Children's home run by Blue Elephant Childcare Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 1 Registered provider: Blue Elephant Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to three children, aged between eight and 18 years, with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children lived in the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/03/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home, while large and spacious, is inviting and warm. It is decorated to a high standard throughout. Downstairs areas provide ample space for children to complete activities. The recently added games room and many photos hung around the home provide a sense that this is a home designed for children. The office space is accessible to children, and no internal doors are locked. Children’s rooms are personalised and decorated to their taste. The outdoor space is well maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home make progress. All professionals spoken to during the inspection reported that the care provided to children has enabled them to progress in all areas. Children learn vital independence skills, and the expression of their wishes and feelings is actively promoted. One child’s parent told the inspector that their child is far happier and healthier and has made exceptional progress with their reading since moving to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A move into the home was comprehensively planned and managed. Carers gave clear consideration to the needs and personalities of all children, the location of the home and the skillset of carers before agreeing that this was the right home for the child. In supporting the child to move to the home, carers worked with the social worker and the child’s family to make what was initially a very upsetting experience for the child a positive and successful one.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers advocate for children to receive the care and support that they require. They have supported a child to make a complaint in respect of a professional. Additionally, the manager challenged other professionals to ensure the child has the right help to move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers encourage and support children to do well in education. They work with professionals and the child to identify the right provision. When necessary, carers respectfully challenge decisions they believe are not in the child’s best interests. One child attends formal education on a part-time basis. Carers acknowledge that this does not meet the required level of education. To supplement this, they support the child to undertake additional educational tasks and activities during school hour Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 4

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improvement to be good

Risk is effectively assessed and managed. When risk is identified, thorough plans are put in place with the aim of protecting the child. However, within some risk assessments, the responsibility is placed on the child to manage risk and address concerns. Some risks detailed in children’s plans are not present or relevant.

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improvement to be good

There are few incidents in the home. Relevant professionals and family members are informed and debriefs are completed with children. Meetings with professionals are requested when appropriate. Some incident reports do not have management oversight and reflection. This does not identify learning opportunities or help to promote good practice.

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improvement to be good

Children’s overall physical health needs are generally met. Carers are aware of individual children’s health needs, take them to appointments and ensure that they take medication when required. However, carers are not doing enough to support one child’s dental and physical health, which is having a negative impact on their overall health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children who live in the home are loved and well cared for. Carers talk about children with warmth and familiarity, and this is echoed in their interactions. Children feel safe and name carers who they can talk to. They like their home and are settled. Carers work to establish and maintain positive relationships with children, acknowledging that this can take time. Carers have good knowledge of the children’s needs. Children’s interests and hobbies are supported to a high standard.

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improvement to be good

Documents that contain information about children and their lives are well written and clear. Conversations with children are good-quality and, when required, show appropriate levels of sensitive. However, carers have missed opportunities to talk to children about their experiences and feelings. While children are settled and have formed good-quality relationships with carers, continuation of this practice could lead to a deterioration in trusting relationships and, ultimately, children not feeling safe and listened to.

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improvement to be good

Carers use the expertise and guidance of the therapeutic team. Carers access this resource regularly, which aids their understanding of children and contributes toward planning and providing care and support for children. Attendance at team meetings and providing training add to the positive nature of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed. They have applied to register with Ofsted. The manager is passionate about the children who live in the home and wants them to achieve the best outcomes possible. Leaders and managers acknowledge that there is room for the development of practice in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 5 home, particularly in relation to management oversight of incidents and documents. They can explain how they aim to achieve positive change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are not advocating for a child strongly enough to ensure that their health needs are met. They have not ensured that care provided to the child is in line with the child’s care plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers respect their manager and leaders. They provide overwhelmingly positive feedback in relation to the support that leaders and the manager provide. Carers liken the home to a second home and report positive relationships with their co- workers. In addition to internal support, carers have access to external support services that are provided by the company.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly. There is a strong emphasis on the children and their needs. Discussions are reflective and highlight areas of good practice and areas of learning. Where actions are required, whether these have been completed and the outcomes of these are not followed up or recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of supervision recordings is inconsistent. Carers report that they receive good-quality, reflective supervision; however, this is not reflected in recordings. Recordings are brief and lack reflection, and they show limited details of discussion in relation to children and practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Concerns in relation to staff practice are dealt with efficiently. When concerns are raised in relation to practice, prompt action is taken to safeguard children. Thorough investigations are completed, with the aim of checking that carers are safe to work with children. When a child made a complaint about a carer, this was managed sensitively. The child was involved in the process and was made aware of the outcome. This will have supported the child to feel empowered. Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 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

children 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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that carers provide children with a varied but healthy diet and support children to lead a healthy lifestyle.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that carers provide children with support to achieve good dental hygiene and that dental appointments are chased to avoid delay in children receiving necessary treatment. 10 July 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

that staff— 10 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 7 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are up to date and clearly define relevant risks.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that risk assessments do not place undue responsibility for reducing risk on the children.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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

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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and 10 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 8 feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that leaders and managers support the development of good practice and have a good level of oversight and monitoring of the practice that takes place in the home. Additionally, ensure that leaders and managers clearly record their oversight of practice.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that carers use opportunities to have informative and sensitive conversations with children.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that carers receive good-quality, reflective supervision and that all records reflect the content of supervision.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, ensure that any actions resulting from team meetings are followed up and the outcomes recorded.

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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: 2619357 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Elephant Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 30, Chivenor Business Park, Barnstaple EX31 4FT

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Inspector

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2619357 10 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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