Children's home run by Vcare - 24 Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 1 Registered provider: Vcare - 24 Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is owned and operated by a private provider. It may provide care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. One child had left the home since the last inspection. Both children were spoken to by the inspector.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2024 and is suitably skilled and qualified.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/10/2024 Full Good 02/10/2023 Full Good 21/09/2022 Full Good 08/12/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child described the home as ‘relaxed’, ‘chill’ and a place where you are supported. Staff develop positive relationships with children, which have been sustained after a child left the home. The child described the rules in the home as fair. The use of incentives and progress charts helps the child to make positive choices. This has contributed to improved personal hygiene for one child, which has been recognised by their parents.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is promoted by staff and the registered manager. One child, who was out of education for a significant period, has obtained qualifications and was taken to education by the staff daily. When a child moves into the home, the registered manager advocates for education placements at the first opportunity. Through the promotion of education, the child is more likely to achieve qualifications, which will positively impact their future life chances.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Routine and emergency medical appointments are sought for the child. Staff have shown care and commitment and taken the child to an appointment four hours away from the home. When the child does not want to attend appointments, gentle encouragement and support has been offered, which meant that the child received the medical treatment they required.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to maintain links with people who are important to them. One child said, ‘They would drive me up and down the country every two weeks; I really appreciated that.’ Parents have been involved in important decision-making about the child living in the home. When family members visit the home, they are welcomed and can spend quality time with the child.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to pursue interests that they enjoy. The child previously at the home has been able to attend boxing and the child at the home enjoys attending ice skating regularly, and memberships have been purchased to facilitate this. Engagement in these activities has had a positive impact on the child’s emotional well-being, with parents describing the child as ‘much happier’.

p.3

improvement to be good

The child describes feeling safe and can identify staff they trust. The child spoke about how they could talk to the staff in the home and know that they would speak to the manager to help them resolve any worries.

p.3

improvement to be good

Concerns about staff are taken seriously. When concerns are raised, managers complete thorough investigations and take steps to ensure the immediate safety of Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 4 children. The registered manager appropriately refers to the local authority designated officer with any allegations.

p.3

improvement to be good

Before moving into the home, the child was frequently reported as missing. The underlying reasons for these incidents were explored through direct conversations with the child. In response, tailored plans were developed to support the child’s independence while prioritising their safety. The child actively participated in creating these plans and has a clear understanding of them. Since the plans were embedded, the child has not gone missing for the past 11 weeks.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks and vulnerabilities of the child. Appropriate referrals to external agencies have been made to support the child in managing these vulnerabilities. As a result of the support, there has been a reduction in some risky behaviours, including a reduction in missing-from-home episodes.

p.4

improvement to be good

The child’s plans do not fully detail the actions required by staff when safeguarding concerns are identified. This meant that staff have not taken preventative action, resulting in the child disclosing that they had experienced harm when in the community. Staff were responsive when receiving the disclosure and ensured that the local authority and police were involved.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager talks passionately and with pride about the child and genuinely cares about their outcomes.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has positive working relationships with parents and professionals. They are a strong advocate for the child. The registered manager contributes to wider plans and decision-making about the child. For the child who has left the home, the registered manager successfully advocated to ensure that their transition plan reflected their wishes and feelings. This has meant that the child has remained in employment and has moved to semi-independence successfully.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When children move into the home, they receive a child-friendly complaints procedure in a booklet. The child feels able to speak to staff, who will arrange discussions with the registered manager to help resolve any worries that the child may have. The child described how the registered manager would ‘have a good chat’, which they find helpful.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are tools and systems in place to support management oversight. The registered manager reviews significant events and completes staff debriefs following incidents. A new lessons learned procedure has been introduced to help develop staff and practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are recruited and inducted using a thorough approach. There are key review points within the induction period that the manager oversees to ensure progress. New staff have had probation periods extended to allow the plans to be achieved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 5 The extensions reflect that the induction plans are meaningful and assess staff competence. Staff receive regular, reflective supervision. However, the appraisals have not been completed annually.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Key documents relating to the home are incomplete or inaccurate. The quality-of- care review for the preceding six months has not been completed. The statement of purpose does not accurately describe the needs of children that the home can care for. Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b)) 17 October

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

p.6

Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and 31 October Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 7 notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.7

Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 31 October

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

p.7

Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

p.7

Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (3) (4)(a)) 31 October

p.7

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: 2544219 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 10, Halifax Way, Pocklington Industrial Estate, Pocklington, York YO42 1NP

p.8

Inspector

Ali Owens, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2544219 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9