Children's home run by Esland North Limited in Amber Valley

Inspection report children’s home: 1240433 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 is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children or young people irrespective of gender. It is operated by a private company. The manager was registered on 5 September 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: 1 November 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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/11/2017 Full Good 24/01/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1240433 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

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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(iv)(b)) 28/02/2019

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(a)) 28/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 28/02/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1240433 3 home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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improvement to be good

Some children and young people have experienced unplanned endings to their stay in the home. For some, this is a direct consequence of inappropriate peer relationships that have been formed during their stay. Others have moved on because their needs have been greater than what can be safely met at this home. Some children have moved on to live in solo placements, while others have made some progress and been moved closer to their placing authorities. For some, this has caused disruption and instability. The provider ensures that high staffing levels are available to meet the complex needs of the children and young people, who often require two-to-one supervision. In spite of the high levels of supervision, children and young people have still engaged in inappropriate behaviours which place them at risk of harm and have led to some of them moving on from the home. This has not provided some of the resident children and young people

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improvement to be good

with a ‘safe, happy and stable environment’ as outlined in the statement of purpose. For some, this may result in criminal charges being made. The staff have built close and trusting relationships with some of the children and young people. These relationships are helping the children and young people to develop greater resilience in their emotional well-being. The children and young people speak of enjoying the time that they spend with staff. Staff work with placing authorities to identify appropriate educational provision, but not all children and young people are engaging in their educational placement at the time of the inspection. One young person has been successfully reintegrated into school and is making progress. The staff provide appropriate health-related support and advice to the children and young people. The children and young people have benefited from creative direct work in areas such as substance misuse and sexual and mental health. This has enabled them

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improvement to be good

to make positive progress in relation to their health outcomes. Children and young people engage in positive activities outside the home. Staff support regular contact between children and young people and their families and with people who are important to them. Regular house meetings take place, where children and young people have a say in their day-to-day care arrangements.

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improvement to be good

There have been a number of incidents linked to bullying, property damage and inappropriate sexual behaviour between the children and young people. This has had a detrimental impact on some of the children and young people, whose safety and well- Inspection report children’s home: 1240433 4 being have been compromised. Not all children and young people have felt safe during their stay. Police attendance has been requested to help the staff to manage some of these behaviours. Records relating to one child’s experience of bullying from a peer make reference to them ‘walking on eggshells’. The children and young people are rarely missing from the home. On the occasions when this has occurred, the responses from the staff are well coordinated. The manager has sought independent return interviews to provide further safeguards. The staff apply consistent boundaries around the management of children and young

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improvement to be good

people’s behaviour. They use incentives to promote positive behaviour, respect and tolerance for each other. This has helped some children and young people to regulate their emotions better. Key-work sessions assist the children and young people to reflect on their behaviour. Staff are proactive in helping some children and young people to develop a greater understanding of exploitative relationships. While there has been significant progress for some children and young people, this has not always been successful to prevent others from placing themselves at risk of harm. Physical interventions are appropriate and proportionate, given the context of the incident. Debriefings have been held routinely with staff, children or young people within the timescales outlined in the regulations.

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

The manager was registered with Ofsted in September 2018. She is in the process of completing a level 5 leadership qualification. Some placements have not always proved successful. There have been some admissions of children and young people who have caused harm to others. In some cases, the staff have been unable to meet the behavioural challenges of the children and young people, which has resulted in children and young people being discharged prematurely. This has not provided those children and young people with a positive experience of transitioning on from the home. The staff feel well supported in their roles. They have accessed a variety of training opportunities and have regular practice-based supervision. The manager is further developing their skills by imaginative team-building exercises undertaken in the regular team meetings. This provides the staff with opportunities to reflect on and improve their

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

practice. Monitoring systems are sufficiently rigorous to provide the manager with an adequate oversight of the care of the children and young people. The manager and responsible individual are proactive in challenging placing authorities where necessary, to ensure that children and young people receive the services that they need. They maintain good communication with the regulator to ensure that children and young people’s needs are advocated at the highest level. Case records reflect the everyday lives of the children and young people. Children and young people are supported to take part in their reviews and to understand the plans for their care. Inspection report children’s home: 1240433 5

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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: 1240433 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Janet Black, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1240433 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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