Children's home run by Lifetime Opportunities Limited in Bolton

Inspection report children's home: SC060750 1 SC060750 Registered provider: Lifetime Opportunities Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. The manager overseeing the home has been registered with Ofsted since 2018. She holds dual registration and is also responsible for a second home within the organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

This home can provide care for up to three children of either gender. The statement of purpose states that those cared for in this home may have learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or autistic spectrum disorders.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), 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 15 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: SC060750 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/11/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC060750 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled and are making good progress while living in this home. They enjoy education and attend consistently. One child has recently left school. He is looking forward to starting college next term to take up a course in catering and is being encouraged to keep up with his studies and cooking skills in preparation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living together in the home are well matched, although they have clear individual differences. For example, one child is autistic and requires consistent routine and structure. The other requires support to express his views and opinions effectively. Staff have a comprehensive understanding of both children’s needs and personalities and provide them with individualised care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to access activities, such as time outdoors and trips to places of interest. However, it is recommended that children have access to a wider variety of activities, both inside and outside the home, to promote further interests and provide them with new and different experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to be independent and to seek out what they desire. One child aspired to own a costly, specialist wheelchair which will provide him with increased mobility and independence. Staff motivated and supported him to contact charities, agencies and external services to access funds. This was successful and the child is close to reaching his target. This has helped him to learn valuable skills for his future, have more awareness of the support and agencies available to him and has contributed to him having a more independent and positive future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Well-planned transitions continue to support young people when they have left the home. For example, as part of one young person’s plan, the assistant manager made a series of video recordings to demonstrate to new carers how they could best support this young person in line with his known preferences and needs. This thoughtful and creative approach has helped his new carers provide better care and has resulted in the young person having a positive experience of moving from the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children living in this home have additional physical needs. Staff are aware of potential hazards and appropriate adaptions have been made to ensure the environment is safe but remains homely.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children receive care from staff who provide them with good structure and routine. This predictability and consistency helps them to feel safe in the home and relieves anxiety. Because of this, incidents when children have presented with challenging behaviours have reduced. Inspection report children's home: SC060750 4 There have been some instances when one child has become distressed. At these times, it has been necessary for staff to physically intervene, to guide the child to a place of safety or to prevent damage to property. Interventions used have been of minimal restriction and duration. They have been supportive and have prevented further distress or harm. Such incidents are clearly recorded and shared with appropriate others. This transparency promotes children’s safety and welfare.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Leaders and managers use good reflection and analysis to evaluate incidents. They try and understand children’s behaviours and identify the root causes and triggers to unsafe or challenging behaviours. By using lessons learned and good reflection, staff have improved their responses to children and developed more effective preventative measures. This has resulted in a reduction in children’s distress and unsafe behaviours and subsequently improves their safety and overall well-being.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are fully aware of the procedures and protocols to manage children’s behaviours and potential risks. However, these are not all clearly documented within children’s records. This has not yet had an impact upon the protection of children or their welfare.

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good

The home is overseen by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. The manager is also responsible for another home within the organisation. Staff spoken to at the time of the inspection said that the leaders and managers are available to them and that they receive good levels of support and guidance to confidently fulfil their roles.

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good

There is a small, consistent, core staff team who are available to support children each day. However, there have been difficulties in ensuring there is a full team of permanent team members. This has meant that agency staff have worked in the home. On one week there were five different agency staff supporting children. This affects the continuity of care children receive.

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good

The manager spends a large portion of time actively caring for children and away from management duties. Because of this, there is a lack of effective monitoring and review. Furthermore, shortfalls which have been identified have not been addressed. This particularly relates to updating and maintaining children’s case records, such as their health and education plans. This has the potential to hinder the quality of care afforded to children and the progress towards the aims and objectives in these plans.

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good

Both external and internal monitoring reports have not been received by Ofsted within appropriate timescales. This has prevented the required oversight and review from the regulator and has the potential to have an impact on children’s safety and well-being.

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good

Staff and leaders know children well. They advocate for children and actively engage Inspection report children's home: SC060750 5 external agencies and professionals. As a result, children have increased support networks and multi-agency involvement. Because of this, children feel supported, well cared for and listened to. Inspection report children's home: SC060750 6

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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 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the workforce provides good continuity of care to children and that managers have the capacity to oversee, monitor and address any shortfalls in the care provided. 31 July 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure plans for children’s care are regularly reviewed and updated, and are reflective of children’s current needs. 31 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC060750 7 The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that reports are received by the regulator within appropriate timescales. 31 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure the review contains the necessary detail to sufficiently assess the quality of care afforded to children and that reports are received by the regulator within the relevant timescales.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 July 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities, both inside and outside the home (where appropriate), and are encouraged to participate in those activities. Staff should support children to take part in school trips, out of school and other clubs, volunteering and leisure activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5) Inspection report children's home: SC060750 8

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lifetime Opportunities Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Windsor House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3AT

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Inspector

Natalie Bennett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC060750 9 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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