Children's home run by Almond Care Children’s Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 1 Registered provider: Almond Care Children’s Services Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider. It offers care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, no children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 25 January 2025.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted completed an assurance inspection on 20 January 2025 and judged the children’s home to present serious and widespread concerns. A suspension notice was issued, and three compliance notices were also issued under regulation 12, the help and protection standard, regulation 26, fitness of the registered provider and regulation 36, children’s case records.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual acted in response to the suspension notice and requirements raised and has ensured that the house has had a full refurbishment. Broken windows and doors have now been replaced. Communal spaces and children’s bedrooms have been repaired and refurbished to a good standard. However, children still require wardrobes in their bedrooms and not all lighting cords have been made safe.

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This monitoring visit

The electrical installations have been assessed by an electrician and are reported as safe. All necessary fire doors have either been repaired and made safe or been replaced, therefore the compliance notice under regulation 12 and the requirement under regulation 25, fire precautions, are met.

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This monitoring visit

The provider has given Ofsted assurances that children’s records are safely stored away from the home. There are lockable cupboards to store children’s records going Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 2 forward in the staff office. Consequently, the compliance notice under regulation 36 has been met.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual has taken steps to recruit a manager. This manager contributed to the monitoring visit.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual has commissioned independent consultants to undertake a ‘lessons learned’ exercise alongside her. The purpose of this exercise was to aid the responsible individual’s reflection as to why care for children previously reached a point of crisis. Although some learning has taken place, this practice needs embedding to avoid there being a risk of repetition. For such reasons, the compliance notice under regulation 26 is met; however, the statutory requirement under regulation 26 remains. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2024 Full Good 14/02/2024 Full Good 13/12/2022 Full Outstanding 29/06/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 4

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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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that care for children is provided as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. 28 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing 28 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 5 authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

The manager and responsible individual must take effective action when the quality of care or safety provided to children is suffering.

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated.

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Requirement Due date

The responsible individual must ensure that she is tenacious in her approach to care planning for children.

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Requirement Due date

Qualitative management audits should be completed regularly. 28 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, asset out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 28 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to ‘tell’. They should also understand how children might communicate their feelings through their behaviour, or nonverbally, especially if the child has a disability that does not allow them to communicate as others might. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 22, paragraph 4.10)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and 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)  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)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Almond Care Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Barling Way, Nuneaton CV10 7RH

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Inspector

Andi Lilley-Tams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567607 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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Inspector

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