Children's home run by Lonsdale Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 1 Registered provider: Lonsdale Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 23 May 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard. Children are encouraged to choose the colour scheme in their bedrooms and select accessories of their choice. When children move into the home, they are sensitively welcomed. Before moving in, children have transition plans which include opportunities to visit and meet staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are not attending an education setting, staff encourage them to participate in online learning. Children have education planners and there are incentives linked to education. However, when children do not access online learning, there are no alternatives offered by staff to promote a healthy and consistent daily routine. Consequently, children stay in their bedrooms until they choose to get up.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to attend all health appointments. When children are worried about health appointments, staff work with them and their parents to find ways to encourage children to attend. Children are given advice and guidance about healthy eating and health risks, such as drug and alcohol misuse, during key-work sessions. Key-work sessions have not extended to all aspects of children’s health. Therefore, there are missed opportunities to increase children’s understanding in some areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s time with their family is valued and supported by the staff team. Family members and their pets visit children at the home. One child’s family time has progressed to overnight stays at their parent’s home. This helps to maintain children’s identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy activities in the home and in the local area. Children contribute to activity plans at house meetings where they also share their thoughts and feelings on the home environment and meal plans. Children are supported to build positive relationships with their peers, and their friends visit the home.

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

Children are supported to manage their behaviours and feelings safely. When children struggle with their feelings and emotions, staff use de-escalation strategies in line with children’s plans. However, staff have not received training linked to trauma-informed practice. As a result, the underlying cause of children’s behaviours may not be understood.

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

When children go missing from home, staff respond in a coordinated way which is in line with children’s plans . Staff understand the risks children face when they are missing. The manager meets with children to debrief on incidents and contacts social workers to request return home interviews. Leaders and managers review and Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 3 update plans with any changes which may reduce the likelihood of further missing- from-care incidents.

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

Staff are recruited safely. When issues present over the course of the recruitment process, these are considered robustly by managers.

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

The house is a safe and secure environment for the children. The home has bedroom alarms to manage and reduce risk in the home. However, the use of alarms is not routinely reviewed and there is no consent for their use from children’s placing authority or parents.

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

The home’s care plans for children align with local authority plans. However, some risks in children’s risk assessments are recorded as high and have not been reviewed in line with changing behaviours. Furthermore, some risks have been included in children’s risk assessments despite the child never displaying the behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a permanent registered manager who is suitably qualified. He is liked by the children and is involved and engaged in the daily care provided to them. External professionals speak positively about the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. He regularly monitors the quality of care and practice in the home. This includes obtaining feedback from children. The manager has oversight of all aspects of children’s care and there is clear management oversight of all incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager responds to issues promptly. When necessary, he will carry out investigations and use informal and formal processes to address poor practice. However, the manager does not use the findings from investigations to deliver lessons learned to the staff in supervision sessions and team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective working relationships with social workers and parents. The manager is in regular contact with those involved in children’s care and seeks their feedback on staff practice. This ensures joined-up working with all those involved with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that all mandatory training is completed, and children have access to online training to support their understanding of risks. The manager does not arrange training that is specific to children’s needs. This means that staff do not consider the impact that adversities such as neglect, trauma and grief can have on children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision takes place in line with the statement of purpose. All those who supervise staff are trained to do so. Staff feel supported by leaders and managers and say that supervision is a time to consider their practice; however, this is not always captured in supervision notes. The emotional impact of the work on staff is recognised and managed well by leaders and managers. Team meetings take place Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 4 regularly and are an opportunity to consider staff practice and the progress made by children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 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 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

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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

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

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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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that: staff receive training which is specific to children’s individual needs and experiences; any lessons learned from feedback are shared with all staff members in reflective supervision sessions and team meetings; monitoring of practice includes 31 December Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 6 consideration of the quality of supervision being offered to all staff.

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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; and

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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—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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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)(vi)(vii)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that: each child is provided with key-work sessions based on their specific needs; children’s behaviours are considered in light of their childhood experiences. 14 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated to accurately reflect risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 41, paragraph 9.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 7  The registered person should ensure that each child is supported to learn and provided with resources and that staff are creative in providing opportunities for children to study and learn. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 18, paragraph 5.18)  The registered person should ensure that they have consent from those with parental responsibility and the placing authority for the use of any monitoring equipment. This should be regularly reviewed to ensure that this is a necessary and proportionate measure to keep children safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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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: 2726012 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lonsdale Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 34 Broadacre, Caton, Lancaster LA2 9NH

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Inspector

Sarah Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 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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