Children's home run by Closer 2 Home Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 1 Registered provider: Closer 2 Home Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably experienced and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: A compliance notice under regulation 13 was issued. This compliance notice has not been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/01/2025 Full Inadequate 25/09/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 3

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inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to safeguard children in their care. Children have been exposed to exploitation because of the poor practice of staff. The manager lacks professional curiosity and staff have not been vigilant. Consequently, children have suffered harm.

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inadequate

The manager does not have a good understanding of the children’s plans. For example, she does not know what restrictions are in place regarding a child’s contact with their family. The manager has not discussed children’s plans with the placing authority to ensure that these are appropriate and up to date, and this has resulted in some apps on a child’s gaming device being restricted.

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inadequate

At the time of inspection, two children are living in the home. No children have moved out of the home since the last inspection. Both children were spoken with during the inspection. The children said that there have been changes made in the home, such as new blinds and carpets, and said that they felt happier living at the home.

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inadequate

Staff have better relationships with each other than they did at the last inspection. This has resulted in the children having better relationships with staff. One child has spent one-to-one time with a member of staff, attending activities together. The child said that this has helped to improve their relationship with the member of staff.

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inadequate

Children attend school regularly. This supports their learning and development. They are supported by staff if they have difficulties at school so that this does not impact their attendance and learning.

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inadequate

Children spoke about activities and trips that they have enjoyed. One child went on their first holiday and another celebrated living at the home for a period. These experiences offered to children provide positive memories of their time living at the home.

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inadequate

Children know how to complain, and their views are acknowledged by the manager. They are helped to understand what is happening as a result of their complaint.

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

A serious incident occurred when staff failed to implement a child’s safety plan regarding online access. Staff were not vigilant, which enabled a child to access online communication with unsuitable adults. Staff did not know that the child had online access for four weeks, when external professionals alerted staff to this. Staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 4 lacked professional curiosity and were not vigilant. As a result, the child experienced online exploitation.

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

The manager does not have a good understanding of why a child has started to harm themselves again. She is not professionally curious and does not plan effectively for the child. Specialist help and support has not been sought for this child. This does not support the child with their emotional well-being.

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

Consequences issued to children are disproportionate and staff lack understanding of the home’s approach to consequences as part of a nurturing approach. For example, a child received an inappropriate consequence, which resulted in the child harming themselves.

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

Staff do not have a good understanding of children’s risks. Risk assessments have not been reviewed or updated, and some information is misleading and out of date. Risk assessments also lack detail and do not include specific strategies for staff to use in practice to support children and keep them safe. Consequently, children have not been kept safe.

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

There has been one incident when physical intervention was used. When the manager reviewed the incident record, she identified that alternative calming strategies were not used prior to the physical intervention taking place. However, the manager did not complete an internal investigation to explore staff practice or discuss the poor practice with the staff concerned. Furthermore, the child made a complaint about the intervention that indicated harm had occurred to the child during the intervention. The local authority designated officer was not informed or consulted until this was identified at the inspection. This means that poor practice has gone unchallenged.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers’ monitoring of the home does not address shortfalls in safeguarding practice and the quality of care provided to children. They do not take opportunities to reflect and learn to improve the safety of children and the quality of care. There is insufficient exploration of serious incidents and concerns, which has compromised children’s welfare, experiences and progress. For example, staff were unaware that a child obtained a mobile phone, which resulted in the child being exploited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff training is not specific to children’s individual needs. For example, staff do not possess suitable skills to understand how to care for children who are neurodiverse. Training for one member of staff is out of date and has been outstanding for over 12 months. The manager has not identified this or took action to ensure that the member of staff has the appropriate knowledge and skills to continue to carry out their role of caring for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 5 The manager has failed to identify risk regarding an historical incident. Despite not knowing the context, this information has been shared with other professionals. The manager has not reported to the social worker when the child has talked about the incident with staff. Furthermore, conversations that the child has had with staff about this incident have not been recorded. The manager has not advocated well for the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

child because she has not kept the risk under review. Consequently, the child missed an opportunity for work experience in their preferred placement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have implemented new monitoring systems. However, the monitoring systems have failed to address shortfalls in the quality of care provided to children. The manager does not take opportunities to reflect and learn to improve the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

New members of staff have been recruited since the last inspection and there has been a reduction in the use of agency staff. There has also been changes to the management structure. The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and the regulator is currently checking that this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to meet the actions set out in a compliance notice following an inadequate judgement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Due to the shortfalls identified, a restriction notice preventing the home providing further accommodation to children has been issued. Additionally, due to continued concerns about the practice within this home, a notice of proposal to cancel has also been served. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having the correct skills in order to identify when children are at risk of harm and take effective action to safeguard them.

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Requirement Due date

Risk assessments need to be up to date and regularly reviewed by the manager so that they are detailed and have clear strategies in place to support staff to care for and support children. 4 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 7 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that there are effective monitoring tools in place to address shortfalls in the quality of care provided to children. Leaders and managers must use these tools to reflect and learn to improve the quality of care provided to children. 4 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that plans are in place to adequately prepare children for moving on from the home. 4 June 2025

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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: 2675297 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Closer 2 Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Newington Close, Coventry CV6 1PQ

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Inspectors

Charlotte Love, Social Care Inspector Chrisoula Contoyianni, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675297 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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