Children's Home run by Empower Residentials Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 1 Registered provider: Empower Residentials 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

This home can provide care for two children who may have emotional and social needs or learning difficulties. At the time of inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024.

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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: 2694810 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2024 Full Good 10/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are kind, caring and sensitive towards the child’s needs. Staff have formed strong relationships with the child and have helped them to grow and develop in the two plus years they have lived in the home. Staff know the child well and fully understand how they can get the best out of the child. They use that knowledge to ensure that the child experiences positive outcomes and makes progress in many areas of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of the child attending and doing well in their education. The registered manager has proactively challenged the school and is a strong advocate for the child, ensuring their rights are upheld and they receive a full educational provision to meet their needs and make further progress. Staff take opportunity to regularly engage with the child in meaningful informal educational activity to aid their learning and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have been proactive in enabling the child to develop a friendship with a peer. Staff help ensure that the child enjoys spending quality time with their friend and enjoy activities that match a common interest and have fun BBQs in the garden at one another’s home. Staff also ensure that the child spends meaningful and valuable time with their family, aware of the positive impact this has on the child’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to attend all their medical appointments, including medication reviews to maintain and improve their physical health and mental wellbeing. Staff support the child to enjoy a healthy, well-balanced diet.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff recognise the importance of the child experiencing a range of activities that meets their interests and hobbies. Staff understand the child’s unique needs and support them thoughtfully to engage in activities they enjoy and celebrate with the child when they find rare historic items that brings the child such excitement. These activities include mud larking, banger racing, trips to the beach and antiques fairs. These experiences help to support the child to grow socially and emotionally.

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

The child says they feel safe living in their home. Staff understand the importance of maintaining established boundaries to help keep the child safe. Staff treat the child with dignity and respect and know when they need to give the child their own privacy and personal space and when the child needs their support. When incidents occur, staff take appropriate and effective action to help the child manage their own behaviour safely. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 4 When concerns are raised by the child about staff’s actions, the manager acts efficiently and effectively to protect children and keep them safe. Staff have built positive relationships with local authorities and their designated officers. When required, thorough investigations take place and the child’s voice is listened to, believed and supported throughout. Staff involved are also supported to help ensure that their mental and emotional well-being needs are met and appropriate action is

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

taken to ensure staff are suitable and safe to work with vulnerable children.

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

Restraint has been used on occasion to keep the child and others safe and protected from harm. Records are detailed and clearly describe what led up to the incident and the de-escalation techniques staff used prior to using physical intervention as a last resort. However, managers do not always reflect with the child or staff specifically about the use of restraint following an incident or evaluate its effectiveness. This is a missed opportunity to inform future practice.

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

Staff have built trusting and secure relationships with the child and the child has staff they can go to and share their thoughts and feelings with. Staff have many open conversations with the child and are skilled at discussing sensitive and delicate topics in a caring child-friendly way. Staff conscientiously listen to the child to gain a thorough understanding of their concerns and respond appropriately taking prompt action to allay any fears and ensure the child feels supported and protected.

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

Staff have been instrumental in helping the child have their deprivation of liberty order lifted so that their personal freedom is no longer restricted. The child is now supported to have more independence and is able to spend free time in the community away from staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well managed by a committed manager, who has high aspirations for the home and the child they support. They understand the importance of positively working closely with external professionals to help them achieve their vision. The culture and ethos set by the manager is embraced by all staff, who share the manager’s vision and put the child at the heart of everything they do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have good oversight and understand the strengths of the home, and the developments and changes that need to be made to ensure the home continually improves. The quality of care provided is regularly monitored to ensure that the child continues to make progress from their starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel valued and enjoy working in the home. They speak with pride about how they support the child and make a positive difference to their life. Staff express confidence in the leaders and mangers, who they say demonstrate true concern for their well-being and work-life balance. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 5 The child’s voice shines through in the records, which are child focused. Staff work together to provide stability for the child, recognising how fundamental having a stable base is for the child from which they can grow and flourish. Records positively reflect the child’s achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home feels warm and homely. The child’s identity can be felt throughout the home. There is a museum room in the house that contains a vast collection of historic items that staff have helped the child to find. Each item that the child finds is celebrated by the staff who know how much happiness and joy it brings to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 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 prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(a)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 29 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 7

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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: 2694810 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Empower Residentials Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Prockters Farm, West Monkton, TauntonSomerset TA2 8QN

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Inspector

Gary Turney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 9 and inspects 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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