Children's home run by Blossom Care Group Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2620184 1 Registered provider: Blossom Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. The home was registered in August 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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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since it was registered.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 for children’s home: 2620184 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2620184 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children have lived at the home since it was registered. Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff. The registered manager and staff know the children well and offer children individual care to meet their needs. All three children spoke to the inspector and said that they can talk to staff about any worries they have and that they receive good care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children new to the home are welcomed sensitively by the manager and the staff team. Good matching means that children are compatible with each other and they live alongside each other well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Attentive staff offer children nurture, respect and support, which enables them to settle. For children who struggled with being away from their families, this approach helped them to adjust and develop positive relationships with those caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff celebrate children’s achievements and milestones. One child told the inspector that a recent birthday had been their best ever. Children feel valued because of the support and care they receive. This helps children’s emotional development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work hard to ensure that children access education that meets their needs. One child has a tutor who visits them three times a week and on the other days staff offer incentives to support them with educational activities in the home. In addition, older children have received support to undertake work placements, to support their learning and aspirations for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with health services and attend routine appointments when needed. When a child wanted to remain with the dentist he was already registered with, this was facilitated, despite it being in a different area. Staff promote children’s health well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are captured well in the records of their weekly meetings. Records show that children speak openly about their wishes and feelings. Children talk about a range of issues, such as what meals they want and what activities they would like to do. In addition, they discuss things they want to change, for example, an increase in pocket money. Following a children’s meeting, the manager responds to children individually by writing to them to address any issues and to let them know they are being listened to. This extra touch by the manager helps children feel valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2620184 4

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-care protocols are agreed with partner agencies, such as the police and social workers. When children go missing, staff follow these procedures well and work hard to try to locate children. They ensure that children are welcomed home and offered a return home interview with someone independent. However, for one child, staff have not shown enough professional curiosity about who she is spending time with and where she is going. In addition, on one occasion, the manager did not request a strategy meeting following a missing-from-home incident, when this would have been useful. These are missed opportunities to ensure that safety plans are reviewed and updated as needed.

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improvement to be good

Trained staff undertake weekly fire checks and monthly fire drills. This includes when new children move in or new staff start work at the home. When children refuse to take part, staff follow this up with them, explaining why it is important to practise what to do in the event of a fire emergency.

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improvement to be good

Staff work well with children to promote positive behaviours. There have been no physical interventions since the home opened. Negative sanctions are used rarely and when they are, they are reflective and restorative. This helps children to think about their behaviour and the impact that it can have on themselves and other people. Staff promote positive behaviours through incentives, rewards and positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake one-to-one sessions with children on a variety of issues, such as education, the importance of sleep and maintaining good hygiene. However, this individual work is not always targeted in line with children’s plans. The manager is aware of this and is introducing new systems to improve this area of work.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment practice is thorough and helps to ensure that only safe adults care for children.

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improvement to be good

Detailed risk assessments give staff clear strategies and guidance to help them to manage children’s risks and behaviours. These assessments are reviewed and amended following incidents, to ensure that staff know what they need to do to keep children safe .

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is qualified and experienced. She manages the home effectively. She has a good understanding of her staff team and the children’s needs. She has high aspirations and wants children to have the best care experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with regular supervision, which helps them to develop good practice. Training provided to staff further enhances staff development. The registered manager reviews staff training and learning needs regularly, and has Inspection report for children’s home: 2620184 5 clear expectations about staff’s commitment to their ongoing professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works closely with partner agencies to help meet children’s needs. The inspector gained positive feedback from a social worker and youth offending worker. The youth offending worker said that she had been working with one child for some years now and this is the best home the child has had.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has ensured that she has a good mix of staff, from different backgrounds and with different experiences. The staff team works well together, and staff have a clear sense responsibility and accountability. The culture of the home is set by the manager and is nurturing and caring. Children live in a positive and homely environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff value inclusion and diversity and ensure that children’s cultural needs are well met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider is taking reasonable steps to recruit a suitable responsible individual. The registered manager said that she is receiving support from the operations manager, who is also providing senior management oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Generally, children’s case records contain most of the information required for staff to understand children’s needs. However, one child’s file did not have recent child- in-care meeting minutes and the most recent personal education plan. Although the manager has taken some steps to chase this information, concerns about the lack of response from the local authority have not been escalated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2620184 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 meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to escalating concerns with the relevant placing authority about not having a child’s up-to-date education plan and minutes from a review meeting. 28 February 2022

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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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff explore potential risks related to who a child is spending time with prior to going missing 28 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2620184 7 and that strategy meetings are requested when required following missing-from-home episodes.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that one-to-one work with children is linked to their relevant plan and that outcomes for children are recorded and measurable. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.4)

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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: 2620184 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blossom Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 56 Rolleston Road, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire DE13 0JZ

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Inspector

Shazana Jamal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2620184 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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