Children's Home run by The Place Young People’s Company in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 1 Registered provider: The Place Young People's Company 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 private provider. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

There has been no registered manager since June 2023. An acting manager is in post and has submitted their application to register as a dual manager for this home and another home within the organisation.

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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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2022 Full Good 21/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 3

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improvement to be good

Overall, the experience and progress of children require improvement due to shortfalls in the protection of children and the leadership and management of the home.

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improvement to be good

Individual support plans provide detail about children’s individual needs and understanding of their childhood experiences so far. Despite this knowledge, there is no effective system in place to monitor children’s progress. Staff do not always connect children’s behaviours and development with their childhood experiences. Staff are unable to measure children’s achievements and development, or assess what further support they may need to achieve positive outcomes.

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improvement to be good

Transitions in and out of the home are poorly recorded. Consideration is given to the identified needs of new children moving in to the home; however, children already living in the home are not always consulted. Immediate notice was given for one child’s placement while they were receiving treatment in hospital. Staff did not provide emotional or practical support to this child following the notice being served.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not yet creative in helping children to develop their interests and hobbies. As a result, children have little structure or routine in place, especially during school holidays. Planned activities are one part of a child’s plan to reduce the risk of missing episodes. This is not yet being achieved.

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improvement to be good

Positive relationships between the children and the staff are evident. One child said that a member of staff was ‘amazing’. An external professional commented, ‘She [the manager] has a good understanding of [name of child’s] needs even though he hasn’t lived there for long’ and that staff are doing all they can to support the child.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise the value to children of maintaining family relationships. They support children to spend time with those who are important to them, where this is safe and in their best interests. This means that children maintain important relationships with those who are close to them, and it also helps children to maintain their sense of identity.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding concerns are thoroughly investigated by the manager. However, they are not always responded to in a timely manner. When children are missing from the home, actions taken by staff are not always reflected on. This means that opportunities for lessons to be learned are missed. Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 4 Staff members do not always act in line with the home’s preferred method of care. Sometimes, this is a contributory factor for children's escalating behaviour. When children are held by staff, records are not sufficiently detailed. This means that children and staff do not always understand what happened. This impacts on opportunities to identify ways to reduce repeated incidents.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not manage fire or health and safety risks effectively. The current fire risk assessment does not reflect staff practice within the home, such as propping fire doors open. Routine health and safety checks are not up to date. For example, staff had not completed weekly smoke alarm checks for almost two months. Identified actions are not followed through, such as discussions with children who have refused to take part in fire drills.

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improvement to be good

Medication is stored safely. However, systems to manage medication are repetitive and confusing. Staff complete three different written records when a medicine has been taken by children. Staff do not seek medical advice when children miss prescribed medication. This means that children’s health and welfare are not promoted.

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improvement to be good

Risk management plans and individual support plans are detailed. The manager and staff undertake regular reviews of these documents. The plans help staff to understand how best to support children’s specific behaviours and risks. However, known triggers are not reflected on. This negatively impacts on how staff respond to children to help to avoid any future incidents.

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good

Currently, there is no registered manager. An acting manager is in post. An application has been made to Ofsted for them to dual register as a manager for this home and another home within the organisation.

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good

The manager has oversight of the care provided to children. However, this oversight lacks critical reflection, resulting in missed opportunities to learn from practice and improve the care provided to children.

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good

Where there have been serious incidents, the manager has notified Ofsted however, not in a timely way. On one occasion, there was a delay of nine days before Ofsted were informed of the safeguarding concern. This restricts the regulator’s ability to monitor how well children are safeguarded at the time of concerns.

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good

There have been some areas of concern within the staff team, which have had an impact on working relationships. Although there continue to be some issues within the team, there is no evidence of the impact on the care provided to children. The manager addresses practice issues in individual supervisions with staff. However, supervision is not consistently taking place. As a result, staff do not always have the opportunity to reflect on their practice with a manager. Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 5 Staff feel supported by the manager. One member of staff said, ‘We’re supported by a great manager who is there to support both staff and young people whenever we need.’ Another staff member said, ‘[Name of manager] has the best interests of everybody and goes above and beyond for the staff and young people.’ Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 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.

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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;

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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

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) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all records are reviewed and monitored by the manager and clear actions 18 October 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 7 are identified and acted on. In addition, the registered person must ensure that where children are educated at home, there is a clear plan and evidence of how children are supported to achieve their full potential. This also refers to ensuring that when children make a complaint or allegation, they are kept updated by the manager of outcomes to ensure that they feel listened to. Furthermore, sufficient staff must be in place to ensure that staff are not exhausted and a positive morale can be secured.

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to understand how a child's life experience impacts on their presenting behaviours, such as managing a healthy diet. This also refers to staff ensuring that children are supported to have positive experiences and support when leaving in planned and unplanned ways. 18 October 2023

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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; and make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and 18 October 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 8 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

The registered person must ensure that staff support children take part in a range of activities to develop their social skills. Staff should also be creative in encouraging children to engage in fun activities and have structure to their day.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that systems and processes are in place to manage the safe storage and administration of medicine. 18 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 18 October 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should adhere to the quality standards. The responsibilities and accountabilities in this standard fall on the registered person. In practice, just as with the other standards, those responsible for the day-to- day running of homes, play a key role in enabling the registered person to fulfil the requirements of this standard. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 52, paragraph 10.2) Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 9

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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: 1250039 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider: The Place Young People's Company

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 2 Lymevale Court, Lyme Drive, Parklands, Stoke- on-Trent ST4 6NW

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Inspectors

Kathryn Hurley, Social Care Inspector Helen Walters, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1250039 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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