Children's home run by Casaegis Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 1 Registered provider: Casaegis Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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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/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 28 November 2023

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2023 Full Good 01/11/2022 Full Good 15/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children and staff enjoy positive and meaningful relationships. The manager and staff show emotional warmth to the children. One child said that they like living at the home and feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home environment is well appointed and has photos of the children on display. However, repairs and redecoration have not been progressed in a timely manner. There is also an area in the kitchen where staff in electronically when they start their shifts. This does not promote a homely environment for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children understand how to raise complaints. One child said that they know what to do if they want to make a complaint but they have never done so. Staff complete monthly feedback forms with the children to give them an opportunity to talk about what has gone well, what has not gone well and what they would like to change. However, these documents do not receive management oversight and it is unclear what steps are taken following children raising suggestions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have made some progress in education. Staff understand the importance of education and are ambitious for children to progress in this area. However, one child does not yet attend school. The manager and staff liaise with education services to support the transition back into education. While this is ongoing, staff work closely with the child and educational professionals to support learning from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff carry out key-work sessions with the children. However, these are mainly unplanned and take place following an incident or an issue that has been raised. This is reactive, and there is no proactive planning for work to support the children in areas for progress, such as independence skills, education or their wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are in good health. They are supported to attend medical appointments as required. However, one child has recently started working with external services to support their emotional and mental health. While this is now in place; it has been slow to start. As a result, there has been a drift in meeting the child’s emotional health and emotional needs as staff are not proactively addressing needs and are awaiting professional guidance to formulate and progress support plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s medication is not stored securely. Although the door to the staff room is kept locked, there have been previous incidents in which children have gained access to restricted areas. Therefore, there is a risk that children could be able to access controlled medication. The manager has taken steps to ensure a further level of security in medication storage.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the shortfalls, children say that they are happy. They have positive relationships with staff and they regularly spend time together. Children enjoy activities such as Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 4 sports, clubs and going to parks. Staff ensure that children have a healthy and varied diet and encourage them to try different foods.

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

Processes for managing risks to children are poor. Children’s risk assessments are not up to date with relevant information about the nature of known risks to the children, specifically those relating to the risk of ligature. Risk assessments focus on minimising the risk and removing items of potential harm from the child. However, the actions required to manage an incident are not sufficiently documented. As a result, staff do not have clear guidance in place about the actions they need to take to manage incidents. This leaves children in a vulnerable position.

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

Staff have not received training in relation to children who are at risk of self-harm, specifically relating to the risk of ligature. This means that staff do not have the necessary skills to respond to self-injurious behaviour, should this occur. Additionally, staff have not been provided with the necessary equipment to manage the risk, such as ligature cutters. These omissions fail to ensure that children are safe.

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

The manager does not ensure adequate review and oversight following incidents. Children and staff do not have discussions to debrief them following incidents involving the use of physical intervention techniques. Additionally, the use of physical intervention techniques is not always necessary and proportionate to the circumstances and is a first response. For example, during an incident, one child was restrained in an inappropriate manner, which placed the child at risk of harm. Another incident resulted in a child complaining of pain following an unsuccessful intervention. Neither of these incidents were investigated by the registered person. Furthermore, neither incident was referred to the relevant safeguarding agencies or shared with the responsible local authority.

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

Following incidents of physical intervention, consequences are used. These include children losing privileges such as games and attending activities. This means that children are being punished rather than being supported to understand the reasons for their behaviour. This does not support children to explore their feelings and emotions and to develop independent strategies to manage these.

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

On one occasion, contrary to the child’s agreed staffing ratios and risk assessment, one staff member was left alone to care for the child in the community. This left the child and staff in a vulnerable situation. The manager failed to adequately consider the risk and authorised this activity with insufficient staffing.

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

The manager prevents children from going missing by ensuring that all external doors are secured. As a result, children are not supported to understand the risks if they go missing from care. This also results in the children relying on staff to access areas of the home and community. Although this is agreed by the local authority and in place for one child, another child is directly impacted by this due to having their door locked to prevent the child entering their home areas. Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff training is not being kept up to date by the manager. The manager is significantly behind with management tasks because of the demands on her time, which has hampered the staff receiving the training they need. This prevents staff from developing the key skills required to provide the most effective care for the children and prevents the manager from evaluating staff’s strengths and training needs. Where there are concerns about individual conduct or development, these have not been addressed effectively. This demonstrates poor management oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive regular and individual supervision from the manager. However, safeguarding is not always discussed during supervision sessions. This does not provide staff with opportunities to reflect and develop their care practice or discuss specific or wider safeguarding issues. This limits the impact of reflection or learning outcomes for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is no quality of care report for this inspection period. The manager does not yet have a robust auditing system in place whereby she can review the quality of care provided for children. There is not yet an effective system for the registered person to gather feedback of children’s opinions about the home, its facilities and the care that they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual does not have any oversight of the home or the registered person’s care practice. This oversight is currently provided by an operations manager and statutory requirements in this regard are not met. Furthermore, the organisation’s independent visitor reports do not include feedback from external professionals, staff or family members. This contributes to an overall lack of scrutiny of the home and manager’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager could not provide the most up-to-date records for children and staff being involved in fire drills. Therefore, children and staff do not know what to do in the event of a fire.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite the shortfalls, staff say that they feel happy and well supported by the manager. There has been instability in the staff team in recent months, with some members of staff leaving and others being newly recruited. One staff member said, ‘A lot of people have been coming and going, but now, things are coming together, and the children are seeing the benefits of this.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not taken sufficient action in relation to the previous statutory requirements. Two of these, along with additional requirements, have been restated. Compliance notices under regulations 12 and 13 have been issued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 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

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 harm to any child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child 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

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)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children have specific risk assessments in relation to ligature and that staff have the training, skills and necessary equipment to respond to incidents of concern involving children. 29 September 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

help children aspire the fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 29 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that quality assurance and monitoring systems are used regularly and the recording of them is improved.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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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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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 it’s duration;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure;

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; 29 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 8 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that incidents of physical intervention are recorded and that staff and children receive debriefs.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that any incidents of physical intervention are reviewed by the manager and any required investigations are carried out in a timely manner and the outcomes shared with professionals.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicine received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that—

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medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)) 29 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the home provides adequate means of escape and that children are part of a fire evacuation drill. 29 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 8 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 9 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for the children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed;

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parent, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 08 November 2024

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a homely, domestic environment. The home must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. However, in doing so, a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression should be maintained where possible. This specifically relates to ensuring that the redecoration Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 10 of the home is completed and that the location of a staff sign-in terminal in the home is reconsidered. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2595123 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 84 Wigston Road, Oadby, Leicestershire LE2 5QD

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Inspectors

Caroline Coop, Social Care Inspector Jess Baines, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2595123 12 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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