Children's Home run by United Children's Services Limited in Leicestershire

Good

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

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Children and young people are happy. They like living at this home and get on well with staff and each other. They make good progress with regards to their education and independence skills.   Children and young people feel safe and secure. Staff provide stability and have strong trusted relationships with them. Practice to promote the safety of children and young people is good.   Staff work effectively with other agencies. This ensures children and young people continue to make good progress and stay safe.  The registered manager provides strong supportive leadership. She is a good advocate for children and young people. Staff are enthusiastic and committed to providing good care.  Some minor shortfalls have been identified. Care planning for planned admissions is not completed at the time of admission or close after. This means staff do not have access to comprehensive written information about

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The children's home provision is good because:

new children or young people when they first arrive.  Staff supervision is not carried out in line with the company’s policy.  Children who do not have a school placement are not provided with meaningful, structured activities during school time.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 Ensure children are supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education by engaging them in suitable structured activities, where children placed in the home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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Recommendations

 Ensure a child's plans form the basis of their care, and therefore are completed at the point of admission, or soon after, to ensure all staff have access to comprehensive information to enable them to effectively promote the child's health and well-being. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 56, paragraph 11.1)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the workforce plan, which details the process and timescales for supervision of practice, is adhered to. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 53 paragraph 10.8) 

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to four children and young people with an emotional and behavioural disorder. The children and young people are aged between 8 and 19 years old. The statement of purpose says that the home provides children and young people with planned, whole year care, with behaviour management plans, where appropriate, and individually tailored education and skills-based work programmes.

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Good

Children and young people are welcomed into the home. Staff explain what the home is about, its rules and what sort of things they can do while in the home. This helps them to settle quickly. A young person who has recently moved into the home said she felt welcomed by staff. Children and young people make good progress, especially with regards to their education and independence skills. They value their education and enjoy going to school. Staff facilitate attendance at schools and support them to achieve. However, staff do not plan educational activities for children and young people who do not have a school placement. This means that they may get out of the habit of getting up for school and participating in structured activities during the day. Children and young people are valued and listened to. Staff genuinely care about them, are knowledgeable about their needs and have their best interests at heart.

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Good

A social worker said: ‘Staff really care about the young people.’ Care planning is comprehensive for most children and young people, providing good information for staff. However, care planning for planned admissions is not completed at the time of admission or close after. Consequently, staff do not have access to comprehensive written information about new children or young people when they first arrive. However, the registered manager discusses new admissions with all staff to enable them to have some knowledge of them. Children and young people are happy in this home. They have strong, trusting relationships with staff and mostly get on well with their peers. Children and young people are helped to build positive relationships with their parents where this is appropriate. Staff facilitate and support this important contact, which helps them to maintain important links with their family. The views and opinions of children

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Good

and young people are valued. Staff regularly seek their views about their care and the day-to-day running of the home. Currently, children and young people are busy choosing furnishings for their bedrooms and the house. Children and young people are supported to follow their religious beliefs. For example, one young person is supported to go to his place of worship and has protected time to pray in his room. Furthermore, staff purchase and cook halal food and provide dairy-free food where this is preferred. Different cultures are respected and discrimination is not tolerated. Children and young people generally are in good health. Staff work closely with the company’s therapeutic team to support children and young people with their emotional health. A youth offending service worker said: ‘Therapeutic input has been key to stabilising him.’ Children and young people make successful transitions out of the home into foster

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Good

care, home to parents or to independent living. A social worker said about a young person who is moving into foster care: ‘The staff want to make sure we get it right for him.’ Children and young people learn independence skills such as cooking, shopping and cleaning. Children and young people have access to a range of activities in the home and the local community. They join local clubs such as football, and the local gym. They go to laser quest and the cinema. They enjoy baking cakes and attend charity events. Opportunities to participate in these activities help to build self-esteem and confidence. This is a homely house which is currently being refurbished. Children and young people have been involved in the selection of décor and furnishings. They like the new windows that have just been fitted, and their rooms which are private and highly personalised.

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Good

Children and young people feel safe and secure so rarely go missing and do not misuse drugs or alcohol. Staff build strong trusted relationships with them but also put in firm rules and boundaries. This helps them to feel safe and secure. Staff follow good procedures when children and young people go missing. A police officer said: ‘They appear to be a quite proactive home, whereby they will make efforts to locate their young people if they go missing.’ Staff have a good understanding of the home’s child protection procedures. Staff promote positive behaviour by providing good role models, building strong relationships and putting in firm, consistent rules and boundaries. Children and young people know what the rules are and feel these are fair. Staff are trained to use physical intervention but rarely use it, preferring to talk to them or gently guide them away from the situation. Similarly, sanctions are rarely used.

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Good

Staff understand the children and young people well and know how to keep them safe. They take effective action to prevent them from harming themselves. Children and young people feel able to talk to staff about their concerns and staff listen. Good vetting procedures are used, which help to prevent unsuitable adults from working in the home.

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Good

This home has recently been re-registered which means this is the first inspection under the new registration. The registered manager provides strong leadership and is a good advocate for children and young people. She is experienced and qualified but is also completing the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare. She is currently managing two homes, and this has been the case for a prolonged period. However, this is soon to end and she will return to her substantive post at this home. The home has continued to function well during this time, and children and young people have continued to make good progress as she is ably supported by the assistant manager and a strong staff team. The registered manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has good plans in place to address any shortfalls. Staff are caring and competent. They say they feel very well supported by each

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Good

other and the management team. However, some formal staff supervision has not been completed in accordance with the home’s policy. Most staff are not currently qualified, but staff are either on their induction or are completing their Diploma. The registered manager has a clear understanding of the skills within her staff team and utilises these well. Staff have access to a good training programme, which includes mandatory training such as first aid, safeguarding children, and food hygiene. They can also access other courses such as self-harm, sexual orientation and gender identity, and attachment disorder. This means staff have the relevant knowledge and skills to provide good care for children and young people. Staff work well with external professionals. A youth offending service worker said: ‘Communication is fine. Channels are open.’ Children and young people make good progress because they have key professionals working closely together.

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Good

Monitoring systems provide a good insight into the quality of care and conduct of the home. They are challenging and value the views of children, young people, staff and external agencies. They help the registered manager and her staff team to continually strive for improvement to the service provided for children and young people.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, 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,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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