Children's home run by Invested Childcare Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1276421 1 Registered provider: Invested Childcare Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home. The inspector spoke to all four of the children.

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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: 7 November 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: 1276421 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2023 Full Good 11/01/2023 Full Good 07/02/2022 Full Good 14/10/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1276421 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting, effective relationships with the adults who care for them. This has resulted in wide-ranging progress for the children from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff value education and give consistent messages to children about its benefits. This has helped the children to successfully re-engage with education placements. Staff encourage attendance and attainment through incentives and positive praise. This gives children a good foundation to develop their career when they move on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities and develop hobbies or join groups. They are encouraged to do so by staff, who understand and value the socialisation skills that these activities offer children as well as developing their self-esteem and good, healthy habits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views and opinions matter in the home. They contribute to choices of menu, activities and decor, and they can say if they are unhappy about an aspect of their care. This has been developed by the team recently with the introduction of a QR code process that sends requests or concerns straight to the manager’s mobile phone. This promotes children’s self-esteem and mental well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to maintain family relationships and other relationships that are important to them. Families who were spoken to were overwhelmingly positive about the care their children received, and this was supported by other professionals. A family member commented that staff do a ‘brilliant job’ and that they knew their child was happy.

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

Children say they feel safe in the home and can identify staff they would go to if they needed help. Care plans and risk assessments are updated regularly. The records help staff to provide effective care and provide strategies to manage and minimise risk for children. Key-work sessions take place regularly and are linked to care plans, and they also take place in response to an event or incident.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home, but if they do, staff are aware of the actions they must take to safeguard children and ensure their early safe return.

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

Staff are thoughtful in the way they approach difficult subjects and conversations with children and are aware of the effects of previous trauma. This is supported by the clinical lead, who supports the team to follow the chosen model of care.

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

Behaviour is managed well by staff by using incentives, praise and consequences. However, it is not always clear in records what is classed as a consequence. Similarly, Inspection report for children’s home: 1276421 4 staff record incidents differently, either as incidents or causes of concern. There is a lack of consistency in how staff define and record each incident. This has led to some behaviours that are the same being identified as a cause for concern on one occasion and then not defined as such on a different occasion. This leads to confusion for children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a leader who is visible and is supported by an experienced deputy. Staff say they feel well supported by the approachable management team and the clinical lead, who offers the opportunity for reflection. This, along with regular staff meetings, helps staff to develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Stability for children occurs through a core team of experienced practitioners, alongside newer staff. Supervision is regular and well recorded. The manager supports this process with annual appraisals of practice and a six-monthly self- evaluation by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is regular and all mandatory training is up to date. However, the additional specific training offered has not been completed by all staff, and this links to the shortfalls identified at this inspection around risk management and recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy monitor the activity within the home. This enables the management team to know and understand the strengths and areas for development in the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses the input from the independent visitor well. The visitor does not always describe in reports the efforts made to contact families and does not consistently make the safeguarding and well-being statement explicit.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager completes his quality of care review, but this does not contain all of the required elements. This reduces the effectiveness of the report as a development tool. Inspection report for children’s home: 1276421 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 registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it;

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed;

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5) 31 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1276421 6 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff keep up to date with training in relation to risk management and recording. 31 March 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand what needs to be recorded as an incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information in a consistent way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand what constitutes a consequence and to record them in a consistent way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 1276421 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Invested Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Acklam Hall, Hall Gardens, Middlesbrough TS5 7BJ

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Inspector

Susan Atkinson Millmoor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1276421 8 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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