Foundations Derby

Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Derby 1 Foundations Derby Progressive Care Limited 60 Village Street, Derby DE23 8SZ Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

The family centre is privately owned and is registered to provide accommodation for up to 10 families at one time.

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Information about this residential family centre

There were no families living at the centre at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this residential family centre

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 11 March 2025

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Derby 2

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have made considerable improvements since the last inspection. Families’ assessments are fair, grounded in evidence and provide clear recommendations to help decide children’s long-term care. Children and families receive a warm welcome and have positive experiences during their assessments. They are well supported by the manager and staff. Parents make progress and learn new skills. Children’s experiences are well documented and recorded in a sensitive way. Professionals have confidence in the services provided by the family centre.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Two families have completed assessments since the last inspection. Leaders and managers have faced external barriers to achieving higher numbers of admissions. Despite these challenges, the manager and staff have maintained a positive approach and provided families with positive experiences. Parents and children build positive relationships with the manager and staff because of their consistent approach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families are made welcome on their arrival following detailed pre-planning. The centre is comfortable and well furnished with personal touches, such as welcome baskets, which help parents to feel at ease. Planning meetings ensure that parents are clear about the purpose of the assessment and levels of supervision and surveillance. The manager ensures letters of instruction from the court are obtained to inform the assessment where appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

One family who completed an assessment consisted of 2 parents who were under the age of 18 years. They were not living alongside any other families at that time. The manager and staff provided a bespoke assessment that considered the parents’ needs as children as well as parents. The manager provided additional training to staff to ensure they understood how the parents’ lived experiences were impacting on their relationships with staff. Learning from this assessment has been implemented into new systems to ensure any parents who are children are safeguarded and cared for effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Social workers undertake focused assessments that are clearly evidenced. Ongoing progress and concerns are communicated to parents. This means that they are always aware of their strengths and areas for development. Assessment methods are adapted to meet parents’ individual learning styles. There is very good management oversight of the assessment process through regular meetings. Assessment reports are written to a high standard using respectful, non-blaming language. Reports have received good feedback from local authorities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents are treated with dignity and respect. They are offered additional external services, such as education and activities for their children. Staff ensure families’ Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Derby 3 experiences are captured in photos and memory books. This provides a valuable resource for children’s life-story work and for parents to remember positive experiences in a stressful period of their lives.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The manager ensures that their team has a good understanding of families’ risks and vulnerabilities. Detailed risk management plans are developed from the outset. The manager designs resources for staff to guide them in their work. Strategies to manage risk are contained in a range of documents, which could cause confusion for staff. Managers have recently developed a central document to record all key information and guidance. This system is yet to be embedded to assess its effectiveness.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children’s safety is always prioritised. For example, children are cared for by staff in emergency situations, such as when parents attend hospital. These occasions are clearly recorded in children’s daily records to ensure transparency. Staff respond to children’s needs when they are at increased risk of harm. They encourage parents to consider how their behaviour can impact on children’s emotional wellbeing. Staff can manage situations of conflict effectively. Consequently, the family centre has a calm atmosphere, which is essential for children’s safety and wellbeing.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The manager and staff support parents and children who have ongoing health needs. Staff have received specific training to help them develop knowledge and skills to do this effectively. The manager ensures that staff have up-to-date guidance regarding safe sleeping arrangements for babies. Daily records show how this knowledge is shared with parents and how staff intervene appropriately to keep children safe.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Leaders and managers work effectively with other agencies to safeguard children. Communication is regular and informative. There has been one occasion where statutory child protection processes were instigated. It is unclear whether all possible actions were carried out during this process. The manager advocated for the child throughout. However, she did not obtain minutes from an important meeting. In the absence of the minutes, there is limited information to confirm reasons for this. The manager recognises the importance of escalating situations where there are barriers to fulfilling her safeguarding duties.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Managers respond sensitively to concerns raised by parents. They listen to worries and anxieties. Where concerns have been upheld, the manager provides a timely response. In relation to staff conduct, the manager takes proportionate action to ensure that practice is improved. This approach helps parents to feel validated and respected.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff are recruited safely through the required vetting procedures. Their conduct and relationships with families are closely monitored to ensure ongoing suitability to work with children and adults. There have been no allegations of harm raised by families during this inspection period. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Derby 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dedicated and fully committed to their role. They have worked effectively with senior leaders to make improvements since the last inspection. The manager is well respected by parents because they are shown empathy and compassion in a highly stressful situation. The manager is an excellent role model to the staff team. They have high expectations and aspire for families’ futures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the family centre and feel well supported. They receive regular training and development, which has helped them to develop new skills and knowledge. In particular, they have increased their understanding of the impact of trauma and how to support children who are also parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive regular supervision, which maintains their resilience and holds staff to account for their work. The manager has recently completed supervision training, which has deepened their understanding of this important process. The learning from this is yet to be fully embedded into the supervision process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have very good oversight of the family centre. They are continually developing new approaches to improve practice, for example individual support for parents who are children. Some of these initiatives are yet to be implemented, and managers are open to change if required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises that the staff have been impacted by low numbers of families living at the centre. They have ensured that staff have maintained their skills and experience by working at other family centres in the company. Senior managers recognise the importance of taking a gradual approach when accepting new families. There are plans to bring the team together to rebuild its working relationships before welcoming families again. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Derby 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are alert to any signs or symptoms that might indicate that a child is at risk of harm or that action is necessary to protect a vulnerable adult. This includes ensuring that all measures in place to manage risk are aligned and documented in a way that is easily accessible to staff. (Residential family centres: NMS 5.8)  The registered person should work effectively in partnership with other agencies concerned with child and adult protection. This includes obtaining outcomes of child protection enquiries and records of strategy meetings. The registered person should work with other agencies to ensure that processes initiated relating to a child’s safety are fully implemented and challenge shortfalls in practice where necessary. (Residential family centres: NMS 5.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are provided with supervision that helps them to develop the skills necessary to meet the individual needs of parents

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Recommendations

and children with complex lived experiences and enables them to work effectively as part of a team. (Residential family centres: NMS 17.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Derby 6

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Progressive Care Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 51 Attercliffe Common, Sheffield S9 2AE

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Residential family centre details

Email address: info@progressivecare.co.uk

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Inspector

Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Derby 7 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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