Children's Home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 1 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated children’s home provides care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home in November 2023. Another manager was appointed but left before they were registered. A new manager has now been appointed and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 19 December 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/03/2023 Full Good 02/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of inspection, three children were living at the home. These children have all moved into the home since the last inspection. The children are settled and have developed trusting and positive relationships with the staff who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are attending and engaging in education. Staff advocate for children to ensure that they are attending suitable provisions and have the correct support. Education professionals say that communication with staff is good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff want children to have fun. Children engage in a range of activities, and staff support children to develop their hobbies and interests. Children attend drama groups and sea cadets, and there are plans for summer holidays and fishing trips.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care needs are well understood by the manager and staff. Children’s internal care plans record their set targets and how staff should meet them. However, plans fail to reflect that children have had the opportunity to read and understand them. In addition, in one instance, a child’s plan did not explain how their cultural needs should be met. The manager acknowledged this shortfall and plans to make improvements in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carry out good-quality planning for children to move to the home. Children are provided with the opportunity to meet staff and ask questions about what it is like to live in the home. Since the last inspection, two children have left the home sooner than planned, as managers felt that they could no longer meet their needs. The rationale for this and how this had been explained to children is unclear. In addition, there was no reflection with staff to understand why children needed to leave the home and to identify any learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and decorated to a high standard. All children have personalised bedrooms which suit their individual tastes. Children are relaxed in the home. They enjoy playing on games consoles and sitting down with staff and peers to eat evening meals. The manager and staff have plans to create a sensory play area in the garden.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s risks. There are written risk assessments in place which inform staff of children’s emerging risks and strategies to manage them.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. The manager has held a reflective discussion with children to increase their understanding of this and how to share their views. However, children have not made any complaints. The manager has introduced weekly meetings where children have the opportunity to influence their day-to-day care. Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 4 Children are supported to choose meals and activities. Staff give children praise and messages of encouragement.

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

Incidents of physical restraint are rare and restraint is only used to keep children safe. After incidents, staff reassure the children and seek their views. The manager ensures that the staff are provided with a one-to-one reflection session and together they review children’s behaviours and alternative strategies. This practice improves the manager’s oversight and encourages learning.

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

Motion sensors are used in the home at night and notify staff if children leave their rooms. There is no assessment of children’s individual needs to support the requirement of this measure. In addition, there is no evidence of consultation with children to seek their views on this monitoring. As a result, there is a possibility that surveillance is being used unnecessarily.

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

When children go missing from home, staff take prompt and appropriate action. Staff look for children and seek support from local authorities and the police. However, when children return to the home, staff have failed to adequately support them to reflect. Staff are not always curious about how the children spend their time when away from the home or who they were with. This is a missed opportunity to understand and respond to the risks that children may be exposed to.

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

The manager has high aspirations for children and staff and has taken action to review the day-to-day monitoring of the home to drive improvement.

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

There have been two concerns raised by a child that required a child protection enquiry. The manager has no record of the outcome of this enquiry or any actions identified to improve safety planning for the child. In addition, managers failed to ensure that staff had spoken to the child to explore the concerns and provide the required support. Managers had not identified this shortfall. The new manager has subsequently provided assurances that this practice will be reviewed and any learning identified will be implemented.

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

Staff complete a variety of training. However, the manager has not ensured that staff have completed all required training to ensure staff have the skills to meet children’s needs. Staff have not completed missing-from-care or substance misuse training.

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

Staff are positive about the support provided by managers. Staff receive regular supervision sessions, and these are used to reflect on practice and children’s needs. The manager has plans to improve the support systems for staff, to drive improvement. The manager has recently introduced reflection workshops for staff in their induction period and is using direct sessions to discuss staff’s well-being and service development. This helps to support consistency of care and stability for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 5 External professionals spoke about good communication with the staff and the positive progress children make in the home. One professional said that the care children receive is ‘fantastic’. Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 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, 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 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—

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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

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)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

that when children return home from an incident of going missing, steps are taken to understand the child’s experience and that staff respond to the information provided by the child;

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Requirement Due date

that recommendations arising from investigations are actioned by staff and children’s written documents evidence discussions that have been held with professionals;

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Requirement Due date

that children understand the steps managers take to respond to the concerns that they have raised, and the outcome of these steps. 5 August 2024

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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

and promotes their welfare. 5 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 7 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive training specific to children’s needs.

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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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the manager reviews any learning if children need to leave the home sooner than planned and that children understand the reasons why they need to leave the home. 5 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children. (Regulation 24 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that motion sensors are only used as set out in a child’s agreed risk assessment and that children’s wishes are considered. 5 August 2024

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Recommendation

 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 should be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child and take into account any relevant plans. (‘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: 2565231 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited

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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

Sophie Hills, Social Care Inspector Joanne Hawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2565231 9 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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