Children's home run by Life Change Care Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2543640 1 Registered provider: Life Change Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home which provides care for up to three children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children living in this home may have a range of social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2021

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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 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 16 December 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2543640 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected. Inspection report children's home: 2543640 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive and trusting relationships with the staff team. They said that the staff genuinely care about them and look after them very well. Children feel listened to and involved in decisions about their care. House meetings ensure that children are frequently consulted about the running of the home and any changes that they would like to make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is personalised and furnished to a high standard. Social workers and parents are happy with the quality of care that children are provided with. Staff are intuitive to children’s needs and help them to make positive choices about their behaviour. A parent said: ‘The staff are great at supporting us, we couldn’t ask for more.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress while living in the home. This is because the staff team understands children’s needs and is nurturing in its response. Children have emotionally matured, improved their self-confidence and developed positive relationships with friendship groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. They engage in regular exercise, and staff promote a healthy and balanced diet. Children have access to regular therapeutic support if they choose. In addition, the staff team is provided with regular therapeutic guidance from a team of professionals, to enable it to support children’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their education and have excellent school attendance. The staff team supports children with their homework and additional tuition to improve their attainment levels. Children are equally encouraged to have relaxation time and spend time with staff on holidays and activities of their choice. Memory books evidence children’s journeys while living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff use their positive relationships with children to have open and honest conversations. Staff record daily positive messages in children’s praise books to help boost children’s self-esteem. Children are involved in agreeing their own incentive programmes to promote positive behaviour. These are realistic and specific to what motivates the child.

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

Children feel safe at the home. The staff team supports children to manage their behaviour and make safer choices. One child said: ‘The staff are not strict, but equally, do not let me do what I want.’ Consequently, children’s risk-taking behaviour has reduced. Restraint is not used, and children do not go missing from the home. Risk assessments provide the staff with clear and up-to-date guidance about procedures they must follow and how to support each other when responding to Inspection report children's home: 2543640 4 children’s behaviour. They also include children’s views about specific strategies that they find helpful.

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

Staff respond appropriately to incidents, demonstrating that they understand and use the children’s individual support plans effectively. Incident debriefs take place routinely with children and staff, allowing the management team to reflect on and adapt practice where necessary.

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

Any sanctions used are proportionate and time limited. They also provide children with the opportunity to earn back some privileges for making good choices. The manager has a good oversight of sanctions and when she deems them ineffective, she addresses this directly with the staff team.

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

The home’s safe area risk assessment does not consider the potential risks of a vehicle service centre that is situated locally to the home. Although there has been no negative effect on children’s safety, the manager should identify control measures to reduce risks for children while they are in the local community.

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

When children independently administer medication, a self-administration risk assessment is not in place to evidence that the child knows how to do this safely. That said, this shortfall relates to the application of cream for a mild skin condition and there have been no implications for the child’s health.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about achieving the best outcomes for children. She works positively with children’s social workers and families to promote their continued progress. The manager is a good role model for children and the staff team. She is child centred and has high expectations of the quality of care that the staff team should provide for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is supported by a manager who prioritises the development of her staff and ensures that they implement consistent boundaries for the children. She uses regular team meetings to review the management of incidents, and to provide staff with additional research-based information to develop their knowledge of children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable and staff morale is good. The staff are provided with regular supervision and additional focused clinical supervision, which enables them to review their practice. This helps the staff maintain perspective in relation to understanding and managing children’s behaviours. The staff receive training that is specific to the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has introduced creative ways to educate children about different religions, cultures and celebrating festivals. The children have had fun learning about Remembrance Day, and have taken part in Chinese and Spanish culture nights. Inspection report children's home: 2543640 5 The manager completes monthly audits to ensure that she has a thorough oversight of the operation of the home and children’s progress. The quality-of-care review report provides a comprehensive evaluation of the service being provided and the improvements that the manager plans to implement. However, regular feedback from families, staff and social workers is not included in the report. Therefore, it does not provide a full evaluation of the quality of the service provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Additionally, the independent visitor’s reports do not evidence regular consultation with children and staff. The manager should support the independent visitor to obtain regular feedback from children and staff about the quality of care that the home provides. Inspection report children's home: 2543640 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

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

the system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that feedback and views of social workers, families and staff are reflected in the quality-of-care review report to evaluate the service provided. 28 January 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children who wish to keep and take their own medication should be supported to, if they are able to do so safely. Specifically, children who self-administer medication should have a risk assessment in place to evidence that they understand how to do this safety. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.16)  The registered person should ensure that the independent visitor obtains regular feedback from children and staff about the quality of care that the home provides. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that under regulation 46, they review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and

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Recommendations

opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing Inspection report children's home: 2543640 7 these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2543640 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Life Change Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pennine View, Off Trafalgar Street, Burnley, Lancashire BB11 1TQ

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2543640 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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