Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2732257 1 Registered provider: Homes2inspire Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, four children have moved into the home and three children have moved out. At the time of this inspection, there were three children living at the home. All children were seen and spoken with by the inspectors.

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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: 5 December 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: 2732257 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2732257 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care. Staff provide a familial environment where children feel at home. Photos of the children are proudly placed around the home and children’s bedrooms are personalised. Children like to spend time with staff. For example, children and staff relax together in the communal areas of the home, preparing and sharing meals and eating, talking and laughing together. This helps children to have a real sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do well in education considering their starting points. For example, staff have supported two children to re-engage with their education through home tutoring, and they are now preparing for their Year 11 exams. Another child, who is unable to attend school, is being home schooled by the staff. Staff are creative and organised in their approach, helping the child to engage meaningfully in educational activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Staff support children to attend all routine health appointments and are effective in meeting children’s specific needs. For example, one child has been helped to successfully detox from an addictive substance. Children’s emotional health and well-being are also well supported. Staff have regular conversations with children, who feel able to talk about their feelings and emotions. Specialist support services are sought where appropriate, such as mental health services. Consequently, children’s overall health and well-being improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a say in their day-to-day care. Their wishes and feelings are actively sought and responded to. Children feel safe to express themselves authentically. A child said, ‘I can be myself and not feel judged.’ This helps children to feel accepted and empowered. However, children’s information is not always recorded in a way that is non-stigmatising. This is an area for development.

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

Staff keep children safe. Staff know the risks children can be exposed to and how to respond. Safety plans are created in collaboration with other professionals, such as social workers and the police. Risks are regularly reviewed and updated. Staff help children to learn how to keep themselves safe through regular discussions with them. This is an effective approach to safeguarding.

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

Staff’s response is robust when children go missing from the home and who are at risk of exploitation. The manager and staff go looking for children and make every effort to find them and return them safely to the home. The necessary agencies are informed, such as the police and social workers. The manager attends regular network meetings to discuss and review current risks. This helps to inform safety plans and ensures that the appropriate safeguards are put in place to reduce the risks to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732257 4 Staff are confident in responding to behaviours that are difficult to manage, such as verbal aggression. Staff’s responses are effective in helping children to regulate their emotions and feel safe. Children benefit from consistent boundaries and routines, and systems of rewards and incentives encourage them to make positive choices. Consequently, there have been no incidents of staff needing to physically intervene to

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

keep children and others safe from harm.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. Children feel able to voice their concerns to the manager and staff. Children also have access to an advocate, giving them an opportunity to raise concerns with someone independent to the home. This helps children to feel heard and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a strong leader. She is dedicated and committed to helping children reach their full potential. She sets high expectations for staff and leads by example. Issues of poor practice are appropriately managed, and staff are supported to improve their practice. There is a stable and long-standing team of staff, who are committed to their roles. Staff have positive and supportive relationships with each other, providing children with stability and consistency of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective oversight and monitoring systems in place. She knows what is happening in the home daily. Monthly internal and external audits are carried out, and any shortfalls are promptly addressed. Feedback from external stakeholders is regularly sought and is used to improve the service. Learning from incidents and placement endings is used to inform practice. This helps to maintain good standards of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with other professionals, such as the police, Ofsted, social workers and child exploitation specialists. She communicates effectively, ensuring a team-around-the-child approach. When necessary, the manager escalates her concerns within the wider system to ensure that decisions made are in the children’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained in some areas in relation to children’s needs, such as in child exploitation and in responding to children who go missing from the home. However, staff lack knowledge in other areas, such as substance misuse. This affected the staff’s ability to respond effectively when a child was under the influence of an illegal substance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are systems in place to ensure that staff recruited to the home are safe to work with children. However, checks are not always carried out robustly. For example, there are identified gaps in staff’s employment history. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732257 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and

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Recommendations

resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2732257 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes2inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Carla-Marie Dore

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Inspectors

Emma Dacres, Social Care Inspector Laura Copus, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2732257 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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