Children's Home run by Idem Living Limited in Devon

Inspection report children’s home: SC468747 1 SC468747 Registered provider: Idem Living Ltd

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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 home is operated by a private company, providing care and accommodation for up to two young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 September 2018

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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: 7 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 26/04/2017 Full Good 29/11/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/05/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC468747 2

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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

7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to enabling children to contribute to staff appraisals.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(iv)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. 30/11/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC468747 3 In particular, this is in relation to improving staff retention.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(e)) 13: The leadership and management standard

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to ensuring that there is a thorough appraisal and reflection of all incidents and sanctions and that this is well documented and followed through with staff to ensure that practices are improved to benefit children.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(h)) 31/10/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences and make good progress in this children’s home. The current child has lived there for more than two years. The child has enjoyed the benefits of a stable, secure home and continuity in her schooling. She has also benefited from the strong attachment she has had with the registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build trusting and secure relationships with the adults who care for them. They have a sense of belonging and the manager and staff advocate well for them. The manager and child are completing life-story work together, which is progressing well. Currently, attention is also being focused on how the child’s needs and preferences can be best met in the future and how leaders and managers can support these. Good attention is given to meeting the child’s emotional, social and psychological needs. For example, she is encouraged to participate in a variety of voluntary opportunities and to take part in child in care forums.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are helping the child to maintain several scrapbooks that cover her experiences and achievements since living in the home. Together, they have also created a variety of Inspection report children’s home: SC468747 4 electronic memories and PowerPoints. These pieces of work symbolise the commitment of the staff to the child and their motivation to provide positive experiences and lasting memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are treated with dignity and respect, and staff are sensitive to their childhood experiences and the impact these continue to have. Children are listened to and encouraged to contribute to key aspects of the home. For example, the child was consulted about the home’s decor and has recently been involved in interviews for new staff. During this inspection, it was identified that children should be asked to contribute to staff appraisals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained, decorated and furnished and feels very much like a family home.

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

Children receive good-quality care, which helps them to do well and to feel safe.

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

Risks are identified, understood and appropriately managed, with leaders and managers working effectively with other professionals to manage these risks.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted through incentives and rewards. The child told the inspector that she feels that this is a good home and she feels safe.

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

Clear and consistent expectations and boundaries help the child to feel safe and secure. Most incidents are responded to effectively and in a child-friendly way. For example, there have been no physical restraints used in the past year. However, while there are good-quality staff debriefs, there is scope for improvement to identify how, on rare occasions, difficult situations are not managed effectively. In this way, staff will be provided with additional opportunities to improve their practice to benefit the child in their care.

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

New staff are carefully selected, and all checks are carried out before they commence work. Agency staff are not used, and any shortages are covered from within the team or by staff from the company’s sister home, located nearby.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is keen to develop her own expertise in childcare and has recently commenced an additional specialist qualification that focuses on working with traumatised children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare and the deputy manager is currently undertaking the same qualification. One member of staff has achieved a level 3 diploma in residential childcare and recently appointed staff are to commence this qualification shortly. The provision of mandatory training is good. Induction is particularly robust, with new staff completing Inspection report children’s home: SC468747 5 training in a wide range of pertinent areas and up to 10 shadow shifts before working independently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The stability of the staff team requires improvement. The company is aware of this and has commissioned an internal study to identify how staff retention can be improved. During this inspection, the child shared with the inspector how difficult she finds it when there are changes in the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has made several improvements to the records that the home maintains, with attention having been given to child-friendly versions. Careful consideration has been given to the use of language, to ensure that institutional influences are challenged.

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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: SC468747 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Newlands, 1a Huyton Hey Road, Liverpool, Merseyside L36 5SE

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Inspector

Norma Welsby, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC468747 7 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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