Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1253008 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for one child who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company. The home was registered in June 2017.

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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

Date of last inspection: This is the first inspection.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff team provides good emotional and practical day-to-day support. The home is run by a meticulous and committed interim manager.  The young person benefits from consistent care, boundaries and routines. Progress is made in different areas of their development. Inspection report children’s home: 1253008 2  Key-working sessions help educate and challenge the young person’s values and beliefs.  The young person is kept safe due to the safety measures and strategies identified in their comprehensive risk assessments.  Staff benefit from a thorough training and induction package, undertaking reflective practice throughout.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The supervision log does not include details of when supervisions have been cancelled, such as for sickness, to justify why regular supervisions are not taking place in line with the statement of purpose.  The system for obtaining feedback from others about the quality of care does not include consultation with staff members. Inspection report children’s home: 1253008 3

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3) Specifically, keeping a record of why supervisions have been cancelled or have not taken place.  Regulation 45 sets out requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months. The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2) Specifically, in respect

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Recommendations

of collating feedback from staff members about the quality of care provided or any improvements to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since moving to the home, the young person has made progress in different areas of their development. Staff are aided by an independent psychological assessment to help them understand young people’s needs upon arrival at the home. A daily planner, with the opportunity of receiving incentives linked to their targets, helps the young person have structure to the day. This reduces the time that they spend in their bedroom, and bedtime routines and sleep patterns improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person is cared for by a small but stable staff team that provides good emotional and practical day-to-day support. They benefit from consistent care, boundaries and routines, helping the young person develop a sense of belonging at the home. Staff provide a range of positive role models and the young person spends more time chatting and going out with staff. Relationships develop and social skills improve. A staff member said: ‘[Name of young person] has come on leaps and bounds. They wouldn’t speak to staff. Not only do they speak, but [name of young person] will chat and share jokes.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use key-working sessions effectively to provide information and challenge the young person’s views. Stereotypes and prejudices are confronted in a safe environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff persist in their efforts to ensure that the young person has access to the right educational resources. This includes home tutoring and daily key-working sessions. Staff provide daily encouragement, recognising the young person’s potential. When the young Inspection report children’s home: 1253008 4 person is not in school, adherence to educational routines and boundaries prevents them losing focus.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has made improvements in relation to their health and well-being. This is due to them attending medical appointments and addressing health issues, such as dental treatment. Their health is enhanced through staff’s constant commitment and motivation for the young person to eat a healthy and balanced diet. This leads to improvements in presentation and personal hygiene, resulting in raised self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop good communication links with family members. This enables improved relationships and consequently, contact increases resulting in regular, meaningful family contact.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person knows how to complain and whom to complain to. They reported that they felt listened to by staff and could speak to them if worried about anything. The young person is consulted about their care plans and takes part in decision-making, particularly in areas that affect their lives, both now and in the future.

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

The young person experiences a high level of safety, security and supervision. Safeguarding training is updated and staff have a good understanding of the home’s child protection and whistle-blowing procedures. Comprehensive risk assessments provide a thorough outline of the actual and potential risks to the young person. Staff respond to these by ensuring that appropriate safety measures and strategies are in place. Staff update safeguarding plans regularly to reflect the young person’s changing needs as they settle into the home. They have a good understanding of the young person’s history and recognise how this may expose them to greater risk.

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

Since moving in, the young person no longer goes missing from home. There has been no criminal behaviour, no damage in the home and no physical aggression towards staff, showing that the young person is respectful of their home and environment. Risk taking, poor decision-making and offending behaviours have reduced. A number of risks that were apparent at the time of admission are no longer present.

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

Staff have received attachment and behaviour management training to help them better understand how a young person’s life experiences can impact on their behaviour. The effective use of consequences helps the young person to improve their negative behaviour. Staff engage with therapeutic staff, even is the young person disengages. This offers insight and awareness to the staff team about behaviour management. Consequently, restraints have not been necessary since the home registered.

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

Staff understand the risks of radicalisation and child sexual exploitation and provide the young person with information to keep them safe at all times, but in particular via social media.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children’s home: 1253008 5 There are interim management arrangements while the registered manager is on maternity leave. Cover is provided by someone who has an extensive residential care background and has a good understanding and knowledge of regulations. The interim manager is meticulous and committed and has made progress in respect of systems at the home, particularly with monitoring and recording procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive thorough training and induction to residential care throughout their first six months at the home. They become accustomed to reflective practice, which enables them to keep children and young people at the heart of everything they do. This ensures that staff develop the right values to work and engage with young people. The interim manager’s strong yet approachable leadership style encourages staff development through supervision, care planning and training. Regular, good-quality supervision and team meetings have a clear agenda and promote reflection. Senior staff are empowered to make decisions. Additional single-subject supervisions look specifically at a particular area of practice or development. When supervisions are cancelled or postponed, such as for staff sickness, these are not recorded on the supervision log. By making a record of these, it would justify why supervisions are not taking place regularly

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is a good mix of males and females of differing ages. Its members have different skills and experiences and provide the young person with a diverse and caring team to develop nurturing relationships with. They work well together and are mutually supportive of each other. The staff team knows the young person really well and is committed to providing the best possible care. One member spoke of the job satisfaction of seeing the young person make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent visitor completes a monthly robust and evaluative report about the care provided to the young person. This also provides the regulator with an independent opinion about whether they are being safeguarded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak positively about the care provided by staff and although feedback is obtained from stakeholders and the young person, members of the staff team are not asked for their opinions. This would provide useful information for the manager’s quality of care review.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. Inspection report children’s home: 1253008 6 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

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Information about this inspection

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 children’s home: 1253008 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1253008 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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