Children's home run by Lily Residential Services Ltd

Inspection report children's home: 2672242 1 Registered provider: Lily Residential Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for two children with social and emotional needs. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022, when this home was registered. The registered manager is due to leave. A new manager is in post, and a comprehensive handover is taking place.

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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: 11 January 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2672242 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2672242 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they like living in the home and that they feel safe. Carers have formed positive relationships with them, offering warmth, guidance, and strong support. One child said that carers talk to them about risks and concerns, as well as fun day-to-day topics. This is helping them learn how to keep themselves safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child attends school full- time. Their attendance is supported by carers who travel with them in the taxi to and from school. The other child is on a phased return to school which is going well. Additional education activities are provided by carers outside of formal school hours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a home that has comfortable and inviting communal areas. Their bedrooms are filled with their personal items. Some of these items are stored in piles on the floor due to a lack of sufficient storage. Damaged items are replaced quickly, and repairs are carried out promptly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has successfully moved out of the home and on to semi- independent living. Carers supported them to develop skills that are essential for semi-independent living. Carers continue to spend planned time with them, recognising the importance of relationships for children. Planning for one child to move into the home was thorough. The skills of carers and how the child would get along with the child already living in the home were considered well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers support children to spend quality time with their family members which is enjoyable and safe. One parent said that carers have done all that they can to make family time a positive family experience for their child. Two parents said carers provide them with essential information about their children. One parent is worried that carers are not supporting their child to lead a healthy lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s emotional and physical health needs are generally met by the home. Carers raise concerns with other professionals and support children to attend and engage in appointments. However, carers do not always provide children with a varied and healthy diet. This has led to some concerns about one child’s diet and the impact of this on their health.

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

When a child is or may be at risk of harm, comprehensive assessments are devised to support carers to protect children from harm. However, planning to reduce self- harm is not thorough, and carers do not have robust safety plans to follow.

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

Carers regularly talk to children about essential topics, such as risk. These conversations aim to educate children and enable them to make safe decisions. Inspection report children's home: 2672242 4 Even though these sessions are helpful they are not always accurately recorded this could cause confusion for some children.

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

Carers use practice effectively. Plans and documents about children are usually clearly written and contain essential information. Carers have a comprehensive knowledge of the children, their needs and how to care for them. However, not all care planning documents are kept up to date and at times institutional language is used within recordings. Importantly, incident records are clear and concise. They provide the reader with a full narrative of children’s and carers’ actions. This helps to promote reflection and ongoing practice development.

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

The need for children to have consistency in care and in relation to boundaries is clear, with carers providing this in line with plans. There have been two missing- from-home episodes since the last inspection. To avoid children going missing, carers have supported children to have time out of the home in a safe manner. Restraint has not been used since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers know the children and carers well. They are present in the home, which has eabled them to build positive relationships with children. Managers are reflective and committed to learning and improving practice for the benefit of children. The current registered manager is due to leave her role. A new manager has been appointed, and a lengthy handover has begun.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers form constructive relationships with other professionals. Three professionals said that carers provide children with good care. Carers provide them with regular and informative updates about children this promotes effective multi-agency decision making and informs good care planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers like working in the home. They speak positively about leaders and managers, and the level of support they provide. Carers value training opportunities and identify how this has had a positive impact on their practice. Observation of carers with children showed the depth of relationships that have been built and the trust that has developed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. Meetings have an agenda, and actions are set and reviewed. Items discussed during the meetings are clearly recorded. The needs of the child, the outcomes of meetings and the general running of the home are the focus of these meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers receive regular supervision from managers. They discuss their practice and openly raise their concerns. Carers said that managers are approachable and available for additional supervision and guidance on an ad-hoc basis if required. However, recordings do not always evidence the use of reflection and evaluation of practice. Inspection report children's home: 2672242 5 Managers and carers benefit from regular clinical supervision. These sessions allow for in-depth discussion about the children and support carers to develop new strategies and ways of working with children. In addition to this, carers have access to in-house or independent counselling, allowing them to seek support for their mental health and well-being. Inspection report children's home: 2672242 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 the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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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)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to have a healthy and varied diet. 1 April 2024

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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— that staff— 1 April 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2672242 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all risks are assessed and measures put in place to manage and reduce risks. In addition, ensure that carers have the guidance that they need to effectively manage risks.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that supervision records are consistent in quality and consider ways to further assist staff in their development, including reflective discussion. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that children have ample storage in their bedrooms. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff use careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will Inspection report children's home: 2672242 8 be helpful to the child. In particular, carefully consider the detail in recordings. Also, ensure that all documents are kept up to date and contain relevant and necessary information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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 children's home: 2672242 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lily Residential Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Spirare Ltd, Mey House, Bridport Road, Poundbury, Dorchester DT1 3QY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michael Felstead

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Inspector

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2672242 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 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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