Children's home run by Care Perspectives Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2546474 1 Registered provider: Care Perspectives 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 and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children. Children may have mental health, emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, there has been a change of manager. The current manager has been in post since February 2022 and was registered to manage the home in June 2022. The manager has an appropriate management qualification.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2546474 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2546474 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved in and three have moved out. One child left the home earlier than expected because managers and staff could not meet their complex needs. Staff supported all children to move in a planned way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are currently two children living in the home. One child has lived in the home for 20 months. The other child has lived there for a short period of time but has settled in well. This child’s social worker praised the manager and staff and said the move had been ‘better than expected’. The social worker was impressed that their child’s self-care and their overall independence skills had greatly improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs and the progress that they make. Overall, staff have positive relationships with children and provide individualised care. During inspection, warm interactions between the children and staff were seen. The open and honest communication means that the children can discuss worries and concerns and continue to develop positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff sensitively support children with their health and well-being. Children have access to therapeutic sessions with the home’s clinical team. The staff are also supported by the clinical team to establish appropriate approaches to support children’s emotional health and well-being. Additionally, staff seek specialist help when necessary. This multi-team approach means children’s needs are promoted effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children seeing their family when appropriate to do so. This has a positive impact for children, resulting in their relationships with family members improving. Furthermore, the good communication between staff and family members has enabled a consistent approach to behaviour management.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their education. They help children with their homework and regularly communicate with teachers about children’s behaviours and routines. Staff work effectively with teachers to establish consistent strategies which help children to manage their emotions and to learn. As a result of this strong partnership working, one child is on track to meet their education targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carry out work with children that is beneficial to them and enables them to reflect and understand their feelings and behaviours. Staff do this in a supportive and interactive way that is attuned to children’s individual needs. As a result, children become increasingly able to express their views and to have a say in all aspects of their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their own taste. However, some areas of the home lack personalisation and do not have a homely feel. Some windows do not Inspection report for children’s home: 2546474 4 have curtains or blinds. Perspex screens to stop children damaging the television have visible screws. A bathroom contains paper towels and handwash in institutional-type dispensers. The manager has plans to improve the homely feel of the home, in consultation with children.

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

There have been a number of incidents but these have reduced, and the home has become increasingly settled. This is because staff are effective in helping children to manage their emotions. Clear behaviour support plans and risk assessments give staff the guidance they need to manage children’s behaviour. Staff use de-escalation techniques to support children. This prevents behaviours from escalating, and the times when staff need to physically restrain children are decreasing.

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

Staff closely supervise children in line with their risk assessments and are constantly vigilant. There have been a number of incidents of children being missing from the home, although the last incident was 15 months ago.

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

Regular consultations with clinicians are used well and are effective in improving staff practice. This allows staff to understand the reasons behind some behaviours and provide a nurturing environment for the children. Staff follow the principles of restorative practice. Staff manage inappropriate behaviour through natural consequences, which helps children to take responsibility and learn from their behaviour.

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

When children self-harm, staff provide appropriate care and nurture to manage the situation. Consultations with clinicians and other health professionals are used effectively to improve staff practice.

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

The registered manager is alert to safeguarding concerns in and out of the home. He ensures that he reports any concerns and follows safeguarding protocols when needed. This helps keep children safe.

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

Staff ensure that the home environment is safe for children to live in. A range of health and safety checks are carried out to assess whether there are any hazards which could pose a risk to children. Children take part in regular fire drills and have personal emergency evacuation plans in place to ensure that they know how to safely evacuate the home in an emergency. Additionally, the manager ensures that staff are safely recruited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A newly appointed registered manager is in post. He is developing in his role and demonstrates good leadership skills. The registered manager and staff are child- focused and consistently consider the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Shortfalls in staffing are covered by existing staff and by staff from other homes in the company. However, current staffing arrangements fail to provide children with Inspection report for children’s home: 2546474 5 consistent care, due to a high turnover of staff. This compromises children’s ability to develop positive and healthy relationships with familiar adults who know them well. Managers have recently recruited additional staff to join the existing team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision sessions, in addition to team meetings and clinical consultations. Overall, staff say they feel supported by the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager regularly communicates with professionals and children’s families. He ensures that everyone is kept informed about the child’s progress, via phone calls, emails and weekly progress reports. This enables a shared approach to the children’s care. All the professionals the inspector talked to spoke highly of the registered manager and staff. They recognised the progress children are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager maintains constant oversight of the home, using a range of review and monitoring systems. These effective systems provide a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. This means that managers can quickly address issues and plan developments and improvements across the home. However, managers do not always address shortfalls in staff recording of incidents of children’s complex behaviours. This compromises the manager’s ability to learn from these incidents and further improve staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a wide range of training, which is specific and relevant to the children’s needs. Furthermore, upskilling and additional workshops are delivered in clinical meetings. This means that children are supported by staff who are equipped with the skills and have the experience they need to perform well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager places the children at the centre of his practice and is a strong advocate for children. For example, when a child does not have a school place, he contacts relevant agencies and advocates for the child to have a place that meets their needs. In the interim, he ensures that the child has resources to undertake education at home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2546474 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 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 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)) 9 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the environment is homely and nurturing throughout to meet the needs of children. They will seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 13.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff 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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2546474 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Perspectives Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Care Perspectives Limited, 36 Frederick Street, Loughborough LE11 3BJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rodrigo Ferreira

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2546474 8 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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