Children's home run by Casaegis Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 1 Registered provider: Casaegis Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home and manager registered with Ofsted on 5 August 2020. The manager is suitably qualified.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

The home has had two monitoring visits. The first was conducted on 24 November 2020 following a complaint to Ofsted. The second was conducted on 17 February 2021. Neither visit highlighted any significant or widespread concerns. The reports are published on the Ofsted website. Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home was registered in August 2020. Children are settled. They have started to develop good relationships with staff. Professionals involved spoke positively about the care provided to children. One said, ‘I speak highly of them [staff] because they haven’t given up on him [child] despite the damage [to property] and his behaviour.’ Staff remain committed to the children despite some difficult and challenging times.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff place great emphasis and importance on children’s education. One child attends school on a full-time basis. The other is awaiting confirmation of a start date, having recently been allocated a school place. The staff understand how important education is for the children’s futures.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff worked positively throughout the national lockdowns and supported children who contracted COVID-19. They ensured that the children felt cared for and nurtured. The staff took all the appropriate actions to minimise the spread of the virus, in line with national guidance.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager promotes positive endings when children leave the home sooner than originally planned. She ensures that children have farewell meals or gatherings to end the placement in a positive manner. Additionally, the manager works with the agencies involved to help with these transitions. For example, she asked school staff to visit a child to explain why he was leaving the school. The school staff used the visit to provide the required clarity and a memory box. This thoughtful approach enables children to have good memories of these significant events. One social worker commented that this was the first time her child had ever had a positive ending.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have individual discussions with children during key-work sessions. These cover pertinent issues and topics. However, there is no evidence of how the children’s views and wishes are used to help develop their home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain their relationships with family and those close to them. They regularly visit their families. Conversely, family members can come to the home when this is right for the child.

p.3

improvement to be good

There have been some concerning safeguarding incidents. The manager has not ensured that Ofsted has received the requisite notifications. This prevents Ofsted from having up-to-date knowledge of the incidents and being assured that safe- guarding incidents are managed appropriately. Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 4 Children have been unsettled, at times, and there have been episodes of going missing from home. However, the home has been increasingly settled following the departure of two children.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments are not up to date and do not reflect children’s current circumstances, risks and vulnerabilities. These updates are required to ensure that staff are working with relevant information and are using agreed strategies to keep children safe.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff help children to manage strong emotions. They support children by enabling them to have some time out to reflect and find alternative ways to express their emotions, without aggression. This helps children to recognise when their mood is changing and when they need additional support to regulate these emotions.

p.4

improvement to be good

There has been property damage caused by children during incidents. Managers make sure that repairs are carried out quickly. This ensures that the children’s living environment remains homely and comfortable.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff complete appropriate training courses. Arrangements are being made for more face-to-face training following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about the care children receive. Her staff team is equally as enthusiastic. Staff speak positively about their supervision sessions and describe the manager as ‘accessible’ and ‘responsive’. The staff receive the guidance and direction they need to provide good overall care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff know the children well. They know what actions they need to take to help the children make progress. Staff are good advocates for the children. The manager actively pursues other professionals to ensure children have the services they need to make progress or if any information is missing. Professionals stated that they find this proactive approach helpful. They commended the team for its ability to work in partnership and share information.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear about the strengths of the home and the ongoing areas of development. Staff recruitment and retention require strengthening to prevent children from being cared for by temporary staff, which makes it harder for children to form relationships with consistent adults in their lives. The manager recognises that achieving consistency of care practice is an important part of the home’s development.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and leaders have not demonstrated that policies and procedures are reviewed at their specified timescales. This prevents the incorporation of any lessons learned since becoming operational. Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.5

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.5

Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.5

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

p.5

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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 23 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 6 This is made with specific reference to ensuring that children’s risk assessments are regularly updated with all relevant information.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.6

Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

p.6

Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

p.6

Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

p.6

Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 23 October 2021

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted with regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that all policies are reviewed regularly and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.19)

p.6

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) Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 7 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 8

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 84 Wigston Road, Oadby, Leicester, Leicestershire LE2 5QD

p.8

Inspector

Sonia Hay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2595123 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9