Children's Home run by Lifeworks Charity Limited in Devon

Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 1 SC003792 Registered provider: Lifeworks Charity Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a charitable trust. The home is registered to provide care for up to 10 children at a time, who may have sensory impairment, learning disabilities and physical disabilities. This includes up to four residential and six short-break places. Currently, three children live in the home and 14 children visit for short breaks.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since February 2022. However, a new manager was appointed in April 2023.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/06/2021 Full Good 03/12/2019 Full Good 19/12/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 3

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improvement to be good

Children have developed trusted and positive relationships with staff in the home, particularly core, long-standing staff. However, staff turnover, vacancies and higher levels of inexperience have had some impact on management oversight and consistency of care.

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improvement to be good

Before children come to live or have short breaks in the home, introductions are carefully thought through, and managers and staff engage well with family members, carers and professionals to plan children’s care.

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improvement to be good

The needs of children who live in the home and those who have short breaks are significant and complex. Staff support children sensitively. At times, however, balancing these needs while keeping children safe means that children’s ability to move around the home freely, particularly in shared spaces such as the kitchen- diner, is compromised. During the inspection, some children visiting were not suited to be together. The manager had already recognised that a compatibility policy for children living and staying together is needed, to promote children’s friendships and socialisation.

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improvement to be good

Children make progress in the home, and all achievements, big or small, are celebrated. Staff can describe the key goals they support children to achieve, which are reflected in detailed, child-centred plans. However, some of these plans are lengthy, listing many outcomes for children to achieve. The length makes it harder to keep the plans current and ensure that staff do not miss important information.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to enjoy experiences both in and out of the home, such as sensory play, swimming and trips to the beach and local places of interest. However, in recent months, some children who have short breaks are having less opportunity to enjoy experiences that are not normally available to them outside their own home. This is partly due to the availability of staff. Additionally, limited evaluation of children’s activities has meant that managers do not have a clear overview of how often and which children participate in activities, and how they have benefited. The absence of evaluation does not enhance future planning to ensure that all opportunities for children to develop are fully explored.

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improvement to be good

Children have memory books and memorabilia gathered for them. Further work is needed to ensure that these positive records of children’s time in the home are up to date and as meaningful as possible, for example by dating photos and adding narrative. This would benefit children if they wish to look back at these books.

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improvement to be good

Children who are resident are supported to spend regular time with their families, who are welcomed in the home. Parents and social workers spoke positively about the support and care children receive. They would welcome further written Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 4 information and photos about children’s overall progress and experiences. However, parents and social workers value the regular communication they have with the team and do receive regular information, such as incident reports.

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improvement to be good

As children get older, managers and staff support and advocate for children to help them prepare for adulthood. Staff maintain links with children after they move to new homes, which helps them feel secure and loved.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to safeguard children with very complex needs. They have benefited from behaviour support training for individual children. Risk assessments and positive behaviour plans contain helpful information and guidance for staff, but are not always updated to reflect learning from incidents.

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improvement to be good

The home has a ‘no restraint’ policy, which reflects the home’s positive culture. While managers said that staff have not restrained any children, risk management plans do appropriately refer to staff needing to use physical intervention for some children, when there is no alternative to keep them or others safe. However, these plans do not instruct staff effectively on how to do this, which potentially leaves children vulnerable. Additionally, some staff have not yet received training in how to use physical intervention.

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improvement to be good

Records of when children become distressed or self-injure are not always thorough enough to fully understand what happened and unpick events to help future learning. Recordings also confuse the experience of the child with that of the staff member; for example, detail of staff’s bruising or injuries is recorded on the child’s incident record.

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improvement to be good

Helping children to recover from incidents through seeking to understand the impact on them, and their wishes and feelings, is an area for improvement, particularly for non-verbal children. Records do not evidence this well, and often the response is for children to have time out to feel calmer, but with no additional context.

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improvement to be good

Children’s dignity, privacy and personal needs are carefully considered. Whistle- blowing procedures are firmly in place, which protects children. When allegations are made, managers take appropriate action to safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

Arrangements to safely recruit staff are well organised and carried out effectively, with the relevant checks and references sought and verified.

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improvement to be good

Fire drills are carried out, and the next one is due imminently to prepare new staff for all eventualities. Risk management plans to guide staff in respect of evacuation have improved.

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improvement to be good

The home has welcomed guidance from an external health professional regarding medication administration. The deputy manager regularly reviews the effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 5 of the home’s systems and no medication errors have occurred since the last inspection. Some gaps were identified with a new trial medication form. Greater explanation of the purpose of medication, and side effects, would assist staff’s knowledge.

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good

The home has not had a registered manager for over a year, despite the responsible individual’s best efforts to avoid this. During this time, the capable and experienced deputy manager has covered the manager post, while maintaining regular hands-on support to children, who respond well to her exceptionally skilled care, and calm and effective guidance to staff. During this period, there have been times when deputy, team leader and residential staff posts have been vacant, which has had an impact on capacity.

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good

The staffing situation remains fragile. Managers have adjusted the recruitment process to assist new staff in having a greater understanding of the role, but more analysis of staff turnover is needed to improve staff retention.

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good

When incidents happen, management oversight and review of risk assessments and plans are not always evident. When this does happen, it is done well but, due to this inconsistent monitoring, the learning and potential for reducing these incidents are minimised. Alongside this, supervision of staff, particularly new staff, is not as frequent as it should be to ensure that staff are supported and skilled to carry out their roles effectively. When supervision does take place, it is comprehensive.

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good

Staff support children through a multi-disciplinary team around the child approach. However, g reater persistence is needed by the manager to ensure that children receive the responses and services they need, for example to avoid delays in children accessing education or occupational therapy support.

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good

The home is bright and well equipped. Children’s bedrooms are personalised with a variety of play and electronic equipment for them to use. Some areas of the building and garden need attention and extra fire signage makes the building look less homely. The chief executive officer and responsible individual are considering the need for renovation and reorganisation of space so that children’s needs can be met more effectively.

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good

Team meetings are held regularly and well recorded and attended. A range of issues are discussed to support staff and promote individualised and safe care of children. Staff reported that they receive comprehensive training that has made a difference to how they work. Staff spoke positively of the home and are proud of children’s achievements. They feel well supported by their colleagues and managers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c)) 12 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(c)(i)) 10 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(ii)) 12 June 2023

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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 10 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 7 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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

- ensure that staff receive timely training on physical intervention in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose

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Requirement Due date

- review the effectiveness of risk assessments and behaviour management plans

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Requirement Due date

- review recording procedures and the clarity of records

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Requirement Due date

- ensure that learning is routinely considered when incidents happen, and that children’s care and plans are reviewed in the light of this

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Requirement Due date

- ensure that staff receive regular supervision

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Requirement Due date

- continue to review and refine medication procedures.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 10 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 8 receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

- review how decisions are made about children who visit and live together

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Requirement Due date

- evaluate and review which children take part in experiences and activities, how often, the type of experiences and activities, and the benefit to children.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must —

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d)) 5 June 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children’s life-story records are collated in a way that is meaningful for children and are kept up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)

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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: SC003792 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lifeworks Charity Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Blacklers Park Road, Dartington Hall Estate, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EQ

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Inspector

Sarah Canto, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC003792 10 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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