Children's Home run by Sunflower Children Care Services in Leicestershire

Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 1 SC449099 Registered provider: Quantum Care UK 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

This is a privately owned children’s home in a semi-rural part of Leicestershire. It accommodates three young people from nine years up to and including 18 years of age. The home offers accommodation to young people who have suffered physical harm, neglect, sexual and/or emotional abuse and display challenging behaviour. These behaviours can include self-harm, verbal and physical aggression, refusal to engage in education and criminal activity.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home has not yet submitted his application to Ofsted to become the registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 July to 1 August 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 September 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/09/2017 Full Good 17/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/11/2016 Full Good 09/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 3

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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, 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 enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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 each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, young people who are not attending school should be helped and supported with basic literacy and numeracy skills. Educational activities should be explored to assist young people with their learning. 03/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— 24/08/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 4 mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, key-work sessions should be conducted to help young people understand about healthy and unhealthy relationships. Young people should be helped to understand the risks posed to them by others and the impact of this on their health and well-being.

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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 home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. 03/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 5 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(f))

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff need to have the appropriate training and experience in order to meet young people’s complex needs. 03/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, doors in the home should not be locked as a means to manage young people’s behaviours. 24/08/2018

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improvement to be good

Young people’s progress and experience are varied. Young people are not always offered the nurturing and consistent care that they require. The staff team is inconsistent in its approach to behaviour management.

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improvement to be good

One young person, who is very keen to be educated, has not been in school for a number of months. The manager has liaised with the local authority about this. However, in the interim, minimal educational opportunities have been provided by managers and staff in order to promote this young person’s education and prepare them for their return to school. Given that education is vital to young people’s success, this is Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 6 a significant lost opportunity to support and encourage this young person’s educational needs.

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improvement to be good

Young people are not always provided with the structure, boundaries and routine that they need. For example, one young person is allowed to stay in bed until the late afternoon. Attempts by staff to try to encourage them to leave their bedroom are both inconsistent and unsuccessful.

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improvement to be good

Young people are not always encouraged to participate in activities and lead healthy, active lives. There are limited plans in place for the summer holidays and young people do not therefore have activities or events to look forward to. Young people’s interests are not developed. One young person said, ‘Sometimes it gets really boring. I would like to do more fun and exciting things.’

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improvement to be good

A young person’s pet has recently died in the home due to the hot weather. This has understandably caused considerable upset. The young person has not been assisted to fully understand the circumstances surrounding the animal’s death. Good role modelling by managers and staff in terms of young people caring for a pet and taking responsibility for it has not taken place.

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improvement to be good

Doors to the home are sometimes locked in order to try and manage young people’s behaviour. Their access within the home is therefore restricted. As a result, young people are not living in a home that is as homely and welcoming as they need and deserve.

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improvement to be good

Despite these shortfalls, young people report that they feel happy and settled. They are able to identify key members of staff who they would go to if they had a problem. One young person said, ‘It is a very good house. I like most of the staff. I know they are there for me if I need them.’

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improvement to be good

A strength of the home is the good multi-agency work that takes place. Once a need is identified for a young person, referrals are made to the necessary agency to access the appropriate help and support.

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improvement to be good

The lives of young people who have traumatic histories begin to stabilise in this home. For one young person, despite having a significant history of going missing, drug misuse and difficult behaviours, their risk-taking behaviour has dramatically reduced. This is significant progress. A social worker said, ‘If you had seen where they were a year ago you would not recognise it as the same young person. They have come such a long way.’

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improvement to be good

For another young person, their criminal and risk-taking behaviours have stopped. A youth offending worker said, ‘Their harmful behaviours have reduced dramatically. I could not speak more highly about the home. The difference is incredible. This is a high- Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 7 risk young person but the home has provided them with a great level of safety and stability.’

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improvement to be good

However, there is a lack of essential key-work sessions with young people in respect of their personal and physical safety. This is a missed opportunity to reduce risks further in relation to their individual risks and vulnerabilities.

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improvement to be good

While young people report feeling safe, one young person has been visiting an inappropriate household. This was unknown to staff until recently. In response, the manager and staff have been slow to consider and appropriately balance the young person’s need for independence against their need to be safeguarded. Practice would be improved by more careful analysis and a clear rationale for decision-making in this area.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is used as a last resort. The use of physical intervention has decreased for one young person and when used it is proportionate and necessary. All incidents are appropriately recorded. Debriefs, however, lack any reflection or learning about how incidents could potentially be managed differently. This does not provide the opportunity for learning or ensure that practice remains appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is yet to submit his application to Ofsted to become the registered manager. He is appropriately qualified and has experience of managing another children’s home. He has been in post since April 2018.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager presents as dedicated to the role and he works hard to ensure that young people are receiving the best quality of care. He has some good ideas about how the home needs to be developed and accepts the deficits that have been identified during the inspection. He is keen to make the changes that are necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staffing has been an issue in the home, necessitating the use of agency workers. Staff vacancies have placed pressure on the current staff team. Some staff feel undervalued and disheartened. Staff morale is low. This has the potential to impact on the care being offered to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Some staff members have been in post for many years, whereas other staff are new, inexperienced and unqualified. There has been a high turnover of staff since the last inspection. This has created instability and uncertainty for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

All staff have received mandatory training. However, not all staff have received the necessary training to meet young people’s unique and specific needs, such as training on attachment difficulties and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Such training would enhance staff knowledge and provide scope for improvement in the quality of care that is being offered to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Systems to monitor the progress of young people effectively are not robust. As a result, the manager does not have a comprehensive oversight to ensure that practice is child- Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 8 centred and meeting young people’s needs effectively. This requires improvement so that any gaps in practice can be thoroughly addressed and standards improve.

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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.

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Information about this inspection

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 children’s home: SC449099 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Quantum Care UK Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fifth Floor, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector

Davinia Lawton, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC449099 10 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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