Children's home run by HMO NE Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 1 Registered provider: ForeverCare

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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 privately owned children’s home provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in September 2024. The manager’s position is currently vacant.

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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 failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 14 January 2025

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite some measurable progress for the child, shortfalls in leadership and management have resulted in poor safeguarding practices in the home. Leaders and managers have not adequately responded to concerns or implemented appropriate safeguarding strategies. These shortfalls have significantly compromised the child’s safety, experiences and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Management oversight is not sufficient, and until recently, staff had access to only minimal strategies for ensuring the child’s safety and mitigating associated risks. These shortfalls have had a considerable impact on the child’s welfare and hindered their overall progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child has not received clear structure to their day. They have not had consistent help and support to maintain clear routines. Although supported to attend health appointments, their sleep pattern is a concern. Staff have not implemented appropriate structure and boundaries and have been unable to promote good routines and encourage the child to engage consistently in educational activity throughout the day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, the child has enjoyed time with family and activities such as sleepovers, playing pool, going to a water park and celebrating their birthday. Staff have compiled a memory book for the child to look back on and recall these happy memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home is well maintained, and the child’s bedroom is personalised to them.

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

The manager has not implemented appropriate safeguarding measures, escalated concerns regarding criminal exploitation or challenged professionals when there has been a lack of action. Consequently, risks for the child have continued to increase.

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

Leaders and managers do not always share accurate information with external professionals. Therefore, professionals make decisions about the child without being aware of important details. As a result, some of these decisions may not always be in the child’s best interests.

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

Not all staff are aware of all known risks to the child or how to identify and manage them appropriately. Risk management plans do not provide clear or effective strategies for the staff to follow. As a result, the manager and staff are failing to respond appropriately to and reduce the current risks to the child. This includes the risk of substance misuse and criminal exploitation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 4 Direct work conducted by staff to support the child is variable. Staff do not consistently complete direct work with the child in a timely way following significant incidents or demonstrate any professional curiosity. This does not provide the child with opportunities to share any worries, develop their awareness of issues that are affecting them or support them to make safer choices.

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

Serious incidents involving the child are not always notified to Ofsted, despite being required by regulation. This impacts on the regulator’s oversight of safeguarding practice in the home.

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

Complaints made by the child are acted on and they have been supported to understand the outcome and the reasons for decisions. This supports the child to feel listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager’s post is vacant. A manager from another of the provider’s homes is acting as interim manager until a permanent manager is recruited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The interim manager has highlighted shortfalls in safeguarding and staff practices and is now working closely with the responsible individual to rectify these issues. Although corrective measures have been initiated, they remain at an early stage, and their effectiveness has yet to be demonstrated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, there has been a significant turnover of staff. Consequently, the child has not received consistent care and support. These changes have impacted the child’s ability to develop and maintain relationships with the adults who care for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers’ oversight of the welfare of children and the quality of care provided by the staff are weak. There have been several incidents in the home. However, the recording of these incidents is either poor or missing. When incidents are recorded, records lack detail, are inaccurate, and until recently have not been consistently reviewed by managers. This means that there is no opportunity for the staff to learn from incidents or for concerns around staff practice, skills and knowledge to be addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Communication and professional challenge are poor. The child’s placing authority was not aware of the extent of some incidents that had recently occurred, and leaders and managers had failed to escalate requests for meetings with professionals to share information and safeguard the child and ensure a multi-agency response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Several staff members have not received training that is relevant to the needs of the child living in the home, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), criminal exploitation and substance misuse. Consequently, not all staff understand the child’s individual risks and vulnerabilities and how to support them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 5 Staff do not always have regular practice-related supervision as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. This means that staff, including new and inexperienced members of staff, do not have opportunities to reflect on the child’s progress, how they support the child, and their own learning and development. Leaders and managers, therefore, are not evaluating staff’s practice, learning and suitability to continue to work at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there are clear steps recorded in the child’s risk plans to support staff in keeping the child safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff have completed training specific to the child’s individual needs, risks and vulnerabilities. 10 October 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 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 7 promotes their welfare.

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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

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

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)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they have oversight of all work being completed. They must ensure that work is evaluated to establish patterns and trends and identify areas of learning in order to make continuous improvements to the quality of care for children.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 10 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 8 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the child is supported by a consistent staff team whose members are able to demonstrate professional curiosity. The registered person must ensure that staff have the skills to support the child to understand how to keep themselves safe and recognise or withdraw from damaging, exploitative or harmful relationships.

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Requirement Due date

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 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the frequency of supervision is in line with the home’s policies and procedures. 10 October 2025

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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 which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 9

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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: 2771500 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: HMO NE Ltd T/A ForeverCare

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hallgate House, 9 Grange Terrace, Sunderland SR2 7DF

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Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2771500 11 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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