Children's Home run by Inspirations Leicestershire Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report children’s home: 2504494 1 Registered provider: Inspirations Leicestershire 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 privately owned home provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have complex needs who may have experienced trauma, neglect or abuse.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2504494 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)) 30/09/2019

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(d)) 02/09/2019

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 30/09/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 2504494 3 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; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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improvement to be good

The experiences of children living in the home have been mixed. One child did not have a school placement and was receiving tuition at home. This was not always effective because engagement was inconsistent. The managers of the home were unsuccessful in their efforts to find a school placement, despite challenges to the placing local authority and liaison with the virtual school headteacher. However, another child has made very good progress in school and has a good attendance record. Unfortunately, her education was disrupted for a short period because the placing local authority and previous school had not shared essential information. This should not have happened and, although it was resolved, it should have been escalated as a concern by the home managers at the time. Children are encouraged to share their views and wishes about their care. However, there are sometimes lengthy delays in meeting children’s requests. This frustrates

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improvement to be good

children. Staff and managers need to consider how these delays can be avoided. Staff are not consistently supporting children to contribute to essential records or capturing information about why children are choosing not to contribute to their records. Inspection report children’s home: 2504494 4 It is particularly important, following any signficant incident in the child’s life, that children are encouraged to record their views. Children are attending preventative health appointments. Good daily routines support children to have good health outcomes. For example, one child has improved sleep patterns. Another child has better behaviours and mood because of increased physical exercise. However, there is conflicting information about children’s diets. Daily records show frequent unhealthy choices by children, but staff and managers report that a balanced diet is provided and that healthy choices are proactively encouraged.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote positive relationships with family and friends. Visits are supported and facilitated, as set out in each child’s care plan. Some children were on holiday at the time of the inspection. They reported that they were enjoying their break. The inspector observed positive relationships and a comfortable atmosphere between staff and a child living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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improvement to be good

One child has moved on from the home following increased concerns about the impact of her behaviours on her own safety and the safety of another child. There was an assault to a child that, given the information known leading up to the incident, could have been predicted and prevented. Managers did not undertake a robust review of the events in order to improve staff practice. Managers need to enhance staff understanding of peer-to-peer harm. Managers need to ensure that risk of peer-to-peer harm is considered when deciding who moves into the home. There have been a small number of physical restraints. These were proportionate and necessary to prevent harm to a child. There have been a few occasions when children have been missing from home. However, on one occasion it is clear from the records that more could have been done to prevent the child from going missing. There was not a review of the incident by

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improvement to be good

managers to improve staff understanding and practice. Children’s views are not captured after incidents of going missing and physical restraints. This means that staff are not following the home’s own policies. The home provides a comfortable, personalised environment for the children. Unfortunately, the garden is not hazard free. There was a broken fence, a rusty and damaged bird table and an uneven patio area. During the inspection, managers ensured that the fence was repaired. There was inconsistent information in the records about safe staffing arrangements. This makes it difficult for managers to review risk assessments when information changes. It also makes it difficult to ensure that staff are consistently adhering to agreed risk assessments. Inspection report children’s home: 2504494 5

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

Leaders and managers are not effectively identifying and addressing weaknesses in practice. It is clear from the weaknesses identified in records and practice that there are not effective quality assurance systems in place. The registered manager has recently taken maternity leave. There have been changes in the management of the home. Staff report that this has led to some inconsistencies in communication and practice. Managers are recruiting to a small number of vacant posts. Senior managers are in the process of reviewing and changing management arrangements and the staff structure of the home. This is with a view to providing clearer direction to staff and improving the manager’s understanding of the quality of care that children are receiving. There are good relationships with partner agencies. There have been occasions when managers have challenged external professionals about delays in progressing a child’s

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

plans. However, on some of those occasions managers should have escalated concerns when there was not a satisfactory or timely response. Staff report that they receive support. Regular team meetings, training and supervision are provided. However, staff that are new in post are not receiving the level of supervision that the home’s probation procedures recommend.

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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: 2504494 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspirations Leicestershire Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Rosemead Drive, Oadby, Leicester, Leicestershire LE2 5SE

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Inspector

Cathey Moriarty, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2504494 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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