations Care Services Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2797425 1 Registered provider: Formations Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private provider and offers care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. Both the home and manager registered with Ofsted in July 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. This was the first inspection of the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2797425 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build positive relationships with the child by having a good understanding of the child’s needs and spending time with them to understand their likes and dislikes. The staff enjoy spending time with the child, doing a variety of activities such as playing cards and trips out into the community. As a result of this, the child is supported to have positive experiences and is making progress from their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the child’s preferred method of communication and are creative in providing opportunities for the child to talk about their wishes and feelings. This has helped the child to express their views about their day-to-day care and be involved in decisions about their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is not currently in any formal education. However, the staff and manager have been proactive in advocating for the child’s needs in this area. This has resulted in an education provision being identified for the child. In the meantime, staff support the child’s learning on a daily basis through conversations with the child and supporting learning from the activities they take part in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to be healthy by providing a healthy and balanced diet and encouraging the child to attend routine health appointments. Staff seek medical advice for the child in line with their needs. In addition, the child has access to specialist services to promote their physical health and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is a strength of this home. The staff understand who is important to the child and support time with their family. This has helped the child to maintain and develop important relationships and celebrate significant events with them. In addition, the child is supported to keep in touch with friends. This helps the child to spend time with their peers and develop a support network outside of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home is spacious and decorated to a high standard. It has been adapted and personalised to the needs and preferences of the child. Any damage is quickly repaired, and the environment is a safe place for the child to live in. This home looks and feels like a family home.

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improvement to be good

The child’s individual risk assessments support the staff to understand how to reduce the risk of the child being harmed. However, known risks in relation to self-harm and child criminal exploitation have not been fully considered. Although there is no known impact to the child, this shortfall means that the staff do not have all the necessary information available to them when providing care for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2797425 3 The child’s behaviour support plan is comprehensive and is underpinned by a specific model of care that the staff are trained in. However, staff have not consistently followed this plan. This shortfall has meant that in some cases, an incident has unnecessarily escalated and has placed the child and staff at risk of harm. Although the manager has discussed this shortfall with her staff and has put plans in place to remedy this shortfall, these plans are yet to be embedded.

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improvement to be good

The day-to-day plans for the child are vague and do not help to provide structure and clear routines for the child. In addition, when the child has struggled to manage their emotions, the approach by the staff has been variable. This has meant that the child has not been consistently supported to develop skills and strategies to manage difficult feelings, and the boundaries for the child have not always been clear and consistent. The registered manager identified this shortfall before the inspection took place and has put measures in place to support the child and staff in this area. However, it is too early to assess the impact of these measures.

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improvement to be good

The response by staff is robust when a child goes missing from the home. When this happens, the staff search for the child and contact the child’s family members, friends and external professionals to locate the child. When the child returns home, the staff take time to welcome them home, assess their well-being and offer appropriate medical attention. However, not all staff understand the function and importance of the independent return home interview. Although this shortfall has had no known impact on the child, it prevents the staff from following established safeguarding procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. The manager is ambitious for children and has high expectations of herself and her staff. She is confident in challenging her staff when their practice has fallen below expected standards and is quick to put plans in place to support the development of her staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is visible in the home and has a good oversight and understanding of the child’s needs and vulnerabilities. She can identify the progress that the child has made since living in the home. The manager has a clear vision for the home going forward and has identified priority areas to focus on to improve the quality of care that the staff provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home and feel valued and supported by leaders and managers. The staff spoke openly and honestly about some of the challenges that they have experienced but, at the same time, expressed their confidence in the manager and responsible individual. The staff spoken to talked about an increased confidence in the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are suitably trained to meet the needs of the child living in the home. The staff’s professional development is supported through practice-based supervision sessions, Inspection report for children’s home: 2797425 4 team meetings and learning discussions following incidents in the home. The manager and responsible individual have been quick to identify further training and support and have clear plans in place to upskill the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The positive working relationships between the staff, manager and partner agencies ensure that communication is open, transparent and up to date. Inspection report for children’s home: 2797425 5

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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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

and positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(xi)) 1 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2797425 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure that the child’s daily plans contain detail and are structured in a manner that promotes healthy routines and boundaries.

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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 that staff—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi) (vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that the child’s risk assessment accurately reflects all known risks and that staff understand their role in promoting the day-to-day safety of the child, which includes following the child’s behaviour support plan. 1 January 2025

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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: 2797425 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Formations Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 St. Pauls Road, Shipley BD18 3EP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Victoria Crabtree-Phillips

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Inspector

Shirin Khan Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2797425 8 regulates and inspects 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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