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

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

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since the 5 September 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at 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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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: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

This children’s home was judged inadequate following a full inspection that started on 14 May 2024. An inspector returned on 12 June 2024 to gather additional evidence in line with ‘ Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence‘ policy. As a result of the concerns about children’s safety and the leadership and management of the home, two compliance notices were issued, under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 2 Following a monitoring visit on the 31 July 2024, the compliance notice issued under regulation 12 was deemed to be met. The compliance notice issued under regulation 13 was found not to have been met. A further compliance notice was issued under regulation 13.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At this inspection, the compliance notice issued under regulation 13 was deemed to be met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last full inspection, leaders and staff have ensured that the one child living in the home has received all the support they need to enable them to thrive physically, emotionally, socially and educationally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the child well and they have a trusting relationship with them. The child is settled and at ease with staff and speaks to them about their aspirations and any worries they have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager has worked hard to secure education for the child. A tutor now attends for several hours a day. Staff have supported the child to establish a good routine. They are up and ready for their tuition each day. The tutor commented that the child has made good progress. Staff have supported the child to attend two interviews at local colleges and a place has been offered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported the child to engage with a wide range of support concerning their health. Staff work with the local authority and health services to ensure that there is a clear plan that promotes the child’s well-being. The child has been helped to reduce their substance misuse and minimise long periods away from home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child with their independence skills. This includes cooking, budgeting and household chores. Staff advocate for the child to ensure that their voice is heard. The child’s views and personal targets are clearly set out in their care plan. They now have a mobile phone, which they are pleased about. Staff have talked to the child about internet and phone safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to go out on activities and has been to museums, shopping and the cinema. The staff are looking at different activities in the community for the child to engage in with peers and helping them to prepare for college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has expressed their wish to continue living at the home. The child commented that there was consistency in terms of the staff who care for them, and they get on well with staff. Agency staff have not been used since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s bedrooms have been recently decorated. There are plans to personalise the child’s bedroom; they have expressed a wish to have some LED lights and plants.

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

The registered manager has updated the child’s risk assessments. These have been completed with the child’s input. The risk assessments address the child’s known vulnerabilities and what action staff should take to manage these risks. Risks are regularly reviewed, and progress made is shared with the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 5 The child’s missing-from-care episodes have reduced. There is a clear plan and protocol in place when a child goes missing from the home, and staff understand the expectations of them, both in terms of recording and reporting.

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

Staff have all been trained in physical intervention. The members of the leadership and management team have reflected on past practice, and restraint has only been used when necessary and has been proportionate. Incidents are recorded and reviewed and monitored by the leadership and management team.

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

Staff support the child to develop strategies to manage their own conflicts and difficult feelings. However, the child’s behaviour support plan has not been completed in line with the home’s policy. It does not clearly set out incentives and consequences for behaviour. Staff do not always complete reward charts. Consequences and boundaries for behaviour are therefore not always consistent.

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

Staff working in the home are clear about procedures if there is a safeguarding concern. The members of the leadership and management team have implemented clear procedures regarding this, and these are being followed.

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

The members of the leadership and management team have worked hard to address the concerns raised in the last inspection. There is a stable staff team in place at the home. The members of the staff team work well together. They feel supported by the registered manager.

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

Individual training plans and a staff supervision plan have been drawn up since the monitoring visit. This is to ensure that staff receive relevant training and regular supervision. Staff have received additional training but not all staff are trained in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Each member of staff has been supervised since the monitoring visit. The members of the leadership and management team have yet to monitor the implementation of the training and supervision plans.

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

The statement of purpose has been updated and a workforce development plan has been completed. The staffing structure in the statement of purpose reflects the staffing structure for one child. The leadership and management team will revise this before another child comes to live in the home.

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

The members of the leadership and management team have revised how children’s care plans, risk assessments and behavioural plans should be recorded. The final versions of these forms have yet to be completed. The leadership and management team plans to finalise these new records before a new child moves into the home. The current records are not always signed and dated by staff and management.

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

The leadership and management team has improved the home’s recruitment procedures to ensure that staff are suitably vetted. Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff supervision takes place monthly in line with the home’s statement and keeps under review staff’s professional development and training.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 22 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; 1 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 7 help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; and

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s behavioural management plans are completed in line with the home’s policy and reviewed with the child and staff team.

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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

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

In particular, the leadership and management team must ensure that the format of care plans, risk assessments and behavioural support plans are finalised. 22 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s case records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that they develop and keep under review a statement of purpose (regulation 16 and schedule 1). The information set out in the statement of purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in the home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. It is important that information about the home’s therapeutic support and staffing is kept up to date and that support for the team, as set out in the statement of purpose, is in place. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)

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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 9

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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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Inspector

Matilda Clode, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2723813 10 regulates and inspects 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 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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