Rachel House

Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 1 Registered Provider: Hopespring

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

A charity runs this residential family centre. The centre is registered to accommodate three families.

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Information about this residential family centre

At the time of the inspection, three families were in residence, undertaking their parenting assessments. The inspector spoke to all three families at this inspection.

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre and the manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre is not yet delivering good assessments, help and care for children and parents. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 12 March 2024

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 2

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improvement to be good

The shortfalls in the leadership and management of the residential family centre impact on the overall experiences of children and parents.

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improvement to be good

Pre-admission risk assessments are conducted thoroughly to ensure that the centre can meet the needs of children and families. Careful consideration is given to whether the staff’s experience and training are sufficient to support these needs. However, this level of consideration is not explicitly extended to the independent social worker who conducts the assessments.

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improvement to be good

Assessment plans for parents are well-structured and align with the letters of instruction. Families are formally assessed in their parenting by a qualified social worker who visits each family in the centre once a week. However, there is no oversight or monitoring of these assessments through a robust quality assurance process.

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improvement to be good

Assessments are only started once the court letter of instruction has been received. This has resulted in most families experiencing some delay in commencing their assessment.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between staff and families are positive. This is because staff are non- judgemental, helpful, and pivotal in families learning new skills and making life changes. Some parents are still keeping in touch with the staff and the manager after they have left the centre.

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improvement to be good

The centre is spacious, nicely decorated, and well-maintained. The space is designed to meet the needs of the parents and children who live there. Age-appropriate toys, equipment and plenty of space allow parents to stimulate their children and meet confidentially with the professionals involved. Parents and children are supervised in line with the requirements when spending time with family and friends.

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improvement to be good

Parents are supported to create memory books for their children during their time in the centre. Managers and staff focus on ensuring that families have positive memories of their time, regardless of the outcome of the assessment. As a result, children have detailed information about their families and the early development work completed by their parents.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of the health needs of children and parents. Staff support parents to access health advice, including drug and alcohol services, to improve their long-term health outcomes and parenting ability. Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 3

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff understand the risks relating to the individual families and how they should be supported to reduce these risks. Through regular keywork sessions, parents are encouraged to talk about their feelings and identify coping strategies. Staff work effectively with parents to encourage them to make positive and safe decisions. This helps parents to understand how their behaviour and choices impact on their children.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff’s supervision and vigilance of children and their parents are good. As a result, very few incidents occur. Staff are aware of the vulnerabilities of individual family members, and they ensure that there are safeguarding measures in place that help reduce the risk of harm.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

CCTV is only used to monitor families when necessary. Agreements for monitoring parents and their children are needs-led and risk-based. On arrival at the centre, staff help parents understand the purpose and use of CCTV. The staff monitor families safely and, when required, use CCTV to help parents to reflect on their progress and, importantly, review and discuss any concerning behaviour seen during the assessment period.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff intervene to safeguard children when parents are struggling to manage their emotions and interactions. At times, when the safety of children has been, or is likely to be, compromised, the manager has made measured decisions to end the placement, making the child’s safety of paramount importance.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The manager and staff are passionate about supporting families and achieving the best outcome for the safety and welfare of their children. When practice issues are raised about staff, the manager carries out a lesson-learned exercise with the staff to reflect and look for ways to make changes in their practice to keep children and families safer.

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good

The manager is qualified and supported by senior leaders within the organisation. Together they have some understanding of the weaknesses and strengths of the service.

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good

The statement of purpose has not been updated in a timely manner. There are factual inaccuracies in this document regarding the level of supervision provided to the social worker.

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good

Staff receive a wide range of training. This includes specific training to meet the needs of the families. Team meetings regularly take place. They provide staff with opportunities to explore families’ progress, in addition to the overall function of the centre. Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 4 The care staff receive adequate supervision. This provides opportunities for staff to develop their practice and identify training needs. Staff say they feel well supported by the manager. However, there are no arrangements in place for the social worker to receive regular, professional supervision or training. They are not supported to attend the team meetings. These are missed opportunities for developing the skills of the social worker, promoting open communication across the team and for the manager to ensure robust management oversight of their work and personalised support.

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good

The manager has established positive working relationships with external professionals. Positive feedback has been provided about the work of the centre by professionals. The manager is supported to develop her support networks through her attendance at a forum with other residential family centre providers. This helps her to increase her knowledge and learn from the experiences of others.

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good

The manager has worked hard to address some requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. There are two requirements related to staff training and the review of quality of care that have not been achieved. These requirements have been reissued. Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the parents’ capacity to respond to the children’s needs and to safeguard their welfare is monitored or assessed by a suitably qualified person in accordance with the requirements of this regulation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that conclusions or recommendations are made as a result of the assessment or monitoring and that— such conclusions or recommendations are objective and based on verifiable evidence; and the evidence on which they are based is capable of being presented in a manner that is clear, accessible, and appropriate to the persons who will need to consider them.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is an effective quality assurance process in place to ensure the quality of social work assessments completed by the assessing social worker. 18 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him receive—

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Requirement Due date

appropriate training, supervision, and appraisal. (Regulation 17 (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the assessing social worker receives formal supervision at the frequency set in the statement of purpose, by a qualified person. 18 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall establish and maintain a system for—

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Requirement Due date

reviewing at appropriate intervals; and improving, the quality of care provided at the residential family centre. (Regulation 23 (1)(a)(b)) 18 April 2025 Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 6 In particular, that effective monitoring systems are in place to ensure all residential family centre regulations and national minimum standards are implemented. The registered person shall compile in relation to the residential family centre a written statement (in these Regulations referred to as "the statement of purpose" which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall— keep under review and where appropriate revise the statement of purpose and resident’s guide; and notify the Chief Inspector within 28 days of any such revision.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 4(1) (4)(a)(b)) 18 April 2025

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 7

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 10 Sea View Road West Sunderland, SR2 9HA

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Residential family centre details

Email address: rachelhouse@hopespringcharity.org

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Inspector

Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Rachel House 8 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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