Children's Home run by United Children's Services Limited in Leicestershire

Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 1 SC489036

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Registered provider: United Children’s Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to six children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in place who has not yet applied to Ofsted to be registered.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At the last full inspection, the home was judged as requiring improvement to be good. The purpose of this inspection was to review whether there were any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children.

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care and protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 Leaders and managers do not provide effective oversight and monitoring of the home. This includes not reviewing incidents in a timely manner.  Leaders and managers have failed to evaluate the quality of care provided to children in the home. Management monitoring systems are poor.  Managers have failed to ensure that children’s risk assessments give clear details of current vulnerabilities and risks. Risk assessments are not reviewed regularly. As a result, they do not accurately reflect the changing risks and needs of children.  Staff are not accurately completing daily logs. There is inconsistent recording and sometimes a failure to record incidents.  Children are not supported to have positive relationships in the home. Staff have continued to share concerns regarding staffing practices with children.  Fire alarm testing has not been completed in a timely manner.

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The care of children

Shortfalls in management monitoring, recording systems and staff practice have impaired children’s experiences of care at this home.

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The care of children

At times, staff have used judgemental language when speaking to children about their relationships with their colleagues. As a result, children are not always given opportunities to have conversations with staff where they feel safe to express themselves fully, and children are not provided with consistent nurturing care.

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The care of children

Staff support children to develop their independence. However, they do not support them to get involved in community activities. Staff had asked the children to give their ideas for activities they could do, either together or alone. Children provided ideas and staff devised plans, but there have been no further discussions. This does not help children to feel listened to or to feel confident that staff will follow things through. This impairs their relationships with staff.

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The care of children

Children are supported to keep in contact with people who are important to them. However, the manager has not ensured that children’s plans for time with their family are consistently followed. This has the potential to impact negatively on children’s important relationships.

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The care of children

Children have not made any formal complaints. When children have shared concerns with the manager, their concerns have not been acknowledged. For example, one Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 3 child expressed a concern regarding a staff member and was advised to ‘give them a chance’. This matter was not escalated to a complaint as it should have been. Another child informed the inspector that, as a result of staff not listening to their concerns, they are choosing to spend the majority of their time in their bedroom, rather than in the rest of the home.

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The care of children

One social worker was positive about the help and support a child received to manage their behaviour. They said that communication with staff and managers at the home is good.

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The care of children

One child said they are happy as they are rarely in the home, and that in relation to their peers ‘everything has got worse since the last inspection’.

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The safety of children

Following incidents, children’s risk assessments are not updated in a timely manner. They do not always include accurate information about the incident and children’s risks and needs. As a result, risk assessments fail to provide staff with guidance on preventative risk management. This leaves staff without the guidance they need to manage and reduce risk.

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The safety of children

One child informed staff of a safeguarding concern when out alone in the community. The incident report was unclear about the efforts the staff had made to ensure that information had been shared with the placing authority. Additionally, leaders and managers had not ensured that the child was spoken to. This is a failure to ensure that the risks are understood and evaluated and the child’s safety maintained.

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The safety of children

The manager had identified that guidance is required for staff regarding the recording and reporting of safeguarding concerns. However, guidance and support for the team have not been implemented.

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The safety of children

The manager has not ensured that staff are always available for the children. There have been occasions when one member of staff has been left to care for four children, as a result of others being given responsibility for collecting other staff and bringing them into work.

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The safety of children

Staff do not ensure that fire alarm testing is carried out on a regular basis. This has the potential to cause significant harm.

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The safety of children

The manager and staff respond well when children go missing from the home. The staff are proactive in searching for children and they ensure that all relevant agencies are informed. Independent return home interviews are carried out in a timely way. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have not had sufficient oversight of the home. As a result, they do not know the home’s strengths and areas for development. Leaders have not provided the manager with any formal supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff supervision takes place on a regular basis. However, some supervisions are limited in their content and children are not always discussed. This minimises opportunities to discuss staff practice and set targets for development. The manager does not provide additional support or monitoring when there are concerns about staff. This prevents opportunities for reflection, development and learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

One staff member reported that there is inadequate support when concerns are shared with managers and leaders. This has resulted in staff not being confident or comfortable to escalate concerns. This is a potential risk indicator that a closed culture and a disconnect between managers and staff might develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders have not supported the manager to make the required changes to ensure good morale in the staff team and to ensure that staff are motivated and committed to promoting a positive ethos in the home. The manager has not yet implemented initiatives to sustain staff morale in the longer term. Several statutory requirements and recommendations were set at the last full inspection. Two recommendations have been met and one additional recommendation has been set. There has been no improvement in the quality of care provided for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are working towards meeting the requirements and recommendations. These will be reviewed at the next inspection.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/04/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/06/2022 Full Good 07/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 5

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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, The 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 enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences;

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to the home not supporting children to engage in activities. 29 September

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 29 September Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 6 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(v)(x))

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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 the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that records of incidents are clear and detailed and demonstrate management oversight, reflection and learning. 29 September

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 29 September Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 7 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to monitoring how risks to children are managed by staff, including the reasons for the kitchen being locked, and ensuring children’s money is spent correctly. This is also in relation to ensuring robust quality assurance and monitoring systems are in place, used regularly and recorded.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience;

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to supervision of staff taking place and a written record of supervision being available. This is also in relation to staff not sharing children’s confidential information with other children. 29 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)(c) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to all records being available, signed and kept up to date, with updates and outcomes included. 29 September Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming and supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to children’s behaviour. The home should also meet children’s basic day- to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. Doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and without fear that this will result

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Recommendations

in any adverse consequences. Regulation 39 sets out the requirements on the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. Specifically, staff should be supported to gain a better understanding of whistle-blowing procedures and restorative approaches. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: United Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Coach House, Drinsey Nook, Lincoln LN1 2JJ

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Inspectors

Corline Parker, Social Care Inspector Kay Challand, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC489036 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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