Children's home run by Evolve Childcare Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2677724 1 Registered provider: Evolve Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is located in the countryside. The home provides care for up to four children who may have emotional or behavioural difficulties. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home shares a courtyard with another home that is run by the same company. The homes were previously one home, but in 2022 they were separated into individual homes.

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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: 14 February 2023

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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: 2677724 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2677724 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is bright and welcoming. Changes made to the downstairs décor add to the homely feel. Photographs of the child living in the home are displayed around the home. Carers have recognised a child’s needs and given them use of two bedrooms. One bedroom is personalised to their taste and houses their personal effects, the other provides an alternative space for the child to use if they wish to do so. Both bedrooms are well furnished. Minor improvements to the kitchen worktops and stools are required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers support the child living in the home to make progress. A family member and all professionals spoken to during the inspection noted the progress that the child has made. They all linked this to the high level of care and commitment provided to the child by carers. Observations of carers’ practice during the inspection supported these views. Carers have built excellent relationships with the child, which has resulted in them beginning to open up to carers and show trust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child likes living in the home and talks positively about management and carers. They told the inspector that they feel safe, and named carers who they can talk to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers advocate for the child to receive the care and support that they need. The child is not attending school. However, they benefit from spending regular time with the home’s social, emotional, and mental health practitioner, completing educational and recreational activities. Carers have supported the child to make complaints about professionals, external to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s health needs are met by carers. Carers encourage and support the child to attend appointments and engage with health professionals. Carers’ perseverance resulted in the child receiving necessary dental treatment; this treatment was paid for privately by the home. Despite the child’s decision not to take certain prescribed medication, carers make ongoing efforts to have informative and sensitive conversations regarding their thoughts, concerns and experiences in relation to this medication. Carers have identified that the child has some specific needs in relation to foods, which limits the range of food they will eat. Carers are supporting the child to expand their diet; however, the provision of unhealthy snacks is likely to limit the positive impact of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers keep a good record of the child’s daily life. Daily logs and significant conversations are easy to read and are written to the child. Carers provide the child with attuned and sensitive care. Carers complete debriefs with the child and gain their views on the care that they have experienced. Conversations are reflective, thoughtful and considered. Carers have not completed memory books for the child. However, steps were taken to produce one shortly before the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2677724 4 Carers have supported one child to move to a new home well. This was a positive experience for the child.

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

Carers take appropriate action when the child goes missing. Responses from carers are immediate and follow the child’s care plan. Necessary professionals and family members are contacted and kept updated for the duration of the missing episode. Return-home interviews are requested. Carers have a good knowledge of the child’s behaviours. Patterns of behaviour are identified, which inform safety planning.

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

Incidents are managed well by carers. Significant incidents can be challenging for the carers involved. Despite this, carers remain calm and consistent. They provide warm and loving responses, supporting the child until they are safe and calm. Incident reports are informative and detail the child’s and carers’ actions. When the child has reported concerns in relation to a carer’s actions, these are promptly reported to the local authority designated officer and investigated by the home’s manager. Carers request that the child is seen by an independent professional following any report of concern.

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

There have been five incidents of physical restraint and eight incidents where guides have been used. These measures have been appropriately used to keep the child or others safe. Carers recognise that physical restraint is a last resort, and they use alternative skills and techniques in an effort to keep the child safe before implementing holds. Physical intervention is used for the minimum amount of time needed.

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

Incidents of self-harm have reduced in frequency. Carers have built caring and loving relationships with the child, who no longer hides their actions and injuries from them. Carers provide the child with care, support and treatment following self- harming incidents. When the child talks about their reasons for their actions, carers respond sensitively.

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

Risks to the child are known and understood by carers, who work to manage and reduce them. Risk assessments in relation to self-injury and restrictions are now in place. Levels of risk are accurately recorded and reflected within plans, and changes have been made to the home environment with the aim of keeping the child as safe as possible. However, one plan was not up to date and, therefore, did not reflect current risks. This plan was updated during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are committed to the child living in the home and are strong advocates for them. They recognise that the child requires a high level of attuned and informed care from knowledgeable, resilient and well-trained staff, and work with their team to ensure that this is provided. When gaps in knowledge and skills are identified, training is commissioned. Carers report that training is effective and supports them to do their job well. Inspection report for children’s home: 2677724 5 The team at the home is small, well trained and consistent. Managers have recognised that this is beneficial for the child, who has previously struggled with lots of change within their care team. Shift patterns and shift partners are chosen to complement carers’ skills and the relationships that they have built with each other and the child. This way of working provides the child with consistency and predictability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has developed excellent relationships with external professionals and a family member of the child. He maintains good levels of communication and shares information when required. The inspector observed the manager’s practice during inspection and found the manager to be informative and supportive when sharing sensitive information with others. The relationships that have been built mean that plans for the child reflect their changing needs and are developed and implemented in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team provides carers with regular, good-quality, reflective supervision and debriefs. In addition to a clear focus on the needs of the child and how to meet them, records show thorough discussions regarding well-being, practice and support required. This has supported the team’s emotional well-being and resilience during challenging periods. Carers respect their managers and say that they have overwhelmingly positive relationships with the management team. Carers say that they can access management support and advice at any time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly. Recordings are comprehensive and provide good insight into discussions that have taken place. Discussions are reflective and look at past and future practice. There is an emphasis on training needs in relation to further improving the already good standards of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight of incidents and reports is good. However, recordings are not up to date. Leaders and managers informed the inspector that this was due to some significant incidents taking place resulting in an increase in workload. They reported that the process of catching up was underway and that a plan is already being devised to prevent this from occurring again in the future. Where recordings are completed, these are comprehensive and reflective. Inspection report for children’s home: 2677724 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

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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that management review and oversight of documents is up to date. Appropriate measures should be implemented to ensure that these tasks are completed without delay. 14 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that carers work alongside the child, considering their individual needs to provide them with a healthy and varied diet. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is kept to a good standard of decoration and repair. This is in relation to the middle kitchen unit and stools. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2677724 7  The registered person should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Carers should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them to record significant life events. In particular, carers should ensure that memory books are completed and updated regularly and contain descriptions and dates of activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 2677724 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Evolve Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite B, Blackdown House, Blackbrook Park Avenue, Taunton, Somerset TA1 2PX

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Inspector

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2677724 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 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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