Children's Home run by Vcare - 24 Limited in East Riding of Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 1 Registered provider: Vcare - 24 Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private provider. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home, and one child has moved in. The child living in the home spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2025 and is undertaking their relevant qualification.

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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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Since the last full inspection, an assurance visit was carried out in November 2025, during which serious and widespread concerns were identified. The home was subsequently subject to compliance notices, which were met in January 2026.

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good

In January 2026, a variation request was submitted to change the home’s registration category to provide care for children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The decision to vary the registration was made to ensure that children could be cared for in line with the skills and knowledge of the staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2025 Full Good 11/06/2024 Full Good 05/03/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 3

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Summary of findings

One child has moved into the home in a planned way. Effective information-sharing supported this move. The manager’s communication with the professional network is good and helps to support the child.

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Summary of findings

Staff know the child well and follow plans to meet their needs on a day-to-day basis. Staff talk with kindness about the child and engage in activities aligned to their interests. The child has accessed some health support. Health appointments are made, and the manager communicates effectively with health professionals.

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Summary of findings

Staff understand the risks for the child and have worked with the care plans to offer a high level of supervision. When incidents occur, staff remain calm and act consistently in accordance with the child’s plans to help them calm down and stay safe. Additional work is required to ensure that the environment remains safe and responsive to the child’s changing needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build relationships with the child and show an interest in their preferences. They engage the child in activities that they enjoy and have started to encourage the child to access the community. The child is also encouraged to keep pets in the home, which are important to the child as they help them relax and develop skills in being responsible for their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote family time. The child feels able to talk to staff about family members. Staff communicate regularly with family members and have developed a structured plan to help the child know when they will see their family again.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to develop basic life skills on an ad hoc basis. The child is proud of their cooking skills, which staff praise them for. There are no plans currently in place to help the child to prepare for independence and develop the breadth of skills required for their next stage of life. The pathway plan does not align with current legal orders. The manager has requested a review of the plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff communicate with the child in a kind and meaningful way. The child said, ‘I love how everyone says ‘banging’ now because of me.’ This demonstrates how staff help the child feel valued through using the child’s language. Staff promote the use of positive language and have conversations with the child to increase tolerance. The child’s records demonstrate the conversations that take place. Some records lack detail and accuracy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the child’s health needs and have systems in place to monitor the child’s health. Appropriate medical assistance has been sought in emergencies. Staff help the child to attend health appointments; however, dental care has not been accessed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 4 The child has visited the opticians, but their glasses are now missing. There is an inconsistent response from staff regarding vaping. When medication is prescribed, the manager seeks clarification around the prescription. There have been occasions when medication has not been administered in line with medical advice.

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

The child identifies staff they trust and who they can ask for help. When the child raises safeguarding concerns, staff act appropriately to ensure the safety of the child. Staff remain curious about concerns and have shared further information with external organisations.

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

The manager works with partner agencies to develop safety plans. Staff understand and implement the safety plans effectively. The child is aware of the reasons staff have followed plans and describes their actions as ‘really good’, particularly in terms of helping them to stay safe in the community.

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

Physical interventions and police support are used as a last resort to ensure the child’s safety. Staff know how the child likes to be helped when they are upset or angry and follow plans to support this. Staff skills in helping the child to calm down have been recognised by one parent as a strength. When physical interventions take place, the child and staff receive debriefs. The manager has oversight of significant incidents.

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

There have been times when the child has had access to unsafe items. Staff have not always been vigilant in removing items from the child that could cause harm. When the child is in crisis, prompt action is taken to keep the environment safe. When damage occurs, it is promptly repaired to maintain a safe environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good relationships with the child and the staff. The manager knows the strengths of the staff team well and has supported the decision to vary the category of registration. The manager has promoted staff development through specific training, which staff have found helpful. The manager is reflective and carries out lessons-learned exercises with the team to improve staff’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has responded to the changing staffing levels needed for the child. As a result of increased need, there has been regular use of agency staff. The manager ensures that staff, including agency staff, are appointed in line with robust safer recruitment practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Allegation management is effective. Staff know how to report allegations or concerns about practice. The manager has taken appropriate action to investigate concerns regarding staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers take action to manage practice concerns through formal processes. Staff feel supported by managers and receive regular supervision sessions Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 5 where they can discuss the child and their plans. There have been occasions when the communication regarding changes to plans has been poor. This has affected staff’s ability to offer consistent care to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A leadership team supports the manager. Together, they have systems in place to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the care provided in the home. Social care highlights that communication with the manager is good. The manager has been reactive in their approach to care. Actions from meetings have not always been followed up in a timely way, resulting in delays in the child making progress in some key areas. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d)) 31 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safe keeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children's home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)) 31 July 2026

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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 children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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 home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; 31 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 7 ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(a)(b)(e)(h))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand how to support children in preparing for moving on from the home. This includes helping children to develop the emotional and mental resilience needed to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical life skills, such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and wellbeing. When a child needs additional health or wellbeing support, staff should work with the child’s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological or psychiatric support required. This includes helping children to access dental care and manage vaping through consistent support from staff. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  The registered person should help staff to be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This includes updating records when there are key changes for children in their plans. Staff should record information about individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2591499 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 10, Halifax Way, Pocklington Industrial Estate, Pocklington, York YO42 1NP

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Inspector

Ali Owens, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2591499 9 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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