Children's Home run by North East Lincolnshire Council in North East Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC477428 1 SC477428 Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire council

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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 is operated and managed by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to two children with learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke to the child during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024.

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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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC477428 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2024 Full Good 12/12/2022 Full Good 05/01/2022 Full Good 09/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC477428 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. Photos of the child are captured and displayed. This helps the child to feel positive about themselves and enhances their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made good progress from their starting points. The child has complex needs and benefits from caring staff who know them well and are attuned to their needs. Staff ensure that the child’s daily routines are consistent and the child is aware of what will happen throughout the day. This promotes a sense of stability for the child. Staff are skilled in communicating with the child using their preferred communication method. Staff use a variety of methods to gather the child’s views and share information with them. This helps staff to consult with the child effectively and enables the child to make choices about their activities and routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s health and emotional needs are promoted, and therapeutic support is provided when needed. Staff also ensure the child has a healthy diet and this has led to an improvement in the health of the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys access to a wide range of indoor and community activities, for example, baking, going for walks and bowling. They recently enjoyed a holiday away from home. Staff create a memory book filled with photos of the child doing things that they enjoy and the child often revisits the book with staff to remember the fun times that they have shared with staff and other children. This enriches the child’s life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has successfully moved on from the home in accordance with their plan. Staff continue to provide staying close support to the child and their family. This has ensured continuity of support for the child. However, another child whose needs were not in line with the range of needs of children as stated in the home’s statement of purpose, moved into the home and subsequently moved out unexpectedly. This has created disruption and instability for children.

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

Staff are knowledgeable in the child’s individual care and support needs, and they talk proudly and fondly about the child. They have a sound understanding of the child’s communication methods and their preferences. This has ensured the child is supported and fully participates in the everyday decisions about their lives.

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

Behaviour support plans are detailed and there are effective strategies in place to support staff in responding well to the child. Staff understand when the child is distressed and how to support them. Staff use calming approaches and the sensory environment to help the child become calmer. Inspection report for children's home: SC477428 4 Staff hold the child as a last resort to keep everyone safe. Staff keep professionals and family informed following any incidents. The manager reviews all incidents and has discussions with staff to reflect on this. This helps to ensure safe practice around the use of holds and allows staff to consider how to improve their approach to supporting the child.

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

There has been one missing-from-home incident since the last inspection. When the child goes missing, staff report the incident to the police and keep in contact with the child and their family. However, the manager did not carry out an evaluation of the missing incident to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff. This is a missed opportunity to improve the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She is leaving the service imminently, and the senior leadership team has ensured that there is an interim management arrangement in place to support the children and staff team following her departure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a real sense of teamwork and strong working relationships between staff, who acknowledge difficulties and support each other. The manager shows an ambitious vision, she has high expectations for what the child can achieve and ensures high standards of individualised care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have completed the local authority’s mandatory training. The manager has a good understanding of the staff’s strengths and areas for improvement. Staff said that they are well supported by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Multi-agency working is strong. Professionals and family members give consistently positive feedback that the child is making progress because of the support they receive from the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision and team meetings that they use to discuss the child’s current needs. However, some of the manager’s supervision records have not been made available. This means the quality of those missing records could not be considered. Inspection report for children's home: SC477428 5

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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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)) 29 November 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that evaluation of missing incidents is undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 46, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person should ensure a record of supervision are kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.3) Inspection report for children's home: SC477428 6

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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: SC477428 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Offices, Knoll Street, Cleethorpes DN35 8LN

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Inspector

Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC477428 8 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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