Children's Home run by Homecare Unique Limited in Kent

Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 1 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.1

Registered provider: Homecare Unique Limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home was registered on 24 April 2025. There has been no registered manager since April 2026.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There were no children living at the home at the time of the inspection; one child had recently moved out.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 15 October 2025

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 2 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/10/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/07/2025 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 3 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.2

Summary of findings

Children who live here have been helped to make progress from their starting points. The home is staffed by a permanent and committed team, who understand the children well, this enables children to build trusting relationships with the staff.

p.3

Summary of findings

Children’s relationships with people who are important to them are encouraged. Staff advocate for children’s rights and entitlements and prepare them for moves into or out of the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in key areas, such as health, education and emotional wellbeing. Staff ensure that children have positive experiences. They provide children with routine, they instil boundaries, they spend time talking to children and show an interest in them and their likes and dislikes. Staff treat children with respect and understanding, according to their individual needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build trusting and supportive relationships with children. The quality of these relationships enables children to communicate their views. Focused staff support with children allows them to voice their wishes and feelings. Children’s views are then incorporated into future care planning.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Information for children is written in a child-friendly way, which supports accessibility. Children are provided with information on how to access independent advocacy support. Social workers said that staff advocate well for children in meetings about their care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff explore and promote the children’s culture and identity effectively. One child was supported to re-engage with their place of worship, which also supported wider contact with people important to them. Children are supported to safely re-establish contact with family members. One child’s social worker said staff ‘supported contact and recognised the importance of family’.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage learning. A child was successfully supported to re-engage with education following a period of non-attendance.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported and prepared when moving out of the home. Staff liaised well with the staff at the child’s new home and comprehensive and helpful information was shared. This supported children to experience consistency in their care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff generally promote a culture of inclusivity. However, they missed an opportunity to fully challenge and offer education to a child when they made racist and derogatory comments about staff. Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 4 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.3

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

Staff understand risks for the children and are confident in their safeguarding knowledge. This means children experience appropriate responses from a competent staff team. Children are further supported to understand their own risks, through the staff providing focused support and education.

p.4

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

Children are supported to live in a safe environment and are cared for by staff who understand their needs. When children experience difficult emotions, staff manage incidents well through their understanding of children’s needs and experiences. Any use of physical intervention is proportionate and for the least amount of time needed to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

p.4

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

External professionals said that any incidents are promptly reported and communication is appropriate. They have confidence in information-sharing and safeguarding practice in the home. Parents also say they are kept up to date with any issues or concerns.

p.4

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

The manager shares safeguarding concerns appropriately with children’s social workers, the local authority designated officer and the regulator. The quality of notifications and referrals submitted is variable. In addition, the criteria for notifications were not always correct or clear. The manager had failed to monitor and identify that some actions set had not been followed through or completed following an incident. However, this has not left children at risk of harm.

p.4

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

Children’s risk assessments are detailed and provide a thorough chronology of incidents, along with mitigating and responsive actions to support staff. However, these are not routinely reviewed following significant incidents to ensure they have the most up to date information for staff.

p.4

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

The home has a clear complaints policy and details of how to complain are also included in the children’s guide, in a child-friendly format. Despite this, staff were not clear on what constitutes a complaint and the required processes to follow in the event of a complaint.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is newly appointed and has applied to register with Ofsted. She is being well supported by the exiting manager and responsible individual. The leadership team is flexible in their availability and the support offered to ensure that children receive care from familiar staff. The emerging culture of the home is one of learning and continuous improvement.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers regularly liaise with placing authorities and raise their concerns and escalate them when appropriate to ensure the children’s needs are met and their rights promoted. Relationships between the home and the professional network and the child’s parents and family members are transparent and mutually supportive. Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 5 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision and training, and attendance at team meetings is good. Staff are given opportunities to talk about their practice so they can develop their knowledge. The manager has strengthened staff training, and additional training has been provided when needed. This has supported staff retention and means staff feel well equipped to do their job. Staff demonstrate a working knowledge of the home’s model of care and can identify progress in the children who lived in the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records are maintained and there is clear evidence of management oversight of case records. However, the quality of recording is inconsistent, and some recording practices are overly complicated, which creates barriers in accessing information. The manager has monitoring systems in place; however, these are not consistently effective.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although the manager has a vision for the home, this is not aided by their quality of care review. The format of the report does not include all the required information. Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 6 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.5

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.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 14 August 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

p.6

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 14 August 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.6

Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

p.6

Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or 14 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 7 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

p.7

Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

p.7

Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

p.7

Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(b))

p.7

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.

p.7

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—

p.7

Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

p.7

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review 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").

p.7

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 14 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 8 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.7

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.

p.8

Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them, including details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. and that any discriminatory behaviours are challenged appropriately. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)  The registered person should ensure staff encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Staff should be clear on what constitutes a complaint and what actions to take in response. (‘Guide to the Children’s

p.8

Recommendations

Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

p.8

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: 2821645 9 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homecare Unique Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Olumide Akinfaderin

p.9

Inspectors

Cassie Martin, Social Care Inspector (lead) Kerry Meller-Rayment, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2821645 10 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

p.9

Inspectors

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.

p.10

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10