Children's Home run by Paramount Children Care LTD in Leicester

Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 1 Registered provider: Paramount Children Care Ltd 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 up to four children who may be experiencing emotional, social and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 18 January 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 15/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 3

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improvement to be good

Children have mixed experiences. Some children are making progress in education and training. Some children are not in full-time education. Staff have not ensured children are benefiting from educational, recreational and training activities when they are not in an education setting. Staff are providing some opportunities for children to learn independence and life skills. However, staff are not consistently assessing and capturing children’s progress to inform next steps and care planning.

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improvement to be good

Children are building positive relationships with staff. Children presented as comfortable and familiar with staff. External professionals referred to positive relationships between staff and children and the positive progress the children were making.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children’s visits with their family and friends. Staff liaise with social workers and family members to proactively develop relationships to promote safe arrangements.

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improvement to be good

One child has moved on from the home in a positive and planned way. There was good communication between the home, the new carers and the placing local authority. Staff continue to have weekly contact with the child and their carers to provide continuity and support.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is well decorated and well maintained. Children’s views and wishes about the decor of their rooms have been listened to and rooms are personalised. However, children’s views shared during the summer holidays about equipment for the garden have not been responded to. The garden is not well maintained. Items in the garden that may present a hazard were removed during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Essential information is missing from some children’s records. Looked after children review records and decisions are not available to inform placement plans. One child had an up-to-date education, health and care plan containing significant information about their needs and advice to staff about how to meet them. However, this had not been used to inform the child’s placement plan and their care at the home. Two children’s records stated that they smoke tobacco. Their health plans did not identify smoking as a health concern, and this had not been addressed.

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improvement to be good

One child has specific needs that are subject to specialist assessments. Home managers have not sought up-to-date information from the placing authority regarding the outcomes of these assessments, to inform day-to-day care or planning for this child. Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 4

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improvement to be good

There have been few safeguarding incidents since the last inspection and no use of physical restraint. Staff patiently de-escalate behaviours in some incidents. However, practice by staff is not consistent in relation to consequences, when children do not respond to advice, guidance, and home rules.

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improvement to be good

Some records are child-friendly and are written directly to children. Other records of direct work with children are not tailored to children’s individual abilities and understanding and do not include children’s participation or views. Therefore, it is not clear the difference this work is making to the child’s understanding of their needs and risks and why professionals may be worried about them.

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improvement to be good

One child has had access to specialist services to assess and support their low mood and self-harming behaviours. Staff have used a range of strategies to support the child. As a result, there has been a sustained reduction in self-harming behaviours.

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improvement to be good

One child has maintained a reduced level of offending behaviours and vulnerability to exploitation, because of being supported to build stable, positive family relationships.

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improvement to be good

There have been several incidents of going missing for one child over a relatively short period of time. Staff have followed missing-from-home procedures. They have reported the child missing to police, the placing authority, and their family in a timely way. Managers requested a strategy meeting, which was agreed. However, this was not followed up in a timely way, until a further incident of going missing occurred.

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improvement to be good

Records of children returning to the home after a period of unauthorised absence and being missing do not include observations of the child’s presentation, and some do not include discussions of where the child has been. Children have not always received a return home interview by the placing authority and this has not been followed up by managers.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments require some improvement. In some cases, information has been shared with staff and recorded, but not included in the risk assessment or followed up, for example, information regarding how a child funds their smoking.

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improvement to be good

Managers know about risks in the local area, but these risks are not identified in the locality risk assessment and these risks are not considered when new children move into the home.

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good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed. However, this manager recently resigned and was not in post at the time of the inspection. There Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 5 have also been changes in the staff team. This has impacted on the quality and effectiveness of oversight of care and practice in the home.

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good

Staff have not received regular supervision, including two staff recently appointed and subject to probationary procedures. Supervision records are brief and do not evidence development or reflective practice discussions. Staff have not received annual appraisals. This does not support an understanding of the progress and performance of staff.

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good

Staff have received mandatory training. Some of this is face-to-face training, which staff have found helpful, and there has been some positive impact on their practice. However, a significant amount of staff training is self-directed online learning. Leaders do not routinely check what staff members have learned from their training and if they fully understand how to safeguard children in their care.

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good

Staff are not sufficiently professionally curious about children’s needs and risks. Staff and managers do not challenge placing authorities when they are not meeting their responsibilities. For example, managers have not escalated or challenged other professionals sufficiently when return interviews are not undertaken by placing local authorities or when essential information is not shared in a timely way.

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good

Monitoring by managers and the independent visitor has identified missing records and shortfalls in practice, but managers have not taken decisive action to address these issues.

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good

Staff participate in and benefit from regular reflective practice sessions with a therapist, regarding each child’s individual needs and behaviours. Records reviewed of recent meetings include discussion, advice and agreed actions. This supports staff to meet children’s needs.

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good

There is some evidence of good partnership working with local police and with children’s schools. Prompt sharing of information has supported children to keep safe and make progress. Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 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

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

c hildren receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure staff refresh their knowledge about children’s health needs in order to respond to and influence children’s smoking behaviour. 14 October 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 that staff—

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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

and take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)) 14 October 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 7 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 14 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience;

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Requirement Due date

and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c)) 14 October 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education and training targets and their next steps in learning. This is in relation to staff’s understanding of children’s education, health and care plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand their responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to ‘tell’. Staff should receive training in assessment skills and the need for professional curiosity. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)

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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: 2627088 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Paramount Children Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 60 Charles Street, Leicester LE1 1FB

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Inspector

Cathey Moriarty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2627088 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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