Children's Home run by Lifetime Opportunities Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 1 SC411046 Registered provider: Lifetime Opportunities Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may have learning difficulties, autism spectrum disorder and/or display challenging behaviour.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/01/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 22/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/02/2020 Full Good 20/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, there were no children living in the home. Since the last inspection, two children have moved out. One child transitioned into adult services, and the other moved into another home within the same organisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have moved on from the home have been supported to do so sensitively and in line with their individual plans. One child’s plan to move was completed over the course of one month. This was supported by using story boards and regular visits to his new home. As a result, the move was a positive transition, and he settled well into his new home. When there have been delays in the transition planning for children, the provider has appropriately challenged and escalated concerns with the local authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to actively participate in day-to-day decisions about their lives. They have been supported by staff to understand decisions regarding their care and have had opportunities to voice their feelings and wishes. When children have been unhappy about decisions made regarding their care, staff have supported them to access advocacy services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff complete regular direct work with children. This is in the form of key-worker sessions. During these sessions, children’s views, wishes and feelings are explored, and educational topics are also covered. The work completed is effective. However, not all children have a clear record of the conversations taking place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote education in the home. All children attend school, and their attendance levels are high. Children enjoy school. Education reports evidence that children have made progress from their starting points and are achieving.

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

There are risk management plans in place for children. However, they are not individualised and contain names of other children. The risk management plans are ineffective and do not contain appropriate strategies to support staff to manage identified risks.

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

There are clear systems in place to manage health and safety in the home. Children have personal evacuation plans in place, and these are individual to each child. Children and staff regularly practise evacuating the building in case of a fire. Therefore, everyone knows how to respond in an emergency.

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

Medication in the home is managed safely. There are suitable arrangements in place to manage the administration of medication. Staff are suitably trained and have Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 4 completed competency assessments. Medication records that are in place are accurate, and regular audits are completed by management.

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

All staff have received first-aid training. Accidents are recorded in line with the home’s policies and procedures. Reports completed are detailed They evidence that first aid had been offered and if any medical intervention was required.

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good

The registered manager has recently resigned from her post; however, she has not yet made an application to cancel her registration with Ofsted. The staff team is currently being supported by two experienced managers from the same organisation.

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good

For several months, no children have lived in the home, and it has remained vacant. This has been due to the home undergoing significant refurbishment. The work has now been completed and is of a high standard. The management team plans to welcome new children to the home in the upcoming months.

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good

Monitoring in the home is not effective, and all records stored in the home are not organised, making it difficult to find information. There have been occasions when children have displayed behaviours of concern. These occasions have been documented in behaviour log sheets rather than being recorded as incidents. As a result, this impacts the manager’s ability to maintain a level of oversight.

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good

Supervision sessions have taken place, and those that have taken place are reflective in nature. Staff have been supported to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. However, it is not clear if all staff have received regular supervision as not all records were available at the time of inspection.

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good

The manager completes a regular quality of care review. However, the review does not benefit from any feedback and opinions from children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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good

The manager has completed a safe area report, and this identifies local risks and hazards. However, the report references outdated regulations, and there is no evidence to suggest that the manager has consulted with relevant professionals, such as the local police. Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 5

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that when children display behaviour that places themselves or others at risk, these are recorded as incidents.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all incidents are evaluated, taking into consideration any learning outcomes that can be implemented into children’s risk management plans or to support the development of staff.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there are clear systems in place in the home to support and develop management oversight. 27 March 2023

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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, considering information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, 27 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 6 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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the children’s risk management plans are individualised and provide staff with clear strategies to manage and reduce risk.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12 (2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the review completed complies with current, up-to-date regulations and guidance.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure consultation takes place with relevant persons and consider their views when reviewing the location of the premises. 27 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 7 and clear recording. Specifically, ensure that daily records are detailed and that all records of incidents or behaviours are descriptive. Key-worker sessions should be purposeful, evaluative and non-stigmatising, and records should be of sufficient quality so that they are helpful to a child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when conducting a review of the premises, they consult with and consider the views of relevant persons. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: SC411046 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lifetime Opportunities Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Windsor House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3AT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Shona Wands Alderson

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Inspector

Kimmy Feeley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC411046 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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