Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2501791 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home registered with Ofsted on 12 July 2019. The home’s statement of purpose states that the staff team provides care and accommodation for up to three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, including mild to moderate learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 12 July 2019.

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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 1 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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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

Date of last inspection: 1 September 2020 (assurance visit)

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2501791 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are looked after by a skilled and committed staff team. Children experience warmth and sensitive care that promotes their security and resilience. As a result, the children feel that they matter and that their progress is important to the adults who care for and about them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in the home. Baseline assessments are completed when children move in, and their progress is reviewed weekly. This helps managers to identify when they need to respond to children in terms of their individual circumstances or presenting behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good educational progress, with one child recently completing their exams and being supported to apply for an apprenticeship.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care based on their needs. Their care and support are written in child-centred language and in consultation with children. There is, however, some contradictory information in both behaviour support and risk plans. There is also some language used that is not factual in its description of children’s behaviour. This means that guidance to staff is not always clear. This also means that, if children wish to review their records in the future, they may not get an accurate picture of their time in the home

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers attend regular clinical consultation meetings to help them to promptly identify when children need additional support from staff or if they need more specialist clinical input. Individual care plans are updated to ensure that the assessments and recommendations from the clinical team are used to inform children’s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are well considered. Children report that they feel that staff listen to them and that they know that their views have an impact on decisions about them and their care. Planned individual work and fortnightly house meetings supplement more informal discussions with the children, which helps to maintain this level of consultation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Discussions with staff occur regularly to encourage children to think about where they want their next moves to be as they approach adulthood. One child initially refused to consider this because of their fear of further change, but after subtle continued approach by staff in one-to-one work, he has been able to identify where he may like to move to when he is older. However, for an older child in the home, there is minimal planning undertaken to help him to learn semi-independent skills as is dictated by their care plan. Inspection report children's home: 2501791 3

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

If children go missing from the home, clear plans are followed by staff with immediate action taken and good communication with external agencies. Staff spend time talking to children to make sure children are well and to help them to understand and think about the dangers they may face when missing. For one child, this has had a positive impact of significantly reducing incidents of missing.

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

Individual risk assessments give guidance to staff on how to stay safer in relation to children’s known vulnerabilities. These risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated in response to new concerns. This ensures that staff are working with the most up-to-date guidance. Risk assessment records do not, however, consistently identify the level of risk that children potentially face.

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

Staff manage incidents well. They have a good understanding as to what may influence children’s behaviour and they are alert to signs that children may be upset and at risk of escalating behaviours. There is good follow-up work done with children after incidents to ensure that they are well and to allow them to discuss their feelings. When children are unable to do this, they are encouraged to write their feelings down. Staff take note of what children share with them and use this to help them understand how children are experiencing care. Physical restraint is only used as a last resort to prevent harm, and when it is used, staff and managers look closely to make sure that they understand why this was necessary and how to reduce the need for this level of intervention in the future.

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

Leaders and managers communicate well with external agencies when children are putting themselves at risk. There are regular meetings to discuss the needs of individual children and what staff can do to support them. This forum for reflection and focus on children has had a positive impact because staff can work through and be resilient in times of challenge. This enables staff to stick with children and provide stable placements for them.

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

Admissions into the home are carefully considered to make sure that the needs of children moving in are compatible with the needs of children already living in the home. Staff are thoughtful and provide well-planned support to help children settle when they move into the home. This has helped children moving into the home to make relationships with staff quickly and to feel like it is their home.

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good

The registered manager is currently on maternity leave, and the home is being overseen by an interim manager. There is a positive culture of support for staff both by the registered manager and the interim manager. Staff report that they appreciate this support and that they feel that managers are accessible and available to them. Inspection report children's home: 2501791 4 Supervision is not provided regularly for staff or managers, and when it does take place, the quality of recording is inconsistent. For some staff, there have been several months between supervisions. This means that staff have limited protected space to formally discuss the emotional impact of their work with their manager.

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good

Staff undertake relevant training in relation to their role to help them understand the needs of the children in the home. However, not all staff have attained the level 3 qualification that is required by regulation.

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good

Equality and diversity are promoted by the recent introduction of culture nights, which allows children to begin to explore different cultures around the world. In fortnightly children’s meetings, opportunities are used to look at different religious celebrations and festivals. However, there is minimal guidance in care plans for the staff to fully understand and meet the needs of children with regard to their culture.

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good

Leaders and managers work well with the wider professional network. Staff are confident to challenge other professionals to ensure that children receive the services that they need. Feedback from a social worker was extremely positive about the communication from the registered manager and the team, and the support that they provide to children. Leaders and managers have also been able to challenge professionals and advocate to ensure that care plans remain focused on the best interest of children. Inspection report children's home: 2501791 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(x))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff and managers having regular supervision. 30 August 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 promotes their welfare.

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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 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particular refers to staff having attained the required qualification in timescales. 30 November2021 Inspection report children's home: 2501791 6

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Recommendations

 The registered manager must ensure that children maintain and develop their cultural or religious beliefs as far as practicable and where appropriate, through participation and instruction, and by observing religious requirements including dress and diet. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.22)  The registered manager must ensure that each child is supported to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 The registered manager must ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2501791 7

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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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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2501791 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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