Children's Home run by United Children's Services Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 1 SC489970 Registered provider: United Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company and provides care for up to four children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2021.

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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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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2020

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 29/10/2019 Full Good 26/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 3

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improvement to be good

This home merged with another home within the organisation earlier in the year. There have been several positive changes since the merger, and children have spoken positively about the move. However, at this inspection, some concerns have included bullying behaviours between children and unplanned moves out of the home for some children.

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improvement to be good

Children are now making some progress. Children report that they have good relationships with staff. Children feel that they can confide in staff and talk to them about any worries or concerns they may have. Children know they will be listened to and taken seriously.

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improvement to be good

Both the children in the home are attending an alternative education provision. Recently, there has been a marked improvement in their engagement with tutors. Tutors have praised children and staff for the progress made.

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improvement to be good

A therapist has recently joined the team to provide children with the emotional support they need. She is building relationships with the children to gain their trust and acceptance. She also supports the staff to identify strategies to use in their work with the children. This means that approaches to care practice are informed by a therapeutic methodology.

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improvement to be good

The staff encourage children to eat healthy meals. Children understand that this benefits them and their health. Staff also encourage exercise and a healthy lifestyle, which will benefit children now and in the future.

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improvement to be good

Children’s meetings take place weekly. Additionally, children are asked to provide monthly feedback giving their views on the care they receive. Children know how to use the complaints process if they feel aggrieved with any aspect of their care. Children’s complaints are taken seriously and responded to in a timely manner by the managers to children’s satisfaction.

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improvement to be good

Children’s needs, at times, have not been fully understood in relation to other children and in relation to the skills of staff to meet these needs. This has resulted in children moving out of the home sooner than planned. For example, one child’s placement was very short and meant she had an additional placement move. This caused disruption to this child’s progress.

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improvement to be good

Children have become safer because the resident group in the home are more settled. There has been a reduction in the number of times children have left the Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 4 home unauthorised. The use of physical intervention and police involvement in the home have decreased.

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improvement to be good

One child has continued to use cannabis. The child uses this drug regularly and has expressed concerns for his mental health. The child has also accessed games and films that are not age appropriate. Staff are not yet undertaking direct work with the child over these concerns. It is also unclear what is being done to get the child the help he needs.

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improvement to be good

Children report that some of the consequences staff impose for poor behaviour are unfair, for example financial reparations and banning the children from using the home’s car. Children do not have the opportunity to discuss the consequences imposed with the staff. This means children do not always understand why staff have imposed such consequences. Additionally, this limits children’s learning about the impact of their behaviour on others.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks and benefits for children in accessing social media and the internet. On the occasions that staff have identified risks to children, they have reported these concerns immediately. This helps to safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not yet received the guidance and training they need to meet the specific needs of the children. Many staff have not yet received training on specific areas that directly affect children, for example autism, substance misuse and managing self-harming behaviour. This additional learning would enhance the team’s ability to monitor, assess and protect children.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not ensured that a robust review of risk management plans for children has been completed. This hampers staff’s understanding of the actions they should take to safeguard children.

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good

The manager knows the children well. She is working with staff to improve their care practice. A key priority for the manager is team development, and this is steadily leading to improved standards of care. However, these improvements are not yet fully embedded in staff’s care practice. There remains a lack of management oversight following incidents, and this obscures valuable learning opportunities.

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good

The manager is spending a great deal of time in directly working with children and the staff. This makes it challenging to fulfil management tasks and provide the rigorous oversight required. For example, risk assessments are not being updated, the recording of management decisions is missing and new staff receive only infrequent supervision. This means crucial management tasks are being left undone.

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good

Information pertaining to children in reports is often written in institutionalised language when describing the children. This does not provide an accurate reflection on the progress of children or the efforts of staff in caring for them. Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 5 The manager has not ensured that the independent visitor has obtained the views of professionals and families. This results in the manager having limited information available over the quality of care being provided. The manager’s own quality-of-care report and recently updated location risk assessment both lacked external feedback. Leaders understand that they need to be more proactive in demonstrating how external feedback is used to shape the service.

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good

A deputy manager has recently started working in the home. This additional management capacity will afford the manager more time to focus on managerial tasks. The manager is aware of the areas of required development. Senior leaders in the organisation are also supporting and assisting the manager to make the improvements required.

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good

Staff describe the manager as ‘amazing and brilliant’ in the way she supports them. One said, ‘she never makes you feel that any question is daft.’ This demonstrates the level of confidence that staff have in the manager and bodes well for the future.

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good

The manager encourages staff to be proactive in researching different theoretical approaches that can support their work. This helps develop their knowledge and approaches to caring for the children. Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to ensuring that the matching of children’s needs takes place and is accurate prior to admission of a child to the home. 31 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. 31 January 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 7 The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the use of consequences is monitored and reviewed to ensure that they are proportionate and effective.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that records are completed fully with attention to detail and accuracy, and filed correctly. It also refers to ensuring that any actions specified in outcomes of incidents and/or detailed in children’s support plans, such as return home interviews and direct work sessions, are taking place. 31 January 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff should avoid the use of institutionalised language (verbal and written). This is to prevent giving the home, or children, an institutionalised feel. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should actively seek feedback from children, families and professionals. This feedback should be used to develop the service. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23) Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 8

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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: SC489970 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: United Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Coach House, Drinsey Nook, Lincoln, Nottinghamshire LN1 2JJ

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Inspectors

Sonia Hay, Social Care Inspector Alex Howitt, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC489970 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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