Children's Home run by Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 1 Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run home. The home is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the visit, no children were residing in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 19 January 2024. The newly appointed manager has submitted her application to become registered with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

An assurance inspection took place on 10 September 2024 where the following serious and widespread concerns were identified:

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This monitoring visit

 There are increased concerns regarding fire safety within the home.  There is a limited understanding of children’s risks relating to substance misuse, episodes of going missing from home and exploitation.  Care records do not accurately reflect children’s day-to-day lived experiences.  There is limited and inconsistent management oversight of significant incidents, safeguarding concerns, childcare and staff practice.  Children are not being cared for in line with the agreed staffing ratios as outlined by children’s placing authorities.

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This monitoring visit

Following the assurance inspection, the home was suspended. This suspension prevented any children from being accommodated or cared for at the home. This monitoring visit was completed to review progress made by the provider to remedy the safeguarding concerns. As a result of the monitoring visit and assurances given by the leadership team, the home’s suspension has been lifted as of 28 November 2024. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 2 The home has a refreshed feel to it due to redecoration. Plans are in place for children who move to the home to put their own stamp on it by being involved in future decoration plans. The management team has secured further maintenance support for the home to ensure that any repairs are quickly undertaken. Actions from the recent fire risk assessment have been met. There is one fire door that currently needs specialised maintenance attention, and plans are in place for this to

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have reflected on previous practice. As a result, they have arranged further training for the staff team. This includes additional safeguarding and fire training. Managers have put systems of support in place for the staff team and hope to create a culture of learning. Leaders and managers have plans on how they will test staff knowledge and ensure that learning is embedded and carried through to practice.

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This monitoring visit

Managers aim to ensure that staff feel confident in appropriately challenging one another. They are assured that staff know when to report to managers about practice concerns. Group sessions have been arranged for staff to reflect together to create better care experiences for children. To support this, a psychology coach has been employed to facilitate reflective sessions.

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This monitoring visit

The manager is confident in their plan for future oversight of the home. She feels that the systems being formulated will ensure a layered approach to reviewing records. This process includes the manager, her deputy and the responsible individual. Their plan also includes the outsourcing of other professionals to ensure that oversight is robust. The manager aims to make continuous improvements to the quality of care provided in the home.

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This monitoring visit

Reflection has taken place by leaders and managers regarding possible risks to children, both locally and out of county. They have plans to build relationships with relevant professionals in the local area. This is to support their understanding of contextual safeguarding and to ensure that they are abreast of any possible risks to children they care for. New processes have been created by the management team regarding the referral process to the home. They believe that the new system, coupled with the support of the psychology coach to create dynamic risk assessments for children, will support them to keep children safe.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers say that, moving forward, they will reflect on how to do things differently and wish to build on the aspirations that they have for children. They have shown a willingness to work alongside Ofsted to continue to improve the care provided to children.

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This monitoring visit

Although consideration has been taken regarding the requirements set at the last inspection, these have not been reviewed in terms of whether they are met. These will therefore be reviewed at the next inspection. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/04/2023 Full Inadequate 19/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 4

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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 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; and

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Requirement Due date

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

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 5 help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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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)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to steps being taken to ensure that staff have training and confidence in how to respond to incidents of confrontation and/or violent behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to staff having training in contextual safeguarding and being able to support children to understand such risks.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 6 manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to steps being taken to train staff to be professionally curious regarding incidents in which children have been placed at significant risk of harm. This includes implementing a policy to ensure that incidents are reported, recorded and reviewed in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to steps being taken to implement procedures whereby staff are able to access children’s bedrooms regularly to ensure they are safe and in a good state of repair. This includes a policy that details when staff should access a child’s bedroom or conduct room searches.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to the need to maintain a good standard of condition and state of repair within the home and to ensure that the repairs are made, particularly when this relates to children’s safety.

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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

promotes their welfare. 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph 1 requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to leaders and managers developing procedures to ensure there is consistent and timely oversight of all aspects of children’s care which also provides professional scrutiny.

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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

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due date

make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 8 This particularly refers to the need for fire safety equipment, including alarms, to be in full working order and for staff to understand how to use these.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that all fire doors are in full working order and in good state of repair.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to there being clear records of drills completed at the home and the fire risk assessment completed by a suitably qualified person.

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Requirement Due date

Room searches should be implemented where there is a risk to children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to the responsible individual providing regular support and oversight to the home to help development and improvement of the standards in the home. 8 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

the person is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and

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Requirement Due date

the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(i), a person has the appropriate experience and qualification if the person has— 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 9 within the last 5 years, worked for at least 2 years in a position relevant to the residential care of children;

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Requirement Due date

worked for at least one year in a role requiring the supervision and management of staff working in a care role; and

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Requirement Due date

the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 5 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered provider considers to be equivalent to the Level 5 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a person who starts managing a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 3 years after the date on which that person started managing a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a person who was managing a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2017.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider may defer the relevant date if the person—

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Requirement Due date

does not manage, or has not managed, a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

manages, or has managed, a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii) (3)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

The relevant date is— 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 10 in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all staff are registered on the diploma and completing this to timescale.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 8 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records (see regulation 36). (Regulation 38 (i))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all children’s records are available and accessible to staff or relevant professionals. 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 11 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

that staff help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to children having good daily routines and attending education regularly. 8 January 2025

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barratt House Office G3a, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton NN2 6EZ

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Inspector

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2625585 13 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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