Children's Home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report children's home: 2562531 1 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home offers care for up to five children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 9 September 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website. This is the home’s first full inspection.

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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: Not previously inspected

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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: 2562531 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children's home: 2562531 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from adults who understand their needs. The home is clean, spacious and nicely decorated. The home’s nurturing environment helps the children to feel comfortable and recognise that they are important.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s routines are consistently implemented by staff. This results in the children feeling settled, and incidents of challenging behaviour being reduced. The staff talk to children about the activities they wish to complete and then implement visual planners. This creates opportunities for children to be involved in the day-to-day running of the home, and to enjoy new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational outcomes improve because of the input from staff. Some of the children in the home have been out of formal education for some time before living in the home. All children now access different education provisions and follow a timetable that is tailored to their individual needs. The manager regularly reviews targets and attendance and when necessary, will seek additional support for the children. This practice ensures that the children receive the best possible learning support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, staff have a good understanding of children’s needs. The children’s documents demonstrate that they are encouraged to read and understand the written information. However, in one instance, a child’s plan failed to explore and explain how a child would like to be identified. This could lead to inconsistencies with the care received.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s relationships with people who are important to them. Staff enable and empower children to make decisions about arrangements with loved ones. This helps children to rebuild positive and meaningful relationships with those important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager reviews children’s time spent at the home when they move out. This allows the manager to reflect on children’s longer-term outcomes and consider the impact that the home has had on the children’s future. As a result of this good practice, the manager increased staff training and made changes to staffing ratios. This demonstrates a commitment to improving outcomes for children.

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

Staff understand children’s known risks and what actions they are expected to take to keep children safe. However, written documents do not always include clear guidance for staff. For example, it is not clear when staff should contact the police when children go missing from the home. This has not impacted children’s safety; however, the lack of clarity could lead to inconsistencies with staff practice. Inspection report children's home: 2562531 4 Incidents of children going missing from the home are rare, and overall are responded to appropriately. The staff record the steps that they have taken to locate children and work collaboratively with the police. However, the manager has not always ensured that the local authority have completed independent return home interviews, and that information provided by such interview is considered. This is a missed opportunity to support the children and gain information to reduce future

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

Staff physically intervene when necessary to keep everyone safe. Staff ensure that children are supported by a debrief session following an incident and that appropriate professionals are informed. The manager ensures that reflection with children informs practice. For example, the manager identified that night-time was difficult for one child. In response, a plan was implemented whereby staff would read to the child until he was asleep. This practice has improved the quality of care received by children.

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

When children are unkind to each other in the home, staff undertake reactive group work and individual sessions to educate children and repair relationships. This has been effective in reducing incidents of bullying in the home. However, the staff do not consistently undertake meaningful proactive work. This is a missed opportunity for staff to help children further learn about their behaviours.

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

The children’s positive behaviours are recognised and rewarded by staff. During the inspection, one child received a remote-control car to celebrate the positive day he had at school. The sanctions used in the home are appropriate. The staff discuss inappropriate behaviours with children and support them to complete online training to understand the related risks. This motivates the children to make informed choices in the future.

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

Feedback from external professionals is positive. A police officer told the inspector, ‘Communication with the manager is excellent.’ This positive working relationship enhances the care provided.

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good

The new registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. The manager knows the children well and is passionate about achieving positive outcomes for children.

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good

The staff team receive regular supervision which supports them to undertake their roles effectively. Regular team meetings also take place which encourages sharing of information and supports staff development.

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good

The monitoring of the home requires improvement. The managers review of incidents and the de-briefs with staff are not always recorded. This means that it is not clear when the manager has provided oversight. In addition, the manager has Inspection report children's home: 2562531 5 not always ensured that there are sufficient staff on duty. This means that children are not fully offered the care as outlined in their plans.

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good

Children have raised concerns about staff at the home. There are times where managers have worked with external agencies to investigate these concerns. However, one allegation was not referred to the designated officer, and there was no record of a formal investigation. In addition, children are not always provided with a formal outcome in response to raising concerns. This practice does not follow the company’s own policy and procedure. The manager’s failure to follow safeguarding procedures means that children may have been at risk of harm and the views of the child are not fully considered.

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good

Regular checks are completed to ensure that the environment is safe. However, the manager failed to ensure that children moving into the home received a practice fire drill in a timely manner. While this has not had any serious consequences, it has the potential to impact a child’s safety in the home.

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good

The manager has not always ensured that children’s case records contain up-to-date and accurate information. There is evidence of the manager escalating concerns to the local authority. However, requested information is still not available. As a result, staff do not always have the information they need to co-ordinate care. Inspection report children's home: 2562531 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 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; and

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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 ensure—

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the children’s care plans consider a child’s wishes in relation to their identity. 15 January 2021

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the children’s risk assessments consider and assess all known risks. 15 January 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2562531 7 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 for each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvement in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring there are adequate staffing levels on duty. In addition, the manager should ensure that incidents and are monitored and that staff are offered de-brief’s following incidents. 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should also provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the allegations against staff being referred to the designated officer. 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— 15 January 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2562531 8 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for a child’s up-to-date care plan to be in place.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand what they must do to prevent bullying of children by other children or adults. Staff should be able to recognise and address different types of abuse such as peer abuse, cyber bullying and bullying in day-to-day relationships in the home. Registered persons must ensure that procedures for dealing with allegation of bullying are in place and staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bulling behaviours effectively. (Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in

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Recommendations

place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that children feel safe and be safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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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: 2562531 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2, Lymevale Court, Lyme Drive, Parklands, Stoke- On-Trent ST4 6NW

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Inspector

Sophie Hills, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2562531 10 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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