Children's Home run by Laska Care and Education Ltd in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2567806 1 Registered provider: Laska Care and Education Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned and run by a private organisation, and is registered to provide care for up to two children who have social, emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 6 May 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

There is one child living at the home currently.

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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 4 May 2021, to carry out a monitoring 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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: this is the home’s first inspection

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report children’s home: 2567806 2 A monitoring visit was conducted on 30 March 2021, and there were significant failings found in the leadership and management of the home. This led to six requirements. Three of these were escalated to compliance notices.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A second monitoring visit took place on 4 May 2021. The manager had met two of the three compliance notices. A compliance notice in respect of the behaviour management policy and procedure was reissued following this monitoring visit. A further monitoring visit took place on 21 June 2021. The provider demonstrated that sufficient progress had been made to meet the compliance notice. Inspection report children’s home: 2567806 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to moving in, each new child is visited by the managers and hears all there is to know about their new home. This offers reassurance, and new children quickly settle as a result of having a structured and planned move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide each child with good-quality, nurturing care that is individualised to the child’s needs. Staff spend time with the children getting to know them. This helps with the development of trusting relationships so that the children can open up and talk about their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the triggers which cause children to engage in self-harm. When needed, staff increase their emotional support, which means that one child’s incidents are reducing in frequency. One parent said: ‘Staff provide a nurturing, caring environment with 24-hour support. Having staff that care makes a real difference to [name of child’s] progress.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff value the importance of education. Staff work with children to help find the best educational resource to meet their needs. This encouragement helps to prepare children emotionally and practically for starting their new school or college. Children become motivated and have aspirations for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide new opportunities for children to develop their interests and hobbies. This includes taking children out to do a range of activities, to develop their skills and improve their confidence. Children enjoy new experiences at the home, such as pampering sessions with staff. Staff also teach children household tasks, which helps them to be more self-sufficient and prepared when they leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff develop good working relationships with the children’s families. Parents and siblings visit on a regular basis. In addition, staff support one child to see their family outside of the home. This means that family relationships continue to be nurtured and promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children leave the home, the staff prepare and support them to move to alternative accommodation. Staff remain in contact with those who have left, which offers ongoing emotional support.

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

The staff team provides a high level of supervision and support. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities, and have the skills and experience to know how to respond in order to help keep children safe. One professional said, ‘Staff use therapeutic ways of working with [name of child], in terms of a high level of recognition and understanding of trauma and the effects on children.’ Inspection report children’s home: 2567806 4 Staff ensure that children’s behaviour support plans promote positive behaviour, and include children’s views. This includes children outlining how they want staff to respond when they are facing a difficult situation. Staff use this information to better understand what a change in one child’s presentation means. Staff have the skills to de-escalate situations, so children remain calm and regulated without the need for any physical restraint.

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

Staff recognise when children may be thinking about absconding from the home. Staff go out looking when children leave the home, and follow clear instructions, which helps to quickly locate them. The staff’s vigilance has resulted in the child only going missing on one occasion. Their actions reduce the risk of the child being exploited by others.

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

Staff complete structured key-work sessions with children. This helps to educate them on issues such as unsafe relationships, online safety or the dangers of drugs and alcohol. This provides children with information to help keep them safe when out in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has continued to make positive changes to develop her management skills and address the issues raised at the previous monitoring visits. Staff are now completing more detailed incident report forms in a timelier way, and these are promptly reviewed by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has designed new monitoring tools which give her improved oversight of what is happening at the home. The incident tracker system provides information about areas children may be struggling with. This prompts staff to seek external support for children, such as from the child and adolescent mental health service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recent staff recruitment has expanded the staff team, giving the children continuity and quality of care. The staff talk about how much they enjoy working in the home. Staff receive regular supervision and participate in team meetings which are reflective. One staff member said, ‘The manager is supportive and knowledgeable, while being approachable and highly organised.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has failed to obtain one child’s care plan from the placing authority. However, the individualised placement plan contains the child’s essential information. The manager is still to file her six-monthly quality of care report, so the date for the filing of this report with the regulator has been extended. Inspection report children’s home: 2567806 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 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, make sure that the home receives the child’s care plan, and that documents such as the missing-from- home protocol are dated and signed. 30 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. 20 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2567806 6 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 (1) (2)(a)(b) (4)(a) (5))

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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: 2567806 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Laska Care and Education Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Euroway House, Roysdale Way, Bradford BD4 6SE

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2567806 8 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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