Children's home run by Inspirations Care Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2622480 1 Registered provider: Inspirations Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for three children who may be experiencing emotional, social and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably experienced.

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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: 2 September 2021

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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: 2622480 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2622480 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and staff have been through a period of change. One child has left the home and two children have moved in. One child who recently moved out has made some very good progress. She left the home having developed her independence skills and was ready for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are starting to engage in education. This is particularly positive for some children who have been out of education for a long time. Education is individualised and based on children’s specific educational needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement matching and care planning are highly individual. Children’s needs are carefully considered. Staff and leaders are committed to the children and do not give up on them easily.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views about which friends and family they would like to stay in touch with are considered. Staff work well with people who are important to children. They recognise that this part of the work is essential for children who live a long way from their own communities. Staff understand and appreciate the importance of maintaining important relationships for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive relationships with staff who genuinely care about them. Children regularly speak to staff about personal matters such as relationships and sexual health. They trust staff to help and support them. This has led to the development of strong relationships and bonds.

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

The manager has a comprehensive understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of children before they move to the home. This information informs individual risk assessments which, in turn, helps to reduce and manage risks.

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

Staff understand the importance of good communication and information sharing to safeguard children. They regularly exchange important information about risks to children. They work intelligently to observe and manage risk, such as children being exploited. Staff build up a picture of what is happening in each child’s life and work creatively to keep them safe.

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

Some children have come to the home with complex needs and a history of going missing. One child has engaged well and has made some good progress with recognising her own risks. She has become safer because of her growing awareness and insight.

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

Staff worry about the children when they are missing, like any good parent would. They continue to try new approaches to find children safe and well. Joint working Inspection report for children's home: 2622480 4 with the police and social workers is excellent. This collaborative approach means that professionals are working with the most up-to-date information.

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

Children can meet with an independent person to talk about their missing episode after they return home. However, the information from these meetings is not available. There are times when children regularly refuse to engage in these discussions. Staff have accepted this rather than trying to find imaginative ways of collating this information. Also, staff are not aware of some important statutory guidance about what to do when children go missing.

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

Staff are very clear about their safeguarding responsibilities. When concerns arise, they are investigated in a timely manner and referred to the correct professionals for their consideration. However, one referral of a staff member to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has not been made as it should have been.

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

Safeguarding records are available but are not well organised. This makes investigation into safeguarding events difficult to navigate. Should an investigation be needed later, this would prove difficult if not rectified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is strong leadership. The manager takes every opportunity to praise staff for their good work. He encourages the team to think creatively about better ways of working with the children. Staff are well versed in thinking outside the box, and this is reflected in how they learn lessons following incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are highly knowledgeable about the children they care for. The staff know what is happening in children’s lives because they spend time talking to them. This enables the staff to deliver good-quality care and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on staffing. Some staff have left their employment. Although recruitment continues, the home is not yet fully staffed. There is always a staff member on duty who the children know well. But there is also some reliance on staff doing overtime and temporary staffing. The manager and responsible individual regularly work shifts to ensure standards of good-quality care are maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained and complete a range of mandatory training before they work with children. For example, they are trained in behaviour management, child protection and first aid. The fact that leaders regularly work shifts has influenced some management tasks. For example, newer staff have not always had fortnightly supervision meetings with their manager in line with the organisation’s policy. Despite this, all staff reported very positively about the support they receive from leaders. Inspection report for children's home: 2622480 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that the home has regard to the relevant aspects of the statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care, which sets out the steps local authorities and their partners should take to prevent children from going missing and to protect them when they do go missing. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.25)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. This is in relation to child protection records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person judges whether an incident is sufficiently serious to make formal notifications and, if it is, which other relevant persons may be notified, for example the police, probation service, health professionals, the local authority for the area the home is located in (if this is not the child’s placing authority) and

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Recommendations

others involved with the care or protection of the child. This is in relation to referrals of staff members to the DBS. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.12)

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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: 2622480 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspirations Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3.2, Clarendon Park, Clumber Avenue, Nottingham NG5 1AH

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Inspector

Caroline Brailsford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2622480 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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