Children's home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2508456 1 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services 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 provides care for up to three children who have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left their post in August 2024. A new manager has been in post since September 2024. They are not registered 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 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: 27 February 2024

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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: 2508456 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Good 21/03/2023 Full Outstanding 20/09/2021 Full Outstanding 11/12/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2508456 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, there were three children living in the home. Two of the children have lived at the home for over two years, and one child has recently moved into the home. Two children were spoken to as part of this inspection. All three children are making good progress from their starting points. They are building positive relationships with staff, their peers and families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, incidents in the home have reduced. However, one child has moved on from the home as staff were unable to keep them safe. Staff do remain in contact with this child, which is testament to the long-lasting, positive relationships staff build with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The progress and experiences of children who live in this home are good. Staff are trained in a therapeutic approach to parenting. This has helped staff to build lovely trusting relationships with children, which supports the children to feel safe and secure. Staff are reflective, playful and are continually curious about how they can help children grow and work towards their ambitions. As a result, children develop a sense of belonging and have a range of positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming, homely and beautifully decorated home. There are photos of the children, their adventures and achievements throughout the home. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and comfortably furnished. This helps children to feel comfortable in their surroundings and gain a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the importance of children’s education. Staff advocate for children’s education and work closely with educational professionals to ensure that children have access to education that meets their individual needs. One education professional commented, ‘The care home manager is in regular communication. The setting and manager are tenacious about ensuring education is in place for [name of the child].’ When children are out of school, staff support children with bespoke education plans and educational activities to maintain their learning. This support provides children with better opportunities to reach their academic potential and increases their future life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to prepare for adult life by developing children’s independence skills. They help children to learn new skills, such as budgeting, shopping, cooking and cleaning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to have fun and engage in activities, both in the home and out in the community. Children have been on outings to theme parks, short breaks away to the seaside and abroad on holiday. One child experienced going into the sea and tried sushi for the first time. Children have also participated in walking Inspection report for children’s home: 2508456 4 up Snowdon to raise money for charity. These positive experiences help children to build their self-esteem, improve their social skills and develop relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to explore their identity. Staff ensure that children’s cultural identity is promoted and celebrated. They support children to spend time with their families and friends and to re-establish their relationships with their family members. This helps children to maintain relationships that are important to them and contributes to their life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are highly regarded by staff and managers. Children have multiple opportunities to have their say through general chats, children’s meetings, reflective discussions and extensive direct-work sessions. Children are able to share and talk about their achievements, reflect on events and learn how to keep themselves safe and manage conflict. The children said that they feel listened to by staff and have opportunities to impact on the decision-making that affects them.

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

Safeguarding practices in the home are effective. There is a positive safeguarding culture, where managers and staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. As a result, children are safe and say that they feel safe.

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

Staff know the children extremely well. They are attuned to children’s risks, anxieties and needs. Staff ensure that there are clear, consistent boundaries in place and that these are followed. Children’s written plans are detailed and regularly updated. This ensures that staff have up-to-date guidance on how to promote children’s safety and well-being effectively. Consequently, incidents in the home have reduced over time. There have been no allegations or incidents requiring staff to use physical intervention since the previous inspection.

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

Staff and managers take prompt action when children make complaints. The manager quickly acknowledges children’s concerns. He takes time to talk to children, completes comprehensive investigations and ensures that children are informed of any outcomes. This ensures that children feel valued and confident to raise concerns. It also helps them to feel safer and secure in their environment.

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

The level of incidents of children going missing from home is reducing. Staff follow detailed missing-from-home procedures when children do go missing from home. Staff will go and search for children and communicate with the police until they are found. Staff ensure that return home interviews are completed by an independent person. When risks escalate, managers raise concerns with appropriate professionals and work with external agencies to develop strategies to reduce risks. These responses help children to feel cared for and make children safer.

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

Managers ensure that there are effective systems in place to keep children safe online. There is a firewall on the home’s internet, staff complete daily checks on Inspection report for children’s home: 2508456 5 children’s devices and, if required, parental monitoring apps are applied to children’s mobile phones. In addition, staff regularly talk to children about internet safety and how to keep themselves safe online.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The deputy manager has recently been appointed as the new manager of the home. Having worked in the home for over four years, he knows the children, staff and home well. He has a good understanding of staff’s strengths and areas for development. He is a strong and present leader, who advocates well for children. The manager and staff share high aspirations for the children to progress and achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have effective monitoring systems in place, which support them to review the quality of care. They use these well, along with independent visitor assessments, to continually assess and improve the quality of care and promote children’s progress. There is a comprehensive workforce and home development plan that demonstrates high ambition for the continual development of the home and staff team. Managers promptly take action to address any issues around staff performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable core staff team in place that provides children with consistent and good-quality care. Agency staff have not been used in this home. When there are shortages in the rota, these are normally covered internally or by staff from the organisation’s other homes in the local area. This promotes continuity of care for children. However, there have been occasions when managers have not always ensured that staffing ratios are provided in line with children’s assessed needs. Managers have not consulted with children’s local authorities about this. This shortfall has the potential to leave both children and staff vulnerable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by managers. Staff say that the new manager is approachable and supportive. Managers ensure that staff receive regular reflective supervision sessions and have training to meet the children’s needs. The manager understands the importance of staff development. He has used research in practice to assess the staff and their learning styles. As a result, he has adapted the way he conducts team meetings. They are now more visual, improving staff’s opportunities to learn. He has also assessed children’s preferred learning styles and is planning to use this to review how staff consult with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff work closely with other professionals, including social workers and education and health providers, to ensure that children’s needs are met. Managers will challenge providers when they are not meeting children’s needs effectively. The feedback from professionals was largely very positive. Professionals feel that the children have made progress since living at the home, communication is good and the children are safeguarded. One professional commented, ‘They’ve been excellent at supporting this child, communicating with us and going the extra mile to get it right for [name of child]. I can tell they work hard to ensure that paperwork is Inspection report for children’s home: 2508456 6 in order, but what is lovely is that this happens alongside working just as hard to get it right for the child.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2508456 7

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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 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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are sufficient staff in line with children’s assessed needs. Where there are shortfalls, the registered person must consult with the children’s local authorities. 7 March 2025

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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: 2508456 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

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Julia Tompson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2508456 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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