Children's home run by Changing Lives Care Group Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 1 Registered provider: Changing Lives Care Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager who is registered with Ofsted.

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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: 22 September 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/09/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is one child living at the home. He has settled in well and is developing strong relationships with the manager and staff. Staff provide a consistent nurturing approach that is effective in helping the child to build good routines and maintain good health. The child enjoys a range of activities. Staff support the child to continue to enjoy long-standing hobbies and interests that are very important to him. The child says that the home is ‘the best care home’ and that he knows the staff care about him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has not attended school for some time. This is due to his individual experiences. The manager is taking considerable action to rectify this situation. She is in regular contact with relevant professionals and has complained to escalate the situation. In the meantime, the manager and staff are providing learning opportunities for the child, such as educational trips and activities to suit his learning style. This is helping the child to structure his day until a suitable provision is found.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has a range of opportunities to express his wishes and feelings. The manager regularly spends time with him to talk about how he feels about the home, issues affecting him and any changes to his care plan. This helps the child to feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support the child to spend time with people who are important to him. The child’s family are welcome in the home, and they regularly spend time there. The manager provides extensive support to help family time go well. This helps the child to maintain his sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who leave the home stay in touch. They ask managers and staff for advice and support, and they proudly share their achievements. This is testament to the relationships that are built with children at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, some children have had to move on earlier than planned. This was due to unforeseen circumstances. The manager and staff worked persistently to meet the children’s needs, however, where this was not possible, they ensured that children moved on with the right support. Leaders and managers have reflected on these experiences. However, there is not yet a formal system in place to consider lessons learned from these experiences.

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

Staff keep children safe from harm. Staff have a good understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities affecting children. There is a comprehensive risk management plan for the child living in the home, which mitigates risks and vulnerabilities. Managers regularly update risk assessments. However, it is not clear in the documents when levels of risk have changed or why. Following the inspection, managers recognised Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 4 the importance of recording their rationale for changes made, to prevent misunderstandings between staff about the child’s specific risks and circumstances, including when they change.

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

Staff undertake regular direct work with the child on a range of important issues. This is with the intention of keeping the child safe and helping him to understand risks. Staff seek support from specialist agencies when needed. The manager also includes the child’s family in managing risks, which helps them to feel included in the child’s life.

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

The manager and staff have been managing a high number of incidents involving children. The manager has provided training and support to help staff manage specific children’s behaviour. Missing-from-home incidents are very well managed. The manager and staff work tirelessly and creatively to ensure that children return safely. They liaise closely with relevant agencies and work hard to reduce the risk of exploitation. External professionals have commended the work of staff in this area.

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

Leaders and managers have a very good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. They act quickly when concerns are raised about children’s safety. Leaders and managers provide appropriate support to children and staff in these circumstances. They promote transparent practice with the staff team and maintain good relationships with all relevant safeguarding agencies. As a result, professionals have good oversight of any concerns and have confidence that because of effective safeguarding practices in the home, children are protected from harm.

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

Managers carry out staff recruitment in accordance with safer recruitment protocols. This helps to prevent unsafe adults from caring for children. The manager has required some support from an agency. She ensures that these staff receive a thorough induction so they can care for children safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a strong and resilient manager who provides good leadership. She demonstrates the important values of honesty and integrity, which she models for the staff team. The manager has an excellent relationship with the child living in the home and is very involved in his care. She has high aspirations for the child and is working hard so he can achieve his full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have recruited an experienced and diverse staff team that enjoys its work. The staff benefit from regular supervision, which enables them to focus on the needs of the child as well as their own development. Staff receive regular appraisals of their work, and the manager deals with any performance issues in a timely way. Consequently, managers have regular oversight of the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular training to help them meet the individual needs of children. Although managers are in the process of ensuring that all staff complete training in relation to all forms of self-injurious behaviour, at the time of the inspection, Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 5 managers had not documented when this would be happening in a workforce development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates well on behalf of children, ensuring their wishes and feelings are part of the decision-making about their lives. She has established positive working relationships with several professionals. The manager is confident to challenge professionals when there are shortfalls in plans for children. She is influential in the decision-making about children’s care. Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 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

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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

This specifically relates to having a system in place to learn from each child’s placement at the home, particularly when endings are unplanned. This also relates to ensuring that there is a system in place when updating risk assessments to identify when risk levels have changed and why. 12 April 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have a workforce plan that details the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve all core training. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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) Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 7 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Changing Lives Care Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 7, 35-37 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7JN

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Inspector

Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2593071 9 regulates and inspects 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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Inspector

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