Children's Home run by Creating Lifestyles Homes Limited in Lewisham

Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 1 Registered provider: Creating Lifestyles Homes Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home registered with Ofsted in December 2023 and is privately run. It provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There has been no registered manager since December 2023. A new manager had been in post since February 2024; however, they left the position on 25 May 2024. The deputy manager is now managing the home.

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Information about this children's home

On 14 May 2024, two children were living at the home. The placing local authority for one child gave notice with immediate effect that day. One child was living in the home on the third day of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

Inspection dates: The inspection started 14 and 15 May 2024. One inspector returned on 12 June 2024 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and children are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that staff have the appropriate skills to meet children’s needs. Some of the children who moved into the home had support needs that were beyond staff’s experience and knowledge. This resulted in children leaving the home in an unplanned way and their care being disrupted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s plans include information about their support needs and potential risks outside of the home. However, these plans are not routinely updated, and children’s views are not included. This limits children’s ability to contribute to their care and hinders the manager’s ability to review the progress children make and their current support needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not consider how children’s educational needs will be met before they move into the home. The child currently living at the home does not attend school, and there have been delays in securing education provisions for other children. Children’s care plans do not set out how education will be secured. These factors make it difficult for managers and staff to review children’s progress and support their educational development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Protocols are in place to ensure that children are registered promptly with health professionals. Children attend dental, optician and GP appointments. One child has made progress with their health needs and started to engage with specialist support services. In contrast to this supportive action, staff did not seek medical advice for one child when they returned home intoxicated. On this occasion, staff contacted the police, who subsequently called an ambulance. The child was taken to hospital, where they were admitted. Staff failures to act appropriately left the child at risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff try to support children who live far from their family home to see family members and those who are important to them. However, one child often returned to their family’s care without the agreement of staff, or their social worker, and staff were not able to support them to settle. As a result, the child experienced an unplanned ending to their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children attend a weekly house meeting, and they are supported to plan activities and menus for the week ahead. Children are given opportunities to participate in community activities, including going for walks, to the cinema, bowling, and dining in restaurants. One child spoke positively about their experience of living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home is spacious, and the physical environment is maintained well. There is plenty of room for children to spend time together and with staff. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms, so they feel comfortable in their living space. Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 3

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

Staff’s responses when children make disclosures are inadequate. Staff’s decisions and actions when children are at risk, such as when they are under the influence of alcohol, are poor. When serious incidents occur, staff do not adequately record what has happened and managers do not show sufficient curiosity to find out the full details. As a result, staff and managers do not ensure that sufficient safeguards for children are put in place as quickly as they need to be.

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

Staff and managers working in the home also work in other services that are operated by the same provider. A serious safeguarding incident that occurred in another service and involved these staff and managers was not dealt with appropriately. Learning from this incident was not quickly identified and shared with the staff and manager involved by the provider. This is a missed learning opportunity, which has contributed to ongoing poor safeguarding practice in the home inspected.

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

Leaders do not act on learning from incidents swiftly enough. For example, the responsible individual completed an investigation into an incident of restraint. This investigation found that not all staff were trained in strategies for de-escalation and physical intervention, in line with their statement of purpose. One of the recommendations from this investigation was that physical intervention training should be offered to all staff as soon as possible. This recommendation was not actioned quickly, and some staff have still not completed this training. This means that not all staff have the necessary skills to de-escalate situations when children are in distress or the skills to safely exercise physical interventions if these are absolutely necessary.

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

Staff do not adhere to the agreed levels of supervision for children. As a result, on one occasion, two children in the home were left unsupervised and were able to access the medical cabinet in the office. One local authority raised a concern about the level of supervision and subsequently moved their child from the home.

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

Leaders and managers have ensured that there is a clear protocol for staff when children go missing from the home. Staff understand and respond to the risks that children may face when they go missing. They also work with the police, family members, and social workers to ensure they are updated as needed. However, incident reports and risk assessments are brief and do not capture the child’s views. In addition, children’s plans do not set out how staff should work with children to reduce missing episodes.

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

Incidents and consequences are not always fully recorded, and risk assessments are not routinely updated. This lack of detail reduces leaders and managers’ oversight of risk and the monitoring of children’s progress. This means that effective strategies to support children are not consistently in place. Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 4 Children understand how to make a complaint, and this is clearly set out in the children’s guide. One child has an advocate who visits regularly. The advocate speaks positively about the staff team and the support they offer to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the home opened, there have been several changes in the home’s management team. The original responsible individual was promoted internally to be the operational manager for the provider. He subsequently resigned from this post before the end of the inspection period. The responsible individual is new to the home and the role. The manager who registered when the home opened resigned shortly afterwards. A new manager was put in place in February 2024. Due to an incident in the home just prior to the inspection, they were not able to be at the home during the inspection. They have also resigned during the inspection period. The deputy manager was acting manager for the home on the third day of inspection. The changes in leadership and management have meant that there has not been consistent or effective oversight in this newly opened home. As a result, inspectors found several shortfalls that impact on

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

children’s safety, experiences and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not ensure that team meetings are held consistently. They do not take place in line with the home’s policy. Until recently, team meetings and supervision sessions focused on the practicalities of managing the home. This has meant that structured opportunities for the staff team to consider the ongoing needs of children have been limited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Record-keeping is poor and disorganised. Managers’ systems to monitor incidents and track the progress of children are insufficient. In addition, leaders and managers have failed to routinely notify Ofsted about serious incidents, as required by regulation. This means that Ofsted is unable to monitor and evaluate responses to serious incidents in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s induction plan sets out expectations regarding online training, but staff have only very recently started to be trained in the underpinning approaches set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Leaders and managers’ oversight is poor and systems to ensure that learning is consolidated are not in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a result of the concerns identified at this inspection, Ofsted has issued two compliance notices under regulation 12 and 13 of The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015. Leaders provided an action plan to begin to address the shortfalls identified at this inspection shortly after the on-site inspection ended. Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 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 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

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

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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vii)(e)) 28 July 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—

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(vi)) 18 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 6 In particular, leaders and managers should ensure that staff work with children so they can develop their knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. Leaders and managers should also ensure that staff can identify when a child is at risk of harm and take appropriate action to safeguard that child’s welfare.

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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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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)) 28 July 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; 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

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)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers should ensure that they lead care in line with their statement of purpose, and use or develop 18 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 7 systems to ensure that they have sufficient oversight so they can challenge and develop practice to improve care.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) 18 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of— 1 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 8 the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered provider is an organisation—

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any change of director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the organisation. (Regulation 49 (e)(ii)) 1 July 2024

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keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (3)(a) (5)) 18 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 18 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 9 The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders, managers and staff must complete accurate, sufficiently detailed records, specifically, but not exclusively, relating to concerns about children, incidents, and their daily lives. 18 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2723813 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Creating Lifestyles Homes Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 17 Carholme Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 2HT

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Inspectors

Matilda Clode, Social Care Inspector Helen Daniel, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2723813 11 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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