Children's home run by Young Generation

Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 1 SC028460 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is owned and operated by a private provider to care for up to 4 children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There are 3 children currently living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2002.

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 27 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: SC028460 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/01/2025 Full Good 13/02/2024 Full Good 05/04/2022 Full Good 04/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 4 children have moved into the home. When new children come into the home, leaders and managers consider whether it is safe for children to live together. When children leave the home, staff want them to have positive experiences. They host leaving parties for the children and give them gifts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff. This is noted by social workers as a positive aspect of children's experiences in the home. One child talked about a member of staff who they describe as 'nice and relatable'. This typifies how children see the staff who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in activities such as bowling, swimming, trampolining and trips to the cinema. Staff also nominate a 'young person of the month'. This reward system encourages children to achieve goals and targets that are set for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children attend their routine health appointments. Staff also support children to nurture their emotional wellbeing. There is an in-house counsellor who speaks to children, and children appreciate the opportunity to consider things that are on their minds.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff want children to develop their practical skills to aid their independence. For example, children engage in cooking and cleaning. Staff also teach children how to buy food at supermarkets and register their details with health services. One child was also supported to open a bank account.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children complain, staff make sure that they feel heard. Complaints are fully investigated, the children's professional network is informed, and children are made aware of the outcome of their complaint.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are currently not engaging with school consistently. However, education professionals praise the staff for advocating for the children to return to education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have not escalated concerns to a placing authority when they have not received a child's placement plan in a timely way. This has an impact on the accuracy and quality of their home care plan.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not effectively managing all safeguarding concerns in the home. One child's vulnerability is their internet use and the risk of sexual exploitation. Staff switch the internet off at night, but the child is still accessing the internet from another source. Staff had not noticed this and are unaware of what online material the child may be Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 4 accessing. In addition, the child's social worker is concerned that staff are not implementing boundaries with this child so that their internet use is safe.

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improvement to be good

Most children go missing from the home regularly and for long periods of time. Police are concerned that staff lack curiosity about how to keep one child safe when they are away from the home. When children return, staff discuss with them the time they have been away from their care and why this is a concern. However, leaders and managers do not effectively escalate concerns with placing authorities so that they can revise their approaches to keeping children safe.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers could not provide evidence that gaps in employment histories for a staff member were suitably considered. This raises concerns about their recruitment process.

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improvement to be good

Staff search children's rooms regularly when there is a concern for their safety. However, room search records do not detail whether staff seek the children's consent or inform them that these searches happen.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have improved their oversight of medication. When there was a single medication error, leaders and managers responded effectively. They contacted medical professionals to make sure the child was safe. Staff completed additional training. Leaders and managers made sure that medication was correctly labelled.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children's risk assessments are clear and up to date. Staff speak to children about their risks to help them understand professionals' concerns. Staff also refer children to external services for additional support when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers really care about the children. Feedback from one social worker noted that 'staff communication is excellent'.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by leaders and speak positively about how training is improving their practice. Staff have regular team meetings where they openly discuss areas of practice that need improving. Positive practice is regularly celebrated with the 'staff of the month' incentive. These factors have contributed to stability in the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers carry out regular monitoring of practice and other areas of the home to help them have better oversight. However, leaders' oversight of training records has been less effective, and staff training records are not accurate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, where they discuss the children's progress, their responsibilities and how they can improve their practice. However, the records of the manager's supervision lack detail about the support they receive. Annual appraisals are carried out with staff, but the feedback that is collected from other staff, professionals Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 5 and children is limited. This reduces the effectiveness of the appraisal process in fully evaluating staff practice and identifying areas for development. Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 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

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; and

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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)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they appropriately risk assess when there are safeguarding concerns for a child. They should constantly review the measures in place to mitigate risks to ensure that they are having a positive impact on the child. 8 February 2026

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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

seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans; 8 February 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 7 seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child's needs; and

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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 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they escalate to placing authorities when there are delays in receiving children's placement plans. In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff work effectively with the police when children are missing from the home. The registered person must also ensure that they work effectively with local authorities to revise their ways of working when approaches to keeping children safe are not working.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice as set out clearly in schedule 2 of the Children's Home Regulations 2015 ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards.' page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that all room searches are appropriately recorded. This should include the efforts to seek the child's consent and the management's decision to carry out the search. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards.' page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that the professional carrying out the manager's supervision delivers and records this in line with regulation 33 (4)(b). ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards.' page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals include the views of children and other professionals who have worked with the staff member. ('Guide to

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Recommendations

the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards.' page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that they have effective oversight of staff training so that they understand the development needs of staff in the home. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards.' page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 8

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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: SC028460 9

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Inspector

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC028460 10 regulates 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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Inspector

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