Children's home run by Warwickshire County Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2793158 1 Registered provider: Warwickshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is managed by a local authority. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been registered since May 2024; this is the first inspection since registration. There is a registered manager in post, who is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. The child was present and spoke with the inspector.

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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: Not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2793158 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has been welcomed into the home. Effective planning before the child moved in provided them with many opportunities to familiarise themselves with the staff team and the local area. As a result, the child experienced a positive move into the home and was prepared and informed at every stage of this transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented, with a clear commitment made by staff to support the child to personalise their home. The child has a keen interest in photography and brick model building. Displayed throughout the home are Lego models that the child has been building and framed photos of the child’s achievements. This has provided the child with a strong sense of belonging in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff prioritise the importance of understanding children’s lived experiences before they move into the home. This supports staff to develop plans that are tailored to the child’s specific care needs. The positive relationships between the child and staff, and staff’s understanding of the child’s presenting needs, have helped to reduce the high staffing support for the child. One staff member now supports the child each day, which reflects the progress made by the child and the confidence of staff in meeting the child’s care and safety needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child builds confidence by extending their support networks beyond the staff team. The child now has regular free time in the community and has been referred to the local authority’s ‘House Project’ as part of their transition into semi-independent living. There is a clear plan of work proposed for staff to complete with children who meet the criteria for this service. The home has identified ‘lifelong links’ for the child through facilitating family time with the child’s previous foster carers. This further builds on the child’s support network, helping them to prepare for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly celebrate the child’s achievements. Rewards and incentives are consistently reviewed to ensure they stay relevant and personal to children, motivating them to achieve their individual goals. Staff review the child’s incentive chart and adapt it to recognise achievement and success, for example in school attendance. The child responds positively to this method of support and their attendance at school has increased.

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

Before moving into the home, the child had experienced high levels of physical intervention. Physical restraint has not been required for the child since living in the home. Staff consistently use de-escalation techniques that support the child to safely regulate their needs. This has prevented the use of physical restraint being required to manage the safety needs of the child and has ensured that the least restrictive practice is used. Inspection report for children’s home: 2793158 3 Staff are clear about their responses to children who may go missing from the home or who may be at risk of harm. While the child’s vulnerabilities are understood by staff, risk assessment documents have not always been regularly reviewed to reflect the current level of risk and the support that is required by staff to mitigate this. For new members of staff, this could lead to interventions being used that are not proportionate

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

Monitoring and surveillance measures are used appropriately to ensure children’s safety. Their use is proportionate, and children are consulted with any change to this use so that they understand the purpose of these measures. Following a period of stability, the child’s risk assessment for the use of their door alarm was reviewed and, as a result, this was deactivated in line with the child’s presenting care needs.

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

The child has formed trusting relationships with staff, whom they can talk to about any concerns. For example, the child told staff that they had resumed a level of contact with their birth parent. As a result, the social worker was able to assess the suitability of this family time to ensure the safety needs of the child were met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is child focused and is supported by a staff team that shares his vision to provide the best possible care for children. The manager has high expectations for children and is passionate about supporting them to achieve their full potential. The manager is continually reviewing how the team can plan and prepare for the next stages of children’s development. The manager is creative in how they support children to access local resources to prepare them for their futures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a highly supportive environment for staff to learn in. Staff feel supported and receive regular, good-quality supervision that provides them with an opportunity to reflect on their practice and identify areas for improvement. Staff appraisals, however, have not been completed in line with the regulations. This restricts the manager’s oversight of the quality of staff’s practice and progression and the opportunity for staff to have their performance plans reviewed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems for monitoring the care that children receive are mostly good. However, the manager’s systems have failed to identify shortfalls, particularly with the completion of required reports and the accurate review of risk assessments. The manager has not completed a review of the quality of care provided to children since the home registered. This is likely to restrict the manager’s ability to identify and review the actions that may be necessary in order to improve the quality of care provided for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When incidents have occurred, the manager consistently provides clear oversight and captures the learning that has taken place. The manager writes his response directly to the child to clearly explain their review of the incident. This promotes a very open dialogue between the manager and child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2793158 4 The manager has built a strong working relationship with key professionals that will support children living in this home. Professionals commented on how well the team communicates with them and said that they feel confident that they have the most up- to-date information about children so they can provide them with the right care and support. Inspection report for children’s home: 2793158 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 ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 25 April 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. This specifically relates to the completion of a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This specifically relates to the risk assessment of children’s access to electronic devices and the monitoring of this by staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2793158 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Warwickshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shire Hall, Warwick CV34 4RL

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Inspector

Charlotte Tippett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2793158 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 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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