Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2765360 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

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not currently have a registered manager. A new manager has been appointed. The responsible individual led this inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2765360 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/04/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2765360 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector spoke with the children as part of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live in a well-presented and nurturing home that meets their needs. The home provides generous space, allowing children to socialise or spend quiet time alone if they wish. When welcoming new children, thoughtful planning goes into ensuring that they are well matched with those already living in the home to promote harmony and stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress since moving to the home. For one child, the ending of a court order that restricted their liberty reflects a significant step forward. For other children, incidents of self-harm and going missing have significantly reduced. This progress is largely due to the strong, trusting relationships between children and staff. Children feel safe and supported. They can express their thoughts and emotions openly with staff. As a result, they feel secure and settled in their home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are strong advocates for children. When children express dissatisfaction, staff ensure that the local authority is informed of their concerns so that care plans can be reviewed and adjusted as necessary. Children can also receive independent advocacy, which gives them the opportunity to speak to someone outside of the home. Children are provided the space and privacy they need to voice their opinions during these meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of education in children’s development. When children are not attending school, staff ensure that they have access to alternative educational opportunities, inside and outside of the home, to support their learning and growth. In addition, staff collaborate with external agencies to ensure that children receive the appropriate educational support tailored to their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported in maintaining and strengthening relationships with those who are important to them, ensuring that they can stay connected with key people in their lives. Staff actively advocate for children to spend quality time with their families, which has led to increased, and in some cases unsupervised, family time. Families say that staff keep them informed about any aspect of their children’s care and the progress they are making. Family members express confidence that their children are being well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have the space to express their wishes and feelings during one-to-one conversations and children’s meetings. Children are supported in expressing themselves, particularly following incidents of concern. These discussions are handled with sensitivity and care. Staff use creative methods to engage children in various topics, ensuring meaningful participation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2765360 4

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

When children go missing from the home, staff take immediate and proactive steps to ensure their safety. This includes searching the local area and promptly contacting all relevant individuals and agencies. A strong and effective working relationship exists between staff and the local missing-from-care police team. Children have personalised missing-from-care plans that include essential information to assist in their safe return. When children choose not to engage in formal return home interviews, staff continue to sensitively explore their views and reasons for going missing, helping to inform future support and planning.

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

Risk assessments are tailored to each child’s needs and are regularly reviewed and updated. Children are provided with age-appropriate versions of these assessments, ensuring that they understand the steps staff will take to ensure their safety. While individual self-harm assessments are in place, they sometimes lack critical details that would help staff respond more effectively to various situations. Furthermore, it is sometimes unclear in records relating to self-harm whether medical attention or advice have been sought or what the reasons are for not pursuing medical care. This area requires improvement to provide better support to staff and children.

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

Records relating to children are typically written with the child in mind. However, the language used sometimes lacks the necessary sensitivity and empathy. Senior management has acknowledged this concern, and steps are being taken to address it to ensure that all records are written with the appropriate care and consideration for the children involved.

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

Incidents involving physical intervention are rare. However, when it is used, it is always appropriate and for the shortest duration necessary. Following such incidents, children are given the opportunity to discuss their feelings and experiences. All incidents are reviewed and quality checked by management.

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

When allegations are made against staff or concerns arise about staff practice, senior management carries out comprehensive investigations. Independent individuals carry out these investigations if necessary to ensure impartial scrutiny. The child’s support network is kept appropriately informed, and immediate steps are taken to safeguard the children’s well-being. Following any incidents of concern, reflective sessions are held to review the situation and identify key lessons learned. This approach supports ongoing staff development and ensures continuous improvement by learning from past experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there has been some instability in the management team. A new manager has been appointed and is currently in the process of applying for registration. Throughout the absence of the previous manager, the responsible individual has provided consistent oversight, including increased visits to the home. Although staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2765360 5 have found this time challenging, they have described the support from the responsible individual as ‘amazing’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are skilled in safeguarding children and receive regular training to meet their needs. Managers proactively seek additional training opportunities when necessary to ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge required to support children effectively. Staff feel confident in requesting further training as they know it will be sourced to enhance their skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular team meetings, which they find beneficial. These meetings encourage staff to reflect on their practice and consider lessons learned from past incidents. However, staff supervision is not consistently carried out in accordance with the home’s policy. This is an area for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management fully understands the critical importance of safer recruitment practices. Only individuals who have undergone thorough background checks and are deemed fit and safe are entrusted with working with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management and staff have developed strong relationships with professionals to ensure ongoing care planning for children. Staff consistently keep the network informed and actively seek support and guidance from specialist services to ensure that children’s needs are met. One professional said, ‘I would not hesitate to recommend any child to live in the home.’ Another professional said, ‘The children are at the heart of staff practice.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2765360 6

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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

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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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)(a)(b)(c)) 23 May 2025

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Recommendations

 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 about individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child should 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 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, there should be clear and detailed risk assessments to reflect individual risks, especially in incidents of self-harm. These must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks for self-harm,

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Recommendations

considering different types of self-harm and what actions should be taken as a result, such as seeking medical attention. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, 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: 2765360 7

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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: Kathryn Scoltock

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Inspector

Jess Baines, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2765360 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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