Children's Home run by Unique Care Homes Support Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report children's home: SC473699 1 SC473699 Registered provider: Unique Care Homes Support Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a large private provider. It provides care for up to six children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It accommodates only boys.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced and is registered with Ofsted.

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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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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Outstanding

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: SC473699 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/08/2019 Full Outstanding 16/10/2018 Full Outstanding 12/12/2017 Full Outstanding 20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC473699 3

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inadequate

Children’s progress and experiences are inadequate because risk management practice and safeguarding systems are poor. The leadership and management of the home have also been ineffective.

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inadequate

One child is ill-prepared for an imminent move into a semi-independence home. Staff have not been able to equip the child with many of the practical life skills necessary for independent living. For example, staff have not completed work to develop the child’s understanding of tasks such as paying bills and using public transport.

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inadequate

Children are making some progress, although weaknesses in recording and management oversight make this progress difficult to measure. Children trust staff and have generally positive relationships with them. Children enjoy spending time with staff.

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inadequate

Children have access to a range of activities in the home and community. However, poor garden maintenance has prevented them from taking part in some activities that they enjoy.

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inadequate

All children are enrolled at school or college. Although some children are doing well, the progress of others is limited by inconsistent attendance and engagement.

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inadequate

Children are supported to stay in touch with those who are important to them. Staff ensure that visits are facilitated in line with agreed contact plans. This enables children to maintain valuable relationships.

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

The manager’s understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and how to manage risk is poor. Risk assessments do not reflect known risks that may have an impact on children in the home and community. As a result, staff are not given the information that they need to protect children. The manager has failed to work effectively with specialist services, to address potentially harmful behaviour. For example, a recent referral to a specialist children’s mental health service did not contain all the relevant information. This meant that the service was not able to make an accurate assessment of the child’s needs.

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

Children are not consistently kept safe online. Important risk factors have not been considered when allowing children to have unsupervised access to the internet. Staff and managers are not monitoring children’s on-line activity sufficiently, to assure themselves that children are behaving safely. This has the potential to place children at risk of harm. Inspection report children's home: SC473699 4 Important safeguarding information that children share with staff is not shared with appropriate agencies. This means that the wider network of professionals working with children is not provided with the information needed to support children effectively.

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

Staff have not received training to support them in managing behaviour that is potentially harmful and have not been given enough information about children’s specific health needs. As a result, they are not able to provide safe care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not recognised the seriousness of safeguarding concerns and minimised the potential significance of these issues. Therefore, he has not taken steps to ensure children’s safety. The manager has also failed to carry out programmes of direct work that had been designed by safeguarding agencies to support a child. He has provided inaccurate information about safeguarding concerns during multi-agency meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When staff have raised concerns about children’s safety and development, the manager has failed to take action. Staff feel frustrated that their concerns about the welfare of children have not been taken seriously. The lack of action by the manager has resulted in children being at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff have regular supervision, and the quality of supervision is variable. Children’s progress and well-being are not routinely discussed during supervision. This limits opportunities for staff to reflect on practice and discuss any concerns they may have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been insufficient scrutiny of the home by the external visitor. This means that potential shortfalls have not been identified. Important information relating to the safety of children has not been properly evaluated or acted on. Inspection report children's home: SC473699 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to preparing and equipping children with relevant life skills for moving into independence and semi-independence provisions. 30 November

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 30 November Inspection report children's home: SC473699 6 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to children’s risks being recorded, evaluated and assessed, taking into account guidance from external professionals and including staff viewpoints about levels of risk.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(a)(c)(f)(g)(i)(h)) 30 November Inspection report children's home: SC473699 7 In particular, this relates to management oversight, review and auditing of children’s plans, risk assessments and direct work. It also relates to staff receiving training in response to identified individual needs of children.

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Requirement Due date

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 produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the independent person’s review of the home being sufficiently robust and evaluative in identifying and raising concerns. 30 November

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: SC473699 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unique Care Homes Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC473699 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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