Children's Home run by Lifeworks Charity Limited in Devon

Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 1 SC003792 Registered provider: Lifeworks Charity Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a charitable trust, providing care and accommodation for children and young people on both a residential basis and for short breaks. The home provides six short-break and four residential placements for children and young people who may have learning disabilities, physical disabilities or a sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 December 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/05/2017 Full Good 01/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/11/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 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; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— feedback of the experiences of children, including complaints received use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular:  ensure that staff have regular supervision and appraisal  analyse the frequency and type of activities and trips for individual children and young people who have short breaks, taking into account their feedback, to ensure that individual needs are met  analyse incidents and review data available to help identify patterns and triggers  continue to implement the home’s new medication procedures 04/02/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 4  continue with plans to provide practical communication aids so that young people can easily communicate around the home  continue to develop methods to understand children’s views  review children’s care and placement plans to ensure that they contain all required information including any restrictive measures used, and that they reflect progress, outcomes and experiences  ensure that staff receive all necessary training .

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Requirement Due Date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular:  ensure that staff are aware of, and attend, children in need meetings and then follow any plans agreed in these meetings  ensure that social workers receive regular and structured written feedback on children’s progress and experiences. 04/02/2019

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Requirement Due Date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that— the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due Date

07/01/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 5 (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) In particular:  ensure that sufficient scrutiny is taken when recruiting agency staff  complete probation reports.

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Requirement Due Date

Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the name of the child; details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person

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Requirement Due Date

to do so (‘the authorised person’)— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. Paragraph (3) does not apply in relation to restraint that is planned or provided for as a matter of routine in the child’s EHC plan or statement of special educational needs. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(4)) 07/01/2019

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 6  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene and so on). However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people enjoy positive experiences and make progress emotionally and socially. Three young people live in the home alongside children and young people who visit regularly for short breaks. The accommodation is arranged so that young people who live in the home have their own private space in one part of the building. However, if they choose to, they have the benefits of enjoying social occasions and activities with those children and young people having short breaks. This has the benefit of helping young people to increase their social skills and to make friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have excellent relationships with staff. Although some staff members have left the home over the last year, some longstanding core staff remain. All of the young people receive one-to-one support from their staff member; this is well organised and meets young people’s individual needs. The home can accommodate ten children at any one time. However, because of the well-arranged space, and the staff’s gentle and caring approach, the atmosphere is calm and welcoming.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a varied number of activities in and out of the home, including trips to holiday venues around the country. The home has good links with the local community and young people go to the local youth club every week.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents spoken with say that the home is ‘amazing’ and ‘excellent’, and that their young people really enjoy their short breaks. They receive written and verbal information, which is vital for continuity of care. For those young people who live in the home, staff encourage and support them to see their family safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people attend school and make progress. One young person was not in school for a time, but the manager escalated this concern and resolved it. The manager and staff think ahead for young people and help them prepare for future moves and plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has identified that young people need more practical resources around the home, such as picture cards, to help them communicate more easily with staff and with each other.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 7 Young people are safe and feel well cared for by staff. They have not gone missing and are supported to be safe when using social media. Young people trust the staff and talk to them about any problems they have. The manager and staff understand what to do if there is a safeguarding or child protection concern.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that young people have good routines and boundaries. This helps prevent incidents from happening and allows young people to feel secure and prepared. Physical intervention has been used six times since the last inspection. It is used only as a last resort and with minimum intervention. However, written records of physical interventions lack the necessary details at times, which makes it harder for the manager to thoroughly review these incidents and to improve practice.

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improvement to be good

The manager and senior manager are currently prioritising the recruitment of staff. Safer recruitment procedures are applied to appointments of permanent staff, but the manager has not applied the same scrutiny to agency staff. For example, only basic checks have been completed by the employment agency and human resource department of the organisation; the manager has not satisfied herself that agency staff are equipped to meet young people’s needs by considering their full employment history and references. Probation reports of permanent staff have not been completed. The new manager has identified the absence of these reports and has put a plan in place.

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improvement to be good

Restrictive measures are used for some young people with particularly complex needs, such as a safety gate in the kitchen. These are not fully detailed in care plans and, consequently, are not reviewed systematically. This means that there is a danger that restrictive measures could remain in the home unnecessarily.

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improvement to be good

There have been some instances when medication errors have occurred. These have not caused any harm to young people. However, managers have devised a new system to prevent any future mistakes.

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

The new manager was registered with Ofsted in October 2018. She has identified several areas for development within the home and has started to make positive changes. However, there remain significant gaps in some staff’s supervision and training, which weakens the manager’s overview of the home and its safeguarding arrangements.

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

Oversight and monitoring of the running of the home are areas to be developed. These areas include: greater analysis of incidents to improve practice; ensuring that staff are invited to and attend every child in need meeting, so they can ensure that all resulting plans are carried out; reviewing the frequency and enjoyment of activities for individual young people attending short breaks; greater understanding of young people’s views and wishes and scrutinising the quality of care plans.

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

External professionals have good relationships with the home. Social workers feel confident that young people are well cared for and that they are in regular contact with Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 8 staff. Social workers do not normally get regular written reports, which would enhance their knowledge of young people’s experiences and progress in the home.

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

Young people’s bedrooms and other parts of the building are nicely furnished and well equipped. An excess of fire signs, unnecessary notices and equipment, such as paper towel dispensers, give an institutional feel to some parts of the home, which detracts from its overall homeliness.

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

The manager has high expectations for young people and challenges any lack of service or provision for them. She works closely with the deputy manager to achieve good care for young people and promote equality. The team now has regular team meetings, which are well recorded and give clear direction. Staff enjoy working here and are proud of the young people and their achievements.

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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: SC003792 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lifeworks Charity Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Blacklers Park Road, Dartington Hall Estate, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EQ

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Inspector

Sarah Canto, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC003792 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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