Children's home run by East Midlands Care Matters Limited in Amber Valley

Inspection report for children's home: SC381522 1 SC381522 Registered provider: East Midlands Care Matters Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. The home provides care and accommodation to children and young people aged up to 19 years. Children and young people may have a range of emotional and behavioural needs. They may also have a learning disability or a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is experienced and qualified.

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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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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: 19 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC381522 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2020 Full Good 09/10/2018 Full Good 19/09/2017 Full Good 23/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC381522 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusting relationships with their carers. Carers show the children great emotional warmth and make children feel valued. As a result, children are happy and settled. They grow in confidence and self-esteem during their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers understand the needs of each child well. Carers understand each child’s unique expressions and ways of communicating. Children are able to express their wishes and feelings because of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and carers support children to attend their education provisions. Children engage with learning and make clear progress. When children are home schooled, carers work hard to motivate them to learn. As children become older, carers support them well to prepare for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy good health. Carers are good at supporting children to attend medical and healthcare appointments. Carers understand the children’s health needs and work effectively with families and other health services to ensure that children lead healthy lifestyles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers adapted and coped well during the COVID-19 pandemic. They made good use of the available space in the home. For example, carers were creative in improving the home’s garden so that it fully met children’s sensory needs. Children’s anxiety was reduced because they were so well supported through the pandemic.

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

Children have trusting relationships with carers. These relationships underpin the home’s effective behaviour management strategies. Carers promote healthy, consistent routines. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

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

The manager and carers know how to interpret children’s behaviours and how to recognise when children are anxious or worried. This means that they can intervene proactively to support children before their behaviour escalates. These good de- escalation strategies protect children.

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

Carers fully understand the risks and vulnerabilities of the children. Risk management plans and risk assessments are thorough and clear. These enable carers to take effective action to keep children safe.

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

Carers have a clear understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. They are given good safeguarding training, specific to the needs of children living in the home. However, the safeguarding knowledge and skills of carers are not always reviewed or updated in other forums, such as supervision and team meetings. Inspection report for children's home: SC381522 4 Recruitment is managed well and the principles of safe recruitment practice are followed. This reduces the risk of unsuitable adults working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides strong leadership and is a positive role model. She has extensive knowledge and significant experience of working successfully in residential care. Managers are visible and approachable. Consequently, t he team has confidence in their managers and values the leadership that they provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers are well supported in their day-to-day practice . They feel valued and listened to. Managers provide all staff with regular supervision and annual appraisals. This means that they have regular opportunities to reflect on and develop their practice. However, some records of staff supervision are not well maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is of a generally high standard. Managers make sure that training is tailored to ensure that the carers have a good understanding of each child’s needs. However, training and developmental needs are not set out clearly in the home’s workforce plan. Training records need updating to include refresher training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers develop good care plans, which help staff to understand and meet children’s needs. Care plans are updated and amended in line with children’s changing needs. However, children are not routinely able to read their records and plans. Inspection report for children's home: SC381522 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions is kept and ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  The registered person should ensure that children are actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. Children should be regularly

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Recommendations

reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6)

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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: SC381522 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: East Midlands Care Matters Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 58 Brackendale Road, Swanwick, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 1DX

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Inspector

Thirza Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC381522 7 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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