SHP Young People in Care Service

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: SHP Young People in Care Service 1 SHP Young People in Care Service Registered provider: The Single Homeless Project

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

A private provider owns and operates this supported accommodation service.

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provider

The service registered with Ofsted on 17 Jun 2024. This is their first inspection. The registered service manager and the nominated individual facilitated the inspection. They have been with the service since registration.

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provider

The service can offer accommodation for up to 77 children across 13 homes and offers supported accommodation in self-contained and shared premises, some of which are not limited to looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, 12 children aged 16 and 17 years were living across 9 of the provider’s ring-fenced and non-ring-fenced shared supported accommodation.

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Inspection dates:

The inspection was announced on 15 June 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 17 to 19 June 2026.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 3 years.

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Summary of findings

Children feel comfortable and supported where they live. Staff know the children well and they develop trusted relationships that help children make progress. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: SHP Young People in Care Service 2 Children are heard and their views are understood. Staff benefit from the guidance of the in-house psychotherapists, who also support children directly when needed.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers actively promote a therapeutically informed approach to supporting children across the service. Children learn how to manage their personal challenges and make plans for their independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children feel valued. Staff promote trusted relationships, which help children to settle. Staff are creative and curious in finding ways to engage children. One child said that their support worker helped them to overcome their anxiety and improve their ‘attitude’ because they could talk to them and they helped them to ‘lift a weight off their shoulders’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff use their own experiences and training to ensure that children benefit from individually tailored support plans. Children contribute directly to these plans, and their voice is actively recorded on their files. Children have access to an application on their phones, where they can find relevant information and add notes to their files, which staff review.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children are in education or employment. Staff promote the importance of education and support children who are not in education to explore their options. They adapt plans to the child’s needs, such as tutoring. Children with needs relating to neurodiversity access online classes and sit their GCSEs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children to explore employment pathways and to gain work experience, often in cooperation with local businesses. Children learn what they may be good at or passionate about and how to access work or further education in that field. Children are prepared for independence as they learn to cook, clean and budget.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from activity coordinators, who promote their access to sports, wellbeing, cultural and entertainment opportunities. They make consistent and imaginative efforts to make activities interesting and relevant for children. Children feel included and are prompted to challenge themselves and widen their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff advocate for children. Children talk confidently to staff about what is important for them. Staff work proactively with partner agencies to create plans to help children. When external support is not effective, staff challenge the relevant authorities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff help children to learn English and integrate in society. Staff enable children to become more independent in their planning, travelling, managing appointments and keeping themselves safe. Children are empowered and overcome isolation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Digital inclusion is promoted. Children who do not have other resources can access a pool of laptops and donated mobile phones to study and communicate. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: SHP Young People in Care Service 3 The workforce is diverse and reflects the children’s needs. Staff create a culture of equality and children receive non-judgemental, sensitively attuned support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children feel at home. Children can access a psychologically informed environment fund, to help them shape their environment. Children decorate their home and create artwork that is showcased on the walls. Outdoor spaces with barbeques and sports equipment gives children space to socialise and to find constructive ways to channel their energy.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff have a good understanding of exploitation and risks for children. Staff access a variety of training, which they use to better understand and protect children according to each child’s experiences and needs. Staff implement clear boundaries, for example, around visitors, which prevent unsafe situations for children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff work collaboratively with external professionals. This practice effectively safeguards and reduces risks for children. When children stay out longer than expected, staff implement procedures consistently and take steps to find out what is going on for that child. Over time, incidences where children are missing reduce.

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How well children are helped and protected

In bigger homes with shared settings not limited to children in care, staff are attentive to dynamics between the children and young adults in the home. Staff intervene if there are arguments and find solutions that promote improved group living. Staff consider underlying causes behind emerging patterns or issues within the home. They talk about these to children, who feel comfortable in their homes.

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How well children are helped and protected

Therapeutically informed approaches are consistently used by staff and managers, who understand children and engage children well. Staff recognise each child’s way of communicating, particularly when they are experiencing difficulties. Staff implement important boundaries and children learn how to manage their emotions.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children experience stability through a consistent staff workforce. There is a robust process for staff recruitment to protect children from unsafe support workers and harm. Children have input in the recruitment of staff, asking questions in interviews and giving feedback on candidates.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children can make complaints and staff support them when they raise concerns. However, there were significant delays in reporting one complaint about a former member of staff’s conduct to the local authority designated officer. When raised, the provider took prompt action.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff are curious about the children’s friends and their visitors. Staff prompt children to reflect on their risks and vulnerabilities, their life journey, personal growth and relationships. Children learn how to make safe and informed plans for their future. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: SHP Young People in Care Service 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have thorough referral and admission procedures to ensure that the children’s needs are compatible and not exposed to preventable risks in the home. Senior managers also acts as designated coordinators for placements in their area and are responsible for liaising with external agencies to identify concerns in relation to wider friendship networks and current risks, such as gang involvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff are positive about the support and leadership they receive. Leaders and managers actively promote staff’s personal development and learning. Staff engage in reflective practice sessions and benefit from the support of an in-house psychotherapist. Day-staff receive regular and thorough supervision, however, staff covering night shifts have had inconsistent supervision, some did not receive an annual appraisal. This creates a gap in identifying support that night staff may need to support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

All staff have a comprehensive induction and can access a traineeship programme. Staff receive support and extensive training to help them to understand children’s needs and how to best work with them. There is a consistent and skilled workforce committed to promoting children’s independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not consistently notify Ofsted when serious incidents occur. This hinders the regulator’s oversight of safeguarding practices across the service. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: SHP Young People in Care Service 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 procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the accommodating authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the premises in which the child is accommodated are located;

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about past abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the accommodating authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the alleged abuse or neglect occurred; (Regulation 20 (2)(b)(c)) 15 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development,

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience, and (c) have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 18 (4)(b)(c)) 15 August 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should review the thresholds for reporting incidents to Ofsted if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home. This includes patterns of risk escalation. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 60). Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: SHP Young People in Care Service 6

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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: SHP Young People in Care Service 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: The Single Homeless Project

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Inspectors

Daniela Ferrario, Social Care Inspector Seka Graovac, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: SHP Young People in Care Service 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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