Children's Home run by West Sussex County Council in West Sussex

Inspection report for children's home: 2829975 1 Registered provider: West Sussex County Council

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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 local authority home provides short-term emergency support for children at times of crisis or significant periods of change in their lives.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties. Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2829975 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to have their views, wishes and feelings heard through structured discussions with staff and through engaging positively during activities in the community and in the home. The staff quickly develop positive relationships with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy healthy social relationships by including those who are important to them in activities. This has helped children to settle and enjoy being in the home. The staff liaise with parents and carers of the children who visit to ensure the safety of all.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate festivals that are important to children. They identify and provide for any cultural needs in response to children’s wishes, such as sourcing appropriate beauty and hair products for a child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in the short time they live in the home. One child’s risk of criminal exploitation and going missing from home has been significantly reduced. The staff reviewed the child’s referral with them and their social worker to reflect the reduced risks and identify a suitable place for the child to live when they leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is supported by staff. When children are not attending school, the staff advocate for suitable provision and work with the children to enable them to go to a school of their choice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff work closely with social workers to meet children’s physical and mental health needs and ensure that children get the support and care that they need. Experienced psychologists are funded to facilitate staff group discussions. These sessions complement the trauma-informed practice training, with a focus on each child. These sessions are valued by staff, who report that they gain insight into understanding children’s behaviour in order to better support them.

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

Allegations and child protection concerns are well managed in the home, and the manager ensures that external professionals, including Ofsted, are informed and consulted when necessary to ensure that independent people can make sure that concerns are looked into.

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

Managers learn from safeguarding incidents. For example, weaknesses in the home’s security and staff monitoring were identified and rectified, and learning was shared with all staff to improve practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2829975 3 Children who go missing from the home experience well-coordinated responses from staff. The police are contacted within the agreed timeframes. Staff work closely with children’s individual police link workers to help children engage positively and learn to become safer.

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

Staff encourage children to make positive choices and understand the consequences of their behaviour. Staff work consistently to ensure that there are clear boundaries to help keep children safe. Children are encouraged to keep in touch and let staff know where they are when they are away from the home.

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

Leaders and managers are creative in using external resources to educate the children. They sourced a positive role model who shared his experiences, which meant that a child felt able to talk about their own experiences of being at risk of exploitation.

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

The registered manager also manages another home in the organisation. A temporary manager is currently employed to oversee this home. These changes have impacted on the oversight of the home. The manager and newly appointed staff did not have time to embed as a team before the first child moved in.

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

There are missed opportunities to complete an in-depth analysis of some aspects of practice in the home. For example, when a child left in an unplanned way, the circumstances were not explored to inform future learning and practice.

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

Managers do not use monitoring and review systems effectively to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. For example, the manager has not undertaken a quality of care review to inform and reflect on areas of strength and development.

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

Financial consequences were used inappropriately for a child. The child’s financial consequence became a deterrent for them to return home. Staff responded by immediately stopping this practice. However, the learning from this was not recorded in the child’s care plan and risk assessment to ensure this practice was not repeated. A further financial consequence was used despite the child having engaged in restorative practice. This was not effective and did not reflect the ethos of the home.

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

Staff are supported to be successful in their roles through regular supervision processes, which enable them to reflect on their practice, explore their development and think about safeguarding in the home. However, a senior staff member did not have regular supervision during a challenging time in the home.

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

Core staff training is well maintained, and the training is managed and monitored centrally through the head office. Staff value the training on offer and feel this complements and enhances their practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2829975 4

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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 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

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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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, senior leaders in the organisation must ensure that any learning from incidents or unplanned endings is explored to inform practice development. 31 January 2026

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Requirement Due date

The behaviour management and discipline standard is that no measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child.

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum (which may be by instalments) by way of reparation. (Regulation 19 (1) (2)(f)) 31 January 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2829975 5 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. (Regulation 45 (1)) 31 January 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2829975 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: West Sussex County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1RG

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Inspector

Suzy Lemmy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2829975 7 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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