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

Inspection report children's home: SC447645 1 SC447645 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

A private provider operates this home. The home provides care for up to four children who have experienced childhood instability that results in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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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

A manager is in post, but they are not registered with Ofsted. An application to register has been received.

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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: 29 October 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Due to concerns raised about the safety of children, a monitoring visit was carried out on 23 July 2020. As a result of this, Ofsted undertook higher enforcement action Inspection report for children's home: SC447645 2 due to concerns about the safety of children and the leadership and management of the home.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following these concerns, Ofsted undertook six further monitoring visits, and one assurance visit, with the last visit taking place in April 2021. During this visit, there were no children living at the home.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

The provider informed Ofsted on 10 May 2021 that the existing manager and staff team would be redeployed to other homes within the company and a manager and a team of staff who currently work at one of their other homes would be transferred to this home.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted acknowledged the impending changes and did not continue with enforcement action. On 21 May 2021, three children and the new manager and staff team moved into the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC447645 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2019 Full Good 19/02/2019 Full Good 10/01/2018 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC447645 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On 21 May 2021, three children moved into the home. Children were actively involved in the planning for their transition into the home and the move went well. There were opportunities to visit the home beforehand and the children chose how they wanted their rooms to be personalised. To support one child, staff took their favourite character to the home and took photos of the character in various places. This child-centred practice provided the child with visual representations of the home. As a result of this practice, children have invested into their new home and behaviours such as damaging property have reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff have trusting relationships with children. Staff are child-centred and caring towards the children. Children told the inspector they feel safe and happy. One child said to the inspector that ‘staff really care about me’. The strong relationships between children and staff have had a positive effect on the children’s identity and has provided them with a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a thorough understanding of the individual needs of the children. Good- quality risk assessments and plans provide staff with information on how to support the children. Children are involved in their plans and share their views about approaches that help them. Staff consider the views of children, and this ensures that children are supported in ways that are most effective for them. This has led to a low number of incidents at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are making excellent progress with their education. For two children, a tutor was put in place over the summer to support them in their transition to full- time education. Prior to living at the home, their attendance was extremely low, but they are now attending on a full-time basis. Another child attends an agricultural college as part of their education. This is an area of intertest for this child and has motivated him to pursue a career in this area. Staff and managers have high expectations for children, and this is a motivating factor that helps children to believe in themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children are well met. Staff support children to attend appointments and complete key-work sessions to help children explore any worries they have relating to these. Staff help children who have previously had their health needs neglected to get the treatment they need; for example, one child required extensive dental work, which has now been completed. Staff worked closely with the child to enable them to attend the many appointments for treatment. This approach has improved the health and well-being of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers support the children to maintain relationships with important people in their lives. Managers forward plan for significant events, such as Christmas, and are proactive in making plans for the children to spend time with others. When there are concerns, the manager works with the local authority to Inspection report for children's home: SC447645 5 ensure that plans are in place to minimise risk, so that children are able to enjoy time with their families safely, which promotes their sense of identity.

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

Staff have a clear understanding of the risks to children and use strategies that consider their individual needs. Managers ensure that the home’s therapeutic model is embedded within staff’s practice. Managers and staff work closely with a therapist to consider the best approach for each child. As a result, staff provide children with consistent and individualised care that gives them a secure base.

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

Staff complete key-work sessions with children to a high standard. This work links to children’s care plans and is creative and child-centred. Sessions are both planned and unplanned, and staff use them well to support the children to develop their knowledge. For example, a staff member created a wishes and feelings game to ensure that children were able to express their views in an informal and enjoyable way. The work completed with the children supports them to manage their feelings and behaviours in a more positive way.

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

The strong and caring relationships between staff and children have meant that children feel supported when they are experiencing distress and that staff are able to use verbal de-escalation strategies effectively to help children to manage their emotions. As a result, there has been a decrease in the use of physical intervention since the children moved into the home.

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

Staff and managers respond to safeguarding concerns effectively and take all necessary steps to protect children. Managers are thorough in their response and this has included debriefs and detailed key-work sessions with the children to ensure that they feel supported. When necessary, managers have escalated their concerns and worked closely with safeguarding partners; for example, when there were concerns about the risk to children, staff worked with wider agencies including the local authority and police. This ensured that all agencies worked jointly to ensure that the decisions made safeguarded the children.

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

The manager has not ensured that the recruitment agency commissioned to provide agency workers to the home have safely recruited staff. The manager has addressed this with the recruitment agency who are reviewing their processes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been significant changes to the leadership and management of the home since the last monitoring visit. A new manager and staff team moved into the home on 21 May 2021.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager places the children at the centre of their decision-making. She has high expectations for children and advocates for them to ensure that they are provided with support that meets their individual needs. For example, when she disagreed with a decision made about a child’s school placement, she advocated for Inspection report for children's home: SC447645 6 a provision that was more suited to the needs of the child. During this time, she worked closely with virtual schools who commented that ‘really moving results for children had been achieved’ and it was ‘a perfect example of multi-disciplinary work at its very best’. Through this dedicated approach, children are encouraged to believe in themselves and what they can achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager scrutinises the children’s records to track their progress and identify patterns and behaviours. When concerns arise, the manager reviews the child’s plans of care and, when necessary, escalates her concerns to the placing authority. For example, the manager was able to identify that having contact with particular people was a negative experience for the child. The manager escalated these concerns to the child’s placing authority and, as a result, a revised plan was put in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are a number of thorough monitoring tools in place that provide the manager with a good understanding of the service and where improvements are needed. The manager is open to feedback and is keen to ensure that herself and her team provide children with a high level of care. The manager recognises the strengths and areas of development of the home and strives to provide the children with positive life experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff value the views of children and use them to inform the development of the service. Following children’s meetings or the use of the wishes and feelings game, the manager writes a response to each individual child. This helps children to feel comfortable in sharing their wishes and feelings and that the manager will respond to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager considers the individual needs of the children and arranges training to make sure that staff have the appropriate skills and knowledge to care for the children. Staff also receive good-quality supervision that are regular, child-centred and consider staff and their personal and developmental needs. Team meetings and workshops complement supervision. Through these, staff are provided with evidence-based information that supports them in completing their role to a high standard. As a result, children are cared for by a knowledgeable and skilled staff team. Inspection report for children's home: SC447645 7

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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 recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation (32) (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager is to ensure that recruitment agencies undertake checks that are compliant with safer recruitment. 21 January 2021

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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 for children's home: SC447645 8

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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

Melanie Griffin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC447645 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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