Capernaum Supported Living

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 1 Capernaum Supported Living Registered provider: Capernaum Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is operated by a private provider in the East of England. The service can accommodate up to 10 children in 3 shared or group living premises that are not limited to accommodating looked-after children and care leavers. At the time of the inspection, 8 children aged 16 or 17 were being accommodated. One of the children turned 18 the day the inspection ended.

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provider

The service and the registered service manager registered with Ofsted in October 2024.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 16 March 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 18 to 20 March 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

Several areas of practice require further strengthening to ensure children consistently receive safe and effective support. These include responding to concerns about staff conduct and ensuring staff have the training they need to confidently meet children’s complex needs.

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Summary of findings

Risk management arrangements are not always timely or robust, and some accommodation requires improvement.

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Summary of findings

Leadership oversight has not yet ensured that all recommended actions from investigations and assessments are fully implemented. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 2 Children generally experience positive relationships with staff who know them well. Most children are making progress in education and are supported to maintain important relationships with family and friends.

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Summary of findings

The homes are in areas that allow children to access relevant community resources independently as they develop the skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

In two of the properties, children are making progress and receive good support. In one property, the quality of support and the child’s experience has been poor. The vast majority of shortfalls identified at this inspection explicitly relate to that property. However, poor leadership and management have the potential to affect any child who is supported by the provider.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children’s needs are not fully understood by staff. This reduces the staff’s ability to provide support in a way that children can engage with. When needs are known, it is not consistently clear how or if they have been addressed with the child to help develop their understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Plans for children to move on post-18 are not consistently effective. Unclear communication between the provider and the local authorities means that some children do not have a well-defined understanding of their future plans. This contributes to some children developing unrealistic expectations about what is available for them. This in turn contributes to children feeling disappointed and distressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children are able to regularly spend time with family, friends or other people who are important to them. Social relationships are encouraged, and children are enabled to use different means to communicate and keep in touch. Children’s cultural needs are considered, with plans for children to celebrate important occasions, such as Easter or Eid, with family or friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The children’s guide and other documents are provided in the child’s first language to help ensure that they can understand and participate in decisions about their lives. Direct-work reports are written in English and another language if necessary to aid children’s understanding and involvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are encouraged to engage with education, training or other activities. Aspirations, for example to go to university, are supported, with staff helping children to find the best options for their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children’s health needs are considered. Some children are supported to improve their health and work with the relevant professionals to address individual needs. Staff have found ways to overcome barriers for some children who are nervous or confused about the available support for their needs. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 3

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How well children are helped and protected

Some safeguarding or difficult situations are managed well by staff, but there are no clear and consistent boundaries across the provision. Each home operates separately, resulting in inconsistencies.

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How well children are helped and protected

The quality and consistency of approaches to safeguarding vary across the provision. Some staff lack training and confidence. This contributes to children experiencing inconsistent responses from staff, contributing to escalating conflict

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not ensure that safeguarding arrangements are good enough or that concerns about staff practice are acted on quickly and effectively. These shortfalls expose children to avoidable risk and reflect weaknesses in managerial oversight, staff supervision and communication with partner agencies.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children experience some aspects of help and protection that support their safety and wellbeing. For example, staff apply the missing-from-home policy consistently for some children, and this has contributed to a significant reduction in missing- from-home episodes for individual children. Staff also work proactively with those children to help them understand risks in the community, including risks related to exploitation, online harm and peer relationships.

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How well children are helped and protected

Some children benefit from trusted relationships with staff and feel able to share concerns, knowing they will be listened to and supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Despite isolated strengths, leadership and management do not yet provide the well- led service required to ensure children consistently experience good-quality, reliable support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not take consistently effective actions when concerns about staff practice have arisen. Records lack clarity, and some recommendations relating to staff have not been implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not show sufficient curiosity when reviewing internal safeguarding reports. As a result, some concerns have not been appropriately followed up.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Management oversight is lacking. There is inconsistent supervision quality, training gaps for some staff and limited planning for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not ensure that all children live in a homely, safe environment. The system for maintenance issues to be reported is not used in a way that provides effective oversight. Maintenance issues sometimes go unaddressed, meaning that children can live in homes that lack necessities such as clothes hangers and a secure shower. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 4 The reviews of the quality of service lack rigour, meaning shortfalls are not promptly identified or addressed. As a result, the provider cannot consistently demonstrate that children’s needs are well monitored or that practice is improving. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 5

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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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including 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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work effectively as a team, where appropriate, to meet the needs of children;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 1 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or any other harm, and act to reduce such risk; 1 May 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 6 work collaboratively with children to help them understand how to keep safe, by offering guidance and support on how to minimise any potential risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the relevant roles and responsibilities assigned to them by the registered person in relation to protecting children. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(f)(ii)(iii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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

ensure that the premises used as supported accommodation—

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Requirement Due date

are adequately maintained so as to provide a welcoming and homely environment within both individual and shared living spaces;

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Requirement Due date

are designed, furnished and maintained to remove avoidable hazards which could pose a health and safety risk to children;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each child is provided with a private bedroom—

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Requirement Due date

with sufficient space to accommodate a reasonable number of personal possessions,

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Requirement Due date

which is equipped to meet the child’s individual needs. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(viii)(ix)(d)(i)(ii)) 29 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must operate a disciplinary procedure which, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provides that the failure on the part of an employee to report an incident of abuse, or suspected abuse, whether past or present, in relation to a child to the appropriate person is a ground on which disciplinary proceedings may be instituted. (Regulation 18 (2)(b)) 1 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

maintain the records in Schedule 3, which may be kept in electronic form. (Regulation 25 (2)(a)) 1 May 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that as part of good employment practice, all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 51)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of support provided by the service and the experiences of children living in the each of the provider’s settings, looking at the impact the support is having on outcomes and improvements for the young people. The report should review feedback from the young people about how well prepared they feel for the move to independent living. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 62)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Office B12, Ampthill Road, Safe Store Bedford, Bedford MK42 9QZ

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Inspector

Eileen Bultitude, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Capernaum Supported Living 9 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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