Children's Home run by Imagine Mentoring and Support Limited in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 2724045 1 Registered provider: Imagine Mentoring and Support Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children who have social and emotional difficulties. Previously, the provider offered supported accommodation for children until the home was registered as a children’s home with Ofsted in August 2023. This is the home’s first inspection since registration. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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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: 2724045 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in this home. They know that the staff like to spend time with them, and they say that they enjoy lots of fun things together, such as going shopping, going to the gym and having pamper nights. These shared experiences support staff to build positive relationships with children, which helps children to develop a sense of togetherness, feel cared for and feel happy. One child said that they are much happier now that they are living in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are well looked after and supported by staff. One child commented that they would not be doing as well as they are if it were not for the help that they receive from the registered manager and the staff. They said that they feel that the registered manager is like a second mum to them. Children say that the home could not be improved in any way. Although one child joked that they would like the lounge to be converted into a pool hall.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment in the home is well furnished, warm and mostly homely. Children’s bedrooms are clean and tidy, and children are encouraged to personalise their rooms in line with their interests. One child who recently moved to the home has been supported to unpack their belongings and choose the furniture that they would like. This helps children to feel welcomed. The registered manager is working with the fire authority to review the practice of locking a cupboard that stores children’s clean towels and bedding. At the moment, children must ask staff for these items and cannot access them freely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in this home from their starting points. One professional commented that the progress that their child is making is ‘amazing’. Another professional said that the staff go ‘above and beyond’ to meet the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are participating in their education and employment and/or are actively exploring suitable learning opportunities. Children are helped to think about what they would like to do in the future and are supported to access the courses and gain the experience that will help them to achieve their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s healthcare needs are mostly being met. Children are supported to attend their appointments and access the healthcare services that they need. However, staff are not always well informed about children’s individual health needs. As a result, an important medical consultation for one child has been delayed.

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

Staff provide children with positive advice and guidance about the topics that are important to them. Staff are curious about how children feel and support them to Inspection report for children's home: 2724045 3 express themselves safely. This helps children to communicate their emotions in a positive way. As a result, restraint has not been used in this home and children have not been made to feel as though they have needed to run away in order to be heard and listened to.

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

On many occasions, children approach staff and ask for their advice. This indicates that children feel supported and listened to by staff, and that they value staff’s opinions. However, when children have not been able to seek support from staff, staff demonstrate that they know the children well and are attuned to their feelings. Accordingly, staff offer nurturing care when they notice signs that suggest children may be upset or worried about something.

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

Children have become increasingly more able to approach staff when they feel anxious and distressed. When children have harmed themselves, staff nurture them and offer appropriate medical care. This has helped children to feel cared for, which has resulted in children being more assured that staff can help them. As a result, the frequency of incidents involving self-harm is reducing.

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

Staff help children to spend positive time with their friends and family. One parent said that their relationship with their child ‘is so much better’ than it previously had been. When children struggle with their friendships, either online or offline, staff help children to resolve disagreements and conflict safely. Furthermore, when relationships become harmful, staff help children to take a step back and make safer choices.

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

Staff respond appropriately when children misuse substances. Appropriate medical advice is sought, and staff reflect with children about what happened, their motivation for misusing substances, and how they gained access to them. The registered manager shares these occurrences with the relevant professionals so that a robust multi-agency response can be agreed. In addition, children are supported to access specialist external services to help them to understand the risks that they are being exposed to by using illicit substances and how they can develop positive coping strategies so that they do not feel as though substance misuse is their only outlet.

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good

Staff enjoy working in this home. They say that they work well together and are supported by leaders and managers. However, staff also explained that some of their recording processes are arduous and take their time away from children.

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good

Children’s plans are not accessible for staff and do not help them to meet all of the children’s individual needs. Children’s plans provide staff with an overview of children’s needs. However, they do not always include important information to help Inspection report for children's home: 2724045 4 staff to meet these needs. As a result, staff are not always sure what strategies they should use or what actions need to be taken to care for children.

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good

The registered manager regularly shares their views about the care and support needs of children with external professionals. However, when the responses from external professionals are insufficient, not enough is done to escalate the concerns to ensure that children’s needs are met. As a result, care planning for children to move out of the home is not robust and children are at risk of experiencing rushed moves, without the ongoing support that they require to meet their needs and/or keep them safe.

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good

Staff are not routinely supported to reflect on the needs of children and the care that they provide. Team meetings and staff supervision sessions largely focus on the daily operations of the home. In addition, staff do not always support children to identify what could have been done differently during incidents. As a result, staff are not helped well enough to improve the quality of care or identify when children may benefit from additional support. However, the most recent team meeting does suggest that actions are being taken to address this shortfall.

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good

The registered manager acknowledges the vast amount of change that is required to switch from providing supported accommodation for children to caring for children in a children’s home. The home continues to be on a journey of development. The registered manager has identified that they need more support and has successfully employed two new deputy managers to help them in their role.

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good

The registered manager has also commissioned the involvement of a specialist psychology service. Alongside offering therapeutic support to children and training to staff, the registered manager hopes to work collaboratively with the service to streamline some of the children’s plans to ensure that they are fit for purpose. One professional commented that staff are highly motivated to developing their skills and the care that they provide.

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good

Overall, staff training compliance is high, although some members of staff have not yet completed all of the training that they require to meet the individual needs of children and keep them safe. When leaders and managers identify that additional training is required for staff, it is promptly booked. A workforce development plan is in place to help leaders and managers to identify the training needs of staff. Inspection report for children's home: 2724045 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 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

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; 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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should use monitoring systems to improve the quality of care that is provided to children. This specifically relates to ensuring that children's plans are accessible to staff and help them to meet children's individual needs. Furthermore, staff and children should be supported to reflect on their actions and identify how they could respond to difficult situations or feelings differently in the future. 13 May 2024

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to— 30 April 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2724045 6 achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(a) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff have a clear understanding of children's individual health needs and support children to receive the medical care that they require.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the register person should escalate their concerns when the support from external professionals is insufficient in meeting the needs of children, particularly with regard to future care planning and supporting children to move out of the home successfully. 30 April 2024

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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: 2724045 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Imagine Mentoring and Support

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1, City Works, Alfred Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL1 4DF

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2724045 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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