Children's home run by Assure Residential Care Limited

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2723872 1 Registered provider: Assure Residential Care Limited

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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 offers care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager. However, the appointed manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home and they contributed to this inspection.

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Inspection date: 22 January 2025

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 22 January 2025

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector has looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2723872 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff understand children’s individual needs and risk factors. Staff have good knowledge of how best to support children, which has contributed to children’s positive relationships with staff.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff support children’s education and promote home learning when children are not in school. For one child, they are now accessing daily home education. Staff support children to have positive daily routines and for another child, while they are not in education, staff encourage them to engage in alternative educational and recreational activities.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff support positive, planned moves for children moving into the home. One child greatly benefited from this due to the complexity of their needs. The child’s parent said that staff took the time to get to know their child and how to best respond to their needs ahead of them moving into the home.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff ensure that children see their families and people who are important to them. Managers and staff have developed positive relationships with children’s families. One parent said that they felt involved in their child’s care, due to the positive relationships they had developed with the manager and staff team.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers have improved missing-from-home procedures, which has strengthened staff’s responses to when children go missing. Staff work well with safeguarding partners to protect children and ensure there is a coordinated response when children go missing.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff understand children’s individual safety plans and respond to incidents proportionately. Managers and staff have acted swiftly when safeguarding concerns have occurred, including referring to professionals such as the local authority designated officer.

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Findings from the inspection

On one occasion, staff did not carry out a bedroom search when required. Managers have addressed the concerns to ensure that bedroom search practice is consistent across the staff team.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers record their oversight of incidents, and the care provided to children. Managers have also improved systems to oversee and monitor the care of children consistently. However, the manager’s oversight is not consistently reflective and analytical, which impacts on the development of practice.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff have completed training relevant to supporting children’s individual needs. Staff say that this has helped them develop their responses to children. Staff are supported and valued by leaders and managers. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2723872 3 Requirements were reviewed and met at this inspection. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2723872 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2723872 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there is an immediate search of children’s bedrooms where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 417, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 66, paragraph 10.24) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2723872 6

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Inspector

Chloe Harvey, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2723872 7 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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