Children's home run by Blossom Care Group Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 1 Registered provider: Blossom Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It provides care for up to three young people with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since November 2020. She has submitted her application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 22 and 23 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on our website.

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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: not previously inspected

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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: none Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 2

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improvement to be good

Children who attend school do so regularly. The manager has developed good links with teachers so that children get the right support in school to help them achieve their potential. Two children are making good progress from their starting points. However, for one child who is awaiting a school placement, staff do not always ensure that he follows a structured timetable and engages in constructive activity during the school day. This does not fully support his learning and will not help him integrate back into school.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake some good direct work with children. However, this work is not always linked to what is set out in children’s plans or undertaken in response to children’s behaviours. This is a missed opportunity to do consistently good work with children to help them to develop insight into their behaviours and understand why they cause other people concern. In addition, it also does not help children to develop the skills they may need to keep themselves safe. The quality of key-work records is variable, which does not enable staff to review progress easily and target future work.

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improvement to be good

Lockdown restrictions due to COVID-19 have presented some challenges with outdoor activities. With restrictions easing, staff have not taken this opportunity to plan a range of activities with children. Children’s interests and hobbies are not always actively promoted. As a result, children do not have a range of experiences to develop their interests and self-confidence.

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improvement to be good

Children told the inspector that they like living in the home. Children and staff were observed during the inspection to have positive relationships. These positive relationships with people caring for them gives children a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to attend routine health appointments and support them when they do. This promotes children’s physical health. Medication procedures are in place, and trained staff manage children’s medication well.

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improvement to be good

Children have made some progress from their starting points. For example, two children do not go missing from home as often. In addition, children see and speak to people who are important to them and they informed the inspector that they are happy with the arrangements in place to facilitate this.

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improvement to be good

When children are at risk of harm, staff and managers do not always respond to this in a coordinated way in partnership with other agencies. For example, one child has been involved in incidents outside the home on a few occasions. Managers and staff Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 3 did not ensure that the police were joined to meetings and so a joint safety plan could not be agreed. Staff have undertaken some work with the child, but this work does not go far enough. The lack of joint working with key partner agencies and the lack of consistently good direct work with the child do not support his welfare and safety.

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improvement to be good

Staff sometimes use physical intervention to manage children’s behaviours and keep children and other people safe. However, records of these incidents are not sufficiently detailed. This makes it difficult for the reader to understand what happened. One record has not been reviewed and signed by the manager. When reviews do take place, these are not always reflective to consider learning for staff about what they could have done differently to manage the incident.

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improvement to be good

Consequences given to children by staff to address children’s behaviours are not always restorative. Furthermore, managers do not always help staff to consider alternative ways to work with children in a more positive way. The manager informed the inspector that she is working on various tools to help staff to develop more positive ways of dealing with children’s behaviours and is looking at more meaningful ways to give children praise and incentives. However, this work has not been fully implemented and its impact on children is not yet realised.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always recruited safely. Managers have not ensured that information relating to a staff member’s previous employment has been fully explored. In addition, reasons why two staff members have left previous employment where they have worked with children or vulnerable adults have not been verified. This means that staff working in the home may not be suitable to work with children.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff try to maintain contact with them and locate them. Staff liaise well with the police to ensure a coordinated response. When children return to the home, they are offered a return home interview. A good response to children who go missing from home has led to a reduction in incidents for two children.

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improvement to be good

When children are not able to manage their feelings in a positive way and instead self-harm, staff provide some good support. They spend time with children to explore how they are feeling and to develop better coping strategies so that they do not resort to hurting themselves.

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improvement to be good

The location risk assessment is reviewed and updated to take account of new information. The document carefully considers key issues in the local area that may affect children’s safety. This helps staff and children to have a good understanding of the local area and potential risks, and how to reduce these risks.

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improvement to be good

Children’s engagement with meetings within the home is good. Staff encourage children to regularly take part in these meetings to share their views. These meetings are also used to help staff have important group discussions on issues such as gang culture and bullying. Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 4

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good

The manager knows her staff team and the children well. She is developing her understanding of the strengths and needs of the service. The manager has made a start on making some improvements to the quality of care provided and building on the existing strengths of the service.

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good

Staff told the inspector that they enjoy working in the home. The staff team has a range of experience and skills. A small number of staff are new to children’s residential care. More than half have the relevant level 3 qualification in caring for children and young people, and others have been enrolled on the course. One staff member has not met the timescale for completing the course, which the manager was not aware of at the time of the inspection.

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good

Staff feel well supported by the manager. They receive regular supervision with managers, and the manager is in the process of introducing a new tool to help make supervision more reflective and to help her measure staff performance.

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good

For newer staff, records do not show that they are having probation reviews and outline how their practice is being assessed to show that they are making progress. One staff member has not had his annual appraisal. This was acknowledged by the manager and she informed the inspector that she will be developing a new probation review and annual appraisal format.

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good

The manager has some monitoring and reviewing systems in place. However, her review and oversight of records are not always visible. The manager has submitted to Ofsted a review of the quality of care. This lacks analysis and a detailed plan setting out how she will achieve the objectives she has set out. Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 5

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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 enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 30 June 2021

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(v)) 30 June 2021

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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

promotes their welfare. 30 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d)) 30 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

The relevant date is— 31 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 7 in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(b) (4)(a)(c)) 30 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(ii)) 30 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff support children to engage in structured activities when they are not in school. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that their review of the quality of care contains detailed analysis of their review and that the plan moving forward is specific and detailed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 2560305 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blossom Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Thrift Road, Branston, Burton-on-Trent DE14 3LJ

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Inspector

Shazana Jamal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2560305 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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