Children's Home run by YMCA Robin Hood Group in North Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 1 Registered provider:

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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 provider owns and manages the home. The home provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

An interim manager is managing the home. This manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/08/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 3

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in the management and leadership of the home, together with staff’s poor safeguarding practice have had an impact on children’s experiences.

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improvement to be good

Children have positive moving in experiences. The manager and the home’s clinical team ensure careful evaluation of referral information. The manager works with the clinical team to put together safety plans to keep children safe. The manager encourages children to visit the home and meet with staff prior to moving in. This helps them to feel settled. However, one child’s experience of moving on from the home was unplanned and the quick move did not allow staff to prepare the child for leaving.

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improvement to be good

The manager provides staff with safety plans and resources to keep children safe. However, staff do not always adhere to the plans. For example, on occasions, the supervision of children has been poor. One child attempted to self-injure when they were under direct supervision. In another incident, staff did not take appropriate steps to stop a child from leaving the home, to prevent a serious incident from occurring. This had a negative effect on the overall experiences of the child and their relationship with staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand that children experience complex emotions from their significant histories of trauma. They make attempts to develop trusting relationships. Staff enable children to talk about their worries and their experiences. However, for one child who moved on, staff were overwhelmed. Their responses were reactive and ineffective, despite the support they received.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children regularly take prescribed medications. Medication checks are a daily part of handovers so that errors do not occur. However, two members of staff were not aware of a child’s medical diagnosis even though they administer prescribed medication for that need. This does not help children to feel that staff understand their health needs.

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improvement to be good

Education is a strong focus for staff. They are positive about engaging children in learning opportunities. Leaders and managers provide tutors, agreed through the virtual school, to help children who are not in school. Children learn in the home through art, written work and positive activities. This provides continuity of learning for children.

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improvement to be good

Staff respect the dignity and rights of the children. Leaders and managers make specialist help available according to the needs of each child. The clinical team advocated, through their assessments provided to court, for one child to receive specialist treatment. This helped professionals to meet the needs of the child and improve a life-long, complex condition. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 4

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improvement to be good

Managers meet with the team prior to children moving in, to talk about the child and the care and protection they need. Despite this, staff did not respond as agreed to a serious incident of self-injurious behaviour, leaving a child at risk. The quick actions of another member of staff helped to limit the harm caused. Supervision of the same child has not been consistent, and a lack of proactive intervention did not meet the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff have the necessary resources to respond to the risk of harm to children. However, there are concerning gaps in safeguarding practices. In one specific incident, communication about a child’s risks were poor. One incident of a ligature attempt was managed and recorded by staff. However, managers were not aware of that incident, meaning they had no oversight. Furthermore, one new member of staff carried a ligature grab bag without having the specific training by the provider to use the safety tools. These shortfalls in management oversight do not keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to complain. The manager shares allegations against staff with the appropriate agencies. However, the manager’s review of one incident in relation to a car incident where the child was unharmed but required medical review was not satisfactory. The manager has not robustly reviewed conflicting accounts of the same incident. This demonstrates poor management oversight and a weak safeguarding culture.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not effectively reported recent serious incidents of attempted self-injury by a child, to the relevant agencies in line with statutory guidance and the home’s policy.

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improvement to be good

Staff often guide and hold children for their safety and the safety of staff. When this happens, staff receive support from the clinical team, who provide support and strategies to manage children’s behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Staff work well with the police to safeguard children when this is necessary. The clinical team and managers talk to the children and staff after incidents happen so that staff can help children to cope with their emotions and improve their behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are clearly written. All staff, including casual night staff, are aware of and have read and signed them. Safety plans and risk management plans document the areas of need and high risks for children and how to respond to those risks. Safety plans align to restrictions made in court to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

An interim manager is managing the home. A manager from another home has been supporting the deputy manager in the absence of the interim manager. Changes in leadership and management of the home have had a negative effect on staff practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 5 Staff morale is low, and staff say that this is due to poor communication in the line of leadership.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff’s experiences of support from their leaders and managers vary. Supervision of new members of staff has not taken place in line with agreed induction timescales. Leaders and managers have not taken enough action to ensure that supervision for all staff is up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff meetings are not taking place regularly. This does not help staff as they are not able to reflect on strengths to build resilience to care for the children. Clinical consultations give some mitigation for the lack of staff meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers use a variety of monitoring tools, including feedback from the independent visitor. Managers include staff in their ongoing review of the home. However, the monitoring systems are proven ineffective due to the number of shortfalls identified during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children benefit from a full staff group. All staff, including the interim manager, are working towards relevant diploma qualifications. Leaders and managers recruit safely and offer an induction programme, although there are shortfalls in staff receiving the planned support. Staff recruited to the home bring different skills that benefit children. For example, one member of staff has previous teaching experience, and this helps the child to learn in an informal but structured way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have reflected on shortfalls and provided an immediate action plan to address the concerns. This includes an increase in waking night staff and more visibility of managers in the home. The action plan highlights immediate actions that staff must take during incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff understand and adhere to the safety plan and follow the actions directed to keep the chid safe from risks. 30 June 2025

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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 promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 30 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 7 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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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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.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child's placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(b) (2)(iii)(iii)) 30 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction; 30 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 8 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 30 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: 2775374 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malt Cross, 16 St. James's Street, Nottingham NG1 6FG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Terrianne Butler

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Inspector

Tenji Wesa, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2775374 10 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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