Children's Home run by East Sussex County Council in East Sussex

Inspection report for children's home: 2674792 1 Registered provider: East Sussex County Council

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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 local authority children’s home provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties as well as being diagnosed with mild autism. There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

There is a new manager in post, and they have submitted an application to register with Ofsted.

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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: 23 January 2024

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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: 2674792 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2024 Full Good 01/11/2022 Full Good 18/07/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2674792 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home where peer relationships are encouraged and nurtured. They say that they get along with the other children they are currently living with. Children who had to be closely monitored when interacting with each other, can now socialise together with less staff support. This is because staff have effectively supported children to improve their behaviours and relationships with one another.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a comfortable, well-furnished home where games, toys and books are enjoyed by children. Children have chosen the decor of their bedrooms, which reflect their personalities and individual interests. One child has been involved in creating graffiti art walls, which has been integrated into the decor of the communal hall area, showcasing their artistic expressions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to make connections with their local community and are involved in clubs and sports, such as horse riding, martial arts and football. This provides children with opportunities to develop a sense of belonging in the area that they live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to, and their views are valued. Most of them have advocates. This has enabled children’s voices to be heard and listened to. For instance, one child voiced that they wanted to remain living in the home following an emergency placement. There is now a plan that the child will remain living in the home longer term.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular children’s meetings take place. Children have an ideas box that is situated in a communal area. Child made use of this, and their ideas contribute towards the children’s meetings. This gives children the opportunity to come together and converse about any changes they would like. This has resulted in children collectively agreeing that they would like more garden equipment. The monthly house budget is now being saved to make this happen.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their initial starting points. They are enrolled in, and are attending, educational provisions. Children’s educational experiences are kept under review and appropriate support is put in place to make sure that they are on target to achieve or re-engage in full-time education. This means that children continue to make progress and gain a sense of achievement in what they are doing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When new children move into the home, a compatibility assessment is carried out. The purpose of this is to establish how risks and the individual needs of children will be managed by staff. However, on occasion, it is not always clear how all the risks and needs of each child have been considered.

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

Children say that they feel safe and can talk to adults about personal matters that are important to them. Inspection report for children's home: 2674792 4 There have been instances where some children have gone missing from the home. When this happens, staff are proactive and communicate with the appropriate professionals and children’s parents. This ensures that there is a collaborative response to making sure that children return to the home safely.

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

Staff work well with parents to help them understand the expectations they have set for children. This means that children experience consistent boundaries when they have overnight stays with family and there is structure with the care they receive.

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

Staff know and understand the processes for reporting safeguarding concerns and ensure that children’s views are captured when incidents happen. Staff respond well to children when they need support, and incidents are managed well.

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

Restraint practice is rarely used in this home. This is because children respond well to the strategies in place to help them to manage their behaviour. Consequently, effective safeguarding practices are in place and children’s views and experiences are at the core of this.

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

When allegations and complaints are made, these are dealt with promptly and appropriately. Children are always reassured that they can come to staff and talk things through if needed. This further enhances the positive safeguarding culture of the home.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been three significant incidents involving the police, which Ofsted was not notified of. This has impeded the regulator’s ability to have some level of oversight of the home and the responses taken at the time to keep children and staff safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager left the home. The former deputy manager, who has experience, was subsequently appointed to be the new manager. They have since applied to register. The manager is enthusiastic about building on current practice and creating an even more homely environment. They have good insight into the strengths of the home and areas to further improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are continuing to develop the service and have a clear vision for the home. They are focused on promoting positive behaviour from the onset of a child’s induction into the home. Work is underway to further develop methods to capture children’s views. These clear objectives ensure that children’s views remain important, and that staff are helped to champion positive behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers see the strengths in individual staff and are supportive in upskilling them in areas that they have strengths and an interest in. Subsequently, this supports staff to remain updated on the latest practices, and improves the quality of the care that they provide to children. Inspection report for children's home: 2674792 5 Leaders and managers have effective processes in place to monitor the home and staff performance. This means that there is good oversight of the service and the support and development needs of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is diverse, and staff say that they feel well supported in their role. They have opportunities to reflect on practice through team meetings, regular supervision sessions and the conversations that take place during shift handovers. Staff say that they have been provided with meaningful training to help them to meet children’s needs. One staff member said, ‘I feel valued working here and am listened to. Psychologists come to team meetings, staff are heard, and they understand what the children are going through.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals, staff and parents report that communication in the home is positive. One social worker also reported that they are happy with the level of support and care that is provided to a child and their parent. Inspection report for children's home: 2674792 6

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Statutory requirement

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 notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)) 28 February 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that leaders and managers fully consider the impact that a new child moving into the home could have on the existing group of children. In particular, leaders and managers should ensure that risks are considered and clearly cross-referenced against the needs, risks and vulnerabilities of children already living in the home. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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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: 2674792 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: East Sussex County Council, County Hall St Anne's Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1UE

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Inspector

Karen Flanagan de Martinez, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2674792 8 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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