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

Inspection report for children's home: SC489036 1 SC489036 Registered provider: United Children’s Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to six children with emotional and social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC489036 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC489036 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and staff have good relationships. They are built on mutual trust and respect. One child said: ‘I like the staff and I like the manager.’ An independent psychotherapist who works with the organisation said: ‘The girls are calmer in themselves and have a lot of respect for the manager.’ This leads to children being happier.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to build positive relationships with parents and external professionals. A social worker said: ‘Communication is excellent.’ A parent also commented that ‘the staff have been absolutely superb. What a change they have made.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the accommodation is homely and comfortable. Children have taken responsibility in caring for their pets. However, the plans for redecoration across the home have not yet started. Additionally, staff are not consistently encouraging and helping children to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans provide clarity and focus on the individual needs of children. The manager has introduced a new format for care plans to ensure that they are child-focused. The manager reviews children’s plans regularly. This helps staff to know how to work with each child and improves children’s involvement in their plans.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff prioritise children’s education. Staff are working with children to gain college places and apprenticeships. They are aware of the difficulties that some children have experienced in school. Staff encourage each child to engage in education in creative ways that are reflective of the child. One social worker said: ‘The staff will work with [child] to ensure she does the amount of education she can cope with.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children access doctors, opticians, dentists and specialist services when required. Staff are encouraging and supporting children to stop smoking and vaping. Referrals have been made to the local quit smoking programme. This ensures that children are helped to live a healthier lifestyle.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s experience of moving to the home is good. Plans and assessments are in place prior to children moving in. If children live some way from the home, phone and video calls are made to help the child feel less anxious. New children also visit the home to meet those already living there. There is a warm welcome and this helps children to feel welcome and settled very quickly. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489036 4

p.3

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

Children’s individual risk assessments and safety plans provide the required clarity and detail to support staff in managing behaviour. Staff are provided with guidance and direction to reduce or prevent more risky behaviours. This helps to keep children safer.

p.4

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

Staff manage incidents well. Incident reports are clear and management oversight is apparent and recorded. Actions following incidents are identified and completed quickly. These include changes to risk assessments and individual work with the child. All staff are trained in positive behaviour management. This means the emphasis is always on de-escalation of incidents to avoid having to intervene physically. As a result, physical intervention is rare.

p.4

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

An independent psychotherapist offers support to children. This is provided in different ways to meet children’s needs. The psychotherapist visits weekly to meet with children. Individual sessions can also take place away from the home, if this is what the child prefers. This ensures that all children can access this professional help if they wish to.

p.4

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

Children have gone missing from the home. This is reducing in frequency. There is guidance for staff to try to prevent children being in this worrying situation. Staff actively look for children who go missing. Meetings are held with social workers and other involved professionals. The manager updates risk assessments and identifies additional work to reduce reoccurrence. This helps children understand the risks involved with going missing and attempts to prevent this worrying behaviour.

p.4

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

There is a comprehensive induction programme for new staff. There is an ongoing training programme for all staff. This includes courses on safeguarding, knife crime and mental health. Most of the staff are working on the level 3 diploma. However, none of the staff have completed it. The manager is aware of the importance of staff completing the modules of this course within the required timescale.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is relatively new to the home and recently registered with Ofsted. Staff speak highly of the manager and the positive changes she has introduced. One member of staff said: ‘There is great support; [registered manager] is very appreciative, but not scared in telling you if you need to make changes.’ This has raised the morale and happiness of the team.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good plans for the development of the home. This includes clear workforce and home development plans. The manager aspires to leading a home that provides an outstanding service to children. This passion and planning are leading the home to delivering better care and protection to children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Strong quality assurance systems are in place. A weekly quality assurance report is provided to the responsible individual. This includes progress made by children. A Inspection report for children’s home: SC489036 5 further report is produced monthly. Actions identified by the independent visitor are also included. Should the visitor identify shortfalls, plans are made to address these areas immediately. This serves to drive the quality of care provided to children in a positive direction.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Individual staff supervisions have not been consistently taking place. The manager has improved this area. The majority of staff have now had professional supervision within the required timescale. As a result, the manager is developing good relationships with the staff and is providing time for reflection and development. This is good management practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good support from the responsible individual. She is available for support and advice about anything concerning the manager. Regular supervision takes place. The manager said: ‘I’m supported really well by my manager. She is a fantastic support and believes in me.’ This improves the manager’s confidence in developing the team and delivering good services to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489036 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the planned redecoration of the home is carried out and staff help children to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. 30 September

p.6

Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

p.6

Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The relevant date is— 31 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC489036 7 in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

p.6

Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

p.7

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all staff are registered on the diploma course and completing it within timescale.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming and supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to their behaviour. Homes must also meet children’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met; doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work

p.7

Recommendations

closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

p.7

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: SC489036 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: United Children’s Services Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

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

p.8

Inspector

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC489036 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9