Children's Home run by Madiba Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 1 Registered provider: Madiba Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who may have learning disabilities or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has been in post since April 2024 and is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in 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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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

Date of last inspection: 6 September 2023

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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: 2608949 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2023 Full Good 04/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/10/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 3

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improvement to be good

There is a distinct lack of meaningful care planning to help the children to make good enough progress in this home. Although staff are committed to the children, their ability to make positive changes in the children’s lives has been stifled by a lack of consistent guidance from leaders and managers.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a distorted understanding of how to apply the organisation’s therapeutic model of care effectively. Additionally, there is a confused approach around helping children to address their anxieties and behaviour. Cumulatively, this has resulted in low confidence and morale across the staff team.

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improvement to be good

Children’s wishes and feelings about their identity are respected by the staff. However, staff lack confidence to discuss this. This is despite the organisation supplying training and a therapist. Consequently, there is no clear plan and support in place for the children to receive the necessary level of guidance from the staff concerning this.

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improvement to be good

Maintenance tasks are not addressed promptly in and around the home. Furthermore, there has been a lack of drive from leaders and managers to encourage staff to replace soft furnishings that have been damaged by the children. Therefore, the home environment looks unloved and is uninspiring for the children and the staff.

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improvement to be good

There is a disorganised approach around meal planning, and the dining room does not offer an inviting or practical space for mealtimes. Therefore, staff miss opportunities to bond with the children at these times. The lack of an organised routine around mealtimes also detracts from the manager’s aspiration to create a family-oriented home.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to access their prospective educational arrangements. However, for one child, the lack of progress in addressing other care planning issues has hindered their progress in accessing their education provision. For this child, education has been an isolating experience for a significant period.

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improvement to be good

Staff are innovative and promote the children’s passions and interests. They have acquired a car and made this safe for the child by immobilising it. This has given the child a sense of pride and responsibility. It has also given the child a space to enjoy time with staff and hold private conversations with them or their social worker.

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improvement to be good

A child’s ability to learn how to be safer in the community has been limited due to a combination of restrictive planning and staff anxiety. This has resulted in the child’s local authority needing to seek successive court orders to restrict the child’s liberty. This has Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 4 also had unintended consequences on the other child’s liberty. This is due to poor communication between the staff around applying agreed care practices.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not provided with clear direction on administering children’s medication. A child’s written records concerning the administration of their medication are confusing and contradict the child’s prescription. Although the manager has verbally instructed the staff of the prescribing doctor’s guidance, this contradicts the manager’s written guidance that the staff are expected to follow.

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improvement to be good

The children use professional terms, such as ‘self-regulate’, ‘dysregulated’ and ‘transitions’, to describe their moods and experiences. Equally, the language that staff use in children’s written records is not easy for children to understand. Therefore, the use of language in the home is not typical or relatable to most children. This increases the risk of the children in the home feeling that they are treated differently from other children in society.

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improvement to be good

There have been a high number of incidents involving children where staff have considered it necessary to physically intervene. Although there is plausible rationale to use physical intervention techniques, reflective practice has not been effective to reduce such incidents. Additionally, the manager’s oversight of these incidents is not thorough. Consequently, care practices are stagnant and do not increase the children’s ability to better manage their emotions.

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improvement to be good

The organisation has a thorough process in place to ensure that it can meet the needs of any new children who may move into the home. This enables the manager to decide whether the team has the skills to care for a child effectively. There is sound risk analysis that promotes safer care when children first move into the home. However, a lack of progressive care planning hinders children from making sustained progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The previous manager’s wider commitments in the organisation have diverted their presence in the home and their focus on the children’s care. Senior leaders have failed to recognise the implications that this has had on children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers and leaders have not done enough to ensure that staff understand the local authorities’ care planning for each child in their care. This has had implications on children’s visits with family members. Additionally, social workers have received conflicting information from the home. The breakdown in communication has been a point of frustration for other people who are involved in the children’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Despite the staff having access to a range of training, there are deficiencies around embedding learning into practice. Managers and leaders have missed opportunities to test the staff’s interpretation of the training and guidance that they have received. This has fuelled uncertainty and anxiety across the team of staff around issues that they find challenging, particularly when children make allegations against them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 5 Team meetings, staff supervision sessions and annual appraisals are timely; however, they do not drive change or accountability. This is despite staff being vocal and giving constructive challenge to the service in these forums. Managers and leaders miss these opportunities to better support staff. Consequently, care practices are stagnant.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are committed to their role and are keen to deliver a good standard of care. Likewise, leaders and managers showed accountability throughout the inspection and showed their commitment to improving the support mechanisms for the children and the staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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

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’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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 15 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 7 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)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that staff are consistent with applying children’s wishes and feelings when these have been acted on as a team. Additionally, the manager must act on relevant research and developments that are pertinent to the children’s care.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that, subject to regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(c)(d)) 15 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (c)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 15 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and 15 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 8 a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (2)(b)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home environment meets children’s needs. Children’s homes will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. In particular, the registered person should ensure that maintenance tasks are carried out in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2608949 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: One City West, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS12 6NJ

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2608949 10 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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