Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home is registered to provide care for up to three children who have social, emotional and learning difficulties. The registered manager has been in post since April 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 20 January 2020

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Inadequate

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit. Assurance visit report: 2539201 2

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The care of children

Staff help the children to remain focused and stimulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The children have enjoyed redesigning and refurbishing the garden summer house. They have also spent good-quality time with the staff watching films and sharing experiences, which helps the children to bond with staff.

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The care of children

Children are making positive choices about their education. One child is attending school after a two-year absence. She now has plans to complete her GCSEs. During COVID-19, online tutoring was available, which provided children with some daily structure and the opportunity to engage in education.

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The care of children

Staff learn about the children’s heritage, so that they can understand their values, traditions and culture. Together, the children with the staff cook traditional foods and plan cultural events to embrace customary celebrations. For one child’s birthday, the staff learned how to sing ‘Happy birthday’ in Russian. Staff also educate the children about global topics, for example the Black Lives Matter movement. This provides the children with insight into the world’s response to inequality.

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The care of children

When children move into the home, the staff make them feel welcome, and this helps each child to gain a sense of belonging. One professional said, ‘I was really impressed with the effort the staff had put in to make [Child’s name] feel comfortable. They had her favourite dinner cooking and had put together a welcome and birthday basket, as they were aware it was her birthday the week before.’ However, there are occasions when staff are unable to meet children’s individual needs. In these circumstances, children may be moved to temporary holiday let accommodation until a permanent placement is identified. This leaves children feeling uncertain about their future, where they will live and who they will live with.

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The care of children

Children remain in contact with their families. As restrictions have eased, the staff work in partnership with family members and social workers to enable families to visit their children in the home. When matching children to live together in the home, the manager did not fully appreciate the impact on other children of allowing family time to take place in the home. Children who do not have positive relationships with their families struggled to hear other children laughing and having fun with their parents.

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The safety of children

Staff proactively respond to incidents of missing from home. The staff’s knowledge of the children enables them to quickly take effective action to help to keep children safe during missing incidents. For example, staff liaised with the transport police to ensure that the children missed the connecting train, which would have taken them out of the area. Following any missing from home episodes, the staff help the children to understand the dangers of running away. This mean that, together, children and staff agree measures to prevent further missing episodes. Assurance visit report: 2539201 3 Staff recognise when children need extra support to help them stay safe. The children’s individual needs and risks are regularly reviewed by staff, enabling them to reflect on the effectiveness of their strategies. Reviewing of risk means that children receive the extra support that they need.

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The safety of children

Risk assessments provide a detailed plan and overview of each child’s individualised risks. To mitigate against specific risks, the staff have completed additional training in areas such as fire safety, and additional fire equipment has been purchased. However, although the staff are regularly checking the environment for fire damage, this does not include daily bedroom checks, which is a stipulated action in risk assessments. In addition, when children are receiving care off site, in holiday lets, defective decision-making and gaps in staff oversight have provided a child with the opportunity to self-harm with a glass object.

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The safety of children

The manager identifies when children need additional support from specialist services such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS). The manager works in partnership with CAMHS to support children’s mental health. However, CAMHS were not made aware when a child was moved out of the home and into different holiday let accommodation across different local authority areas. This had an impact on the CAMHS support being provided to a child following a self- harm incident which required attendance at hospital.

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Leaders and managers

The appointed manager is now registered with Ofsted. She provides the team with the support and guidance they need to fulfil their roles and responsibilities.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has effective thematic monitoring systems in place, which incorporate consultation with children and professionals. The manager is operating from a clear action plan to address the deficits and shortfalls in the home and any lessons learned from previous failings, to ensure that children are safe and are being well cared for. External monitoring demonstrates a journey of improvement for the home and the children who live there. Professionals who currently have children placed in the home spoke highly of the staff and the manager.

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Leaders and managers

Staff morale is high, and as a team they support each other through these challenging times. The staff shift pattern means that they support the children in the home for consecutive days. When children are in crisis, this can be physically and emotionally draining for the staff. As staff respond to incidents, this can mean that they have limited time to sleep or recuperate, yet they remain on the rota. Lack of sleep has an impact on critical thinking and reaction time, affecting staff duties such as driving and responding to children in crisis.

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Leaders and managers

Children’s records and plans are reviewed and updated to support effective care practices. The child’s voice is clear in records and they highlight the strengths of the staff team. Children said that they have bonded with staff, who are fun to be Assurance visit report: 2539201 4 around, and that individual staff members have gone the extra mile for them. Some of the children’s records are not clearly dated or signed by the author, and this could lead to confusion about the current procedures for staff to follow.

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Leaders and managers

The manager values her staff and invests in their training and development. The home uses a specific child-centred model of care, but not all staff have received training in this, and this has an impact on this model of care being fully embedded into staff practice.

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Leaders and managers

The outstanding recommendation from the last inspection has been addressed.

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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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)) 11/12/2020

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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

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)(b)) 11/12/2020

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(c)) 11/12/2020

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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 home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 11/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2539201 5 In particular, when matching children to live together in the home, the manager needs to fully appreciate the impact of family time taking place in the children’s home. In addition, children’s transition from the home needs to be planned and child focused.

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  As outlined in 10.1, the registered person should plan staffing levels to ensure that they meet the needs of children and can respond flexibly to unexpected events or opportunities. Staffing structures should promote continuity of care from the child’s perspective. If children complain, or give a view on how the staffing structure could be improved to promote the best care for them, appropriate action should be taken. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.15)

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Elisabeth Brownlees

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Christie-Lauren O’Connor

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: 2539201 6 to 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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