Children's home run by Blue Elephant Childcare Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 1 Registered provider: Blue Elephant Childcare 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 registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children. Short-term placements and a needs assessment are offered for children in crisis. The home is owned and managed by an independent organisation. The organisation has this one home, which was registered in July 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

A suitably qualified registered manager oversees the home and was registered with Ofsted in July 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 inadequate

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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: 13 November 2018

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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: 1278020 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 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

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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develop positive relationships with them;

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

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ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 30/08/2019

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The education standard is that children make measurable 30/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 4 progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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

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help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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

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promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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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 30/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 5 children’s home that—

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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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demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Recommendations

 Regulations 35−39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Children’s case records must be kept for 75 years from the date of birth of the child, or if the child dies before the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of his or her death. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Local authorities should have in place Runaway and Missing From Home and Care (RMFHC) protocols agreed with local police and other partners. Where

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Recommendations

appropriate, they should also have agreed protocols with neighbouring authorities. The protocols should be agreed and reviewed regularly with all agencies and be scrutinised by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.23) Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 6  The registered person must ensure that the home is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1). In particular, consider the emergency services’ response times and risks in the immediate locality of the home.

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improvement to be good

This inspection found weaknesses in behaviour management and care planning. Internal care plans focus on the children’s historical needs and behaviours and do not provide staff with enough detail on how to meet their current daily living needs. Targets are generic and, consequently, ineffective. They do not help staff to maximise children’s progress.

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improvement to be good

The outcomes for children are mixed, and their education attendance and progress are variable. One child has recently completed a second year at college. She has been awarded entry level 3 in employability skills and is looking forward to attending a third year. Another child is tutored at home; her engagement and attainment are an increasing cause for concern. The manager has not been successful in resolving these worries despite escalating her concerns with the education provider. In addition, staff are not supporting the same child’s learning needs outside of the school day because they do not have the most up-to-date personal education plan. A teacher and learning support worker who contributed to this inspection shared their concerns about this child’s education progress and her engagement.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health is promoted, as they are provided with nutritious and wholesome home-cooked meals. In addition, they take part in a wide range of activities that are good for their health and well-being. Children’s likes and dislikes are considered, and their personal interests are encouraged. This develops children’s social skills and self- esteem.

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improvement to be good

The staff team’s approach is nurturing, calm and focused, providing positive role models for children. Children receive care from staff who have the skills and ability to form strong, meaningful and positive relationships. This enables the children to swiftly establish trust and work constructively with the staff. A child who has recently moved into the home said that she feels safe and is confident to tell staff if she is feeling anxious or worried.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 7 Children are, in the main, helped and protected effectively. Weaknesses identified at this inspection relate to behaviour management and environmental risks.

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improvement to be good

High-risk reportable incidents, which have the potential to place children at risk, do occur. For example, when one child is missing from the home, she is at significant risk of exploitation and abuse. In the main, staff take appropriate action to respond to these incidents. However, records relating to these incidents are not well maintained. Critical information is missing, including information about when welfare checks are completed, the actions taken by staff and the outcome. Reports do not detail whether those with parental responsibility have been informed when a significant incident has taken place. In addition, missing from home protocols that are followed by staff have not been ratified by the police.

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improvement to be good

Independent missing from home interviews are undertaken promptly. Despite this, the information gained from these interviews is not formally shared with the home. Consequently, staff do not know important information that could help them to identify ways to prevent children from going missing.

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improvement to be good

Behavioural risks are known by staff and, in the main, managed well. However, not all known risks are documented in individual risk assessments. This means that staff are not provided with clear instruction and guidance on how to manage and mitigate risks. Neither are they provided with enough information about how to respond to the children’s escalating behaviours

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improvement to be good

The manager has completed a locality assessment. Although detailed in parts, this document requires improvement. The manager has not considered the impact of transport links and emergency services’ operational hours and response times in relation to the home.

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improvement to be good

The manager is very good at keeping in touch with social workers and the local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) team. The team also communicates well with the police and the youth offending team. These relationships benefit children.

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improvement to be good

The manager confirmed that since the last inspection there have not been any incidents resulting in physical intervention, sanctions or complaints.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring of the quality of care provided in the home is weak. Neither the independent visitor nor the manager has recognised the weaknesses identified during this inspection. The manager has failed to identify omissions and inaccuracies in reports completed by staff. Poor management monitoring has resulted in these omissions not being identified or rectified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children’s records are not well maintained or stored securely. Daily diaries do not provide an accurate reflection of the children’s day and the support and guidance they Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 8 receive. The manager has not ensured that staff use key worker sessions effectively. Children are not provided with an opportunity to discuss with an adult how they feel or to explore alternative strategies following serious incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has completed a development plan for the home. This plan does not consider how the quality of care and the environment could be improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not ensured that all staff are up to date with basic mandatory training. As a result, staff are not refreshed in subject areas that help them to meet the children’s complex and changing needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The company’s psychologist regularly attends team meetings. This provides staff with the opportunity to consider alternative strategies for them to use in order to help the children to develop positive behaviour. Similarly, the manager provides staff with regular, formal supervision. This support helps the staff to feel valued and confident. Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. Records from all these meetings do not reflect the ways in which the manager is promoting good practice for all staff. They do not identify agreed actions, the staff’s contribution or the views and experiences of the children.

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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: 1278020 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Elephant Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: CDM Buildings, Westacott Road, Barnstaple, Devon EX32 8AW

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Inspector

Sharron Escott, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1278020 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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