Children's home run by Cornwall Council

Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 1 Registered provider: Cornwall Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children who have social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities. There were three children living in the home at the time of inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 13 January 2025

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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: 2633410 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2025 Full Good 04/12/2023 Full Good 28/02/2023 Full Good 01/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector spent time with the three children who were living in the home during the inspection. Children are well supported to communicate which activities they would like to do. Children enjoy playing hide and seek, eating lunch, having time to relax after school, spending time in the sensory room and spending time in the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are loved by the staff who care for them. As a result, the children have been provided with a long-term and stable home. Staff know the children well. They seek to understand them, invest time in them and continue to build trusted relationships. Staff place the children at the centre of this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the previous inspection two of the children continue to attend the same schools. The home staff communicate regularly with education staff and they are ambitious for the children to make progress. The children have educational targets and staff know what to do to support them to achieve these. One child has had a significant change to their education. They now receive education at home. The professionals working with this child say they have made consistent progress, which is in line with their care plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff in the home provide the children with access to a range of social and recreational activities. These include swimming, going to a local garden with an adventure park, surfing, horse therapy and visiting local parks. Staff recognise that as the children have grown, their likes and interests have changed, and they are seeking to adapt what they offer to meet the children’s changing needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to manage their individual health needs. The children have access to local and specialised health services. Staff ensure external professionals have a full overview of the children’s health needs by being active participants in the regular professional meetings. However, there is a lack of clear and consistent tracking of the children’s self-care needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff treat the children with dignity and respect. However, not enough insight is held by staff into children’s individual identities and cultures.

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

Staff are aware of the vulnerabilities of the children in their care. They understand the children’s behavioural presentation and know if something is wrong or if something has distressed them. They are in tune with the children’s needs should they require support to manage challenging feelings. Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 4 The children are consistently supported with their own individual method of communication so the staff can help them to make choices in their daily lives. The staff in the home actively seek to help children, to make their own choices and participate in decisions about their day-to-day lives.

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

Up-to-date risk assessments set out plans for the staff to manage risks based on each child’s circumstances. Staff support the children to understand their own behaviours and how to manage those safely both now and when they are older. The children are exploring the impact of puberty on their bodies. However, care planning is not always clear about this support which does not promote consistency of practice.

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

Physical restraint has been used. These incidents are recorded clearly and align with the individual child’s safety plans. Children and staff involved are spoken to after incidents. Managers review the records and evaluate them to help improve future care. This has resulted in a reduction in the use of restraint in recent months.

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

Staff know the procedures to follow to report any concerns, and reports of incidents are shared in a timely way with the children’s social workers and parents.

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

The physical environment of the home is safe for children and protects them from risk of harm, while allowing them to live in a homely family environment.

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

Overall, the home is staffed by a consistent team, and while agency workers are used, they are a consistent part of the team and are committed to the care of the children. Recently, the registered manager has been registered for another home and some staff have felt his absence has impacted on the quality of care they are able to provide.

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

The manager knows the children well as individuals. However, there is no regular or effective monitoring of staff practice for the manager to effectively review the quality of care being provided. Children’s plans are out of date and do not reflect children’s current needs. Some records written by staff are illegible.

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

The manager has not completed a review of the quality of care in a timely way, in line with regulation.

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

The manager has built positive relationships with external professionals and advocates well for each child. They continue to build on these relationships with parents, social workers and external professionals to secure positive outcomes for the children.

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

Supervision is not regular. The quality, timeliness and recording of supervision for permanent staff and agency staff is inconsistent.

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

The staff engage in training to develop their care practice. However, managers have no centralised system to have comprehensive oversight of what training the staff have done, what has been booked and what is due to expire. Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 5 Team meetings take place and discussions on safeguarding have recently been introduced. Staff say they understand the care they need to provide to children and when plans have changed through communication books, staff handovers and team meetings. Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 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 ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1) (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that supervision of all staff including agency staff, is consistently offered and recorded in an effective and timely way In addition, the registered person must ensure there is an effective centralised record system to ensure oversight of training for all staff. 31 October 2025

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review 31 October 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 7 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").

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure they complete a review of the quality of care, which includes opinions of both children and staff and those relevant outside of the home.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that care which meets each child’s needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account the child’s gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences and any relevant plans. The registered person should ensure all needs are clearly and explicitly recorded when completing plans for the children’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2)  The registered person should ensure that where children have specific health needs, they should be supported to manage these, subject to their age and understanding. In particular, managers should ensure that there are clear plans for each child’s support needs with toileting, that these are well understood by staff and implemented consistently. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  The registered person should ensure the home’s records for each child, which represent a significant contribution to their life history, are legible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 8 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: 2633410 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cornwall Council, County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro TR1 3AY

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Inspector

Hannah Spencer-Townesend, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2633410 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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Inspector

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