Children's home run by Trauma in Mind Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2646176 1 Registered provider: Trauma in Mind Ltd

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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 owned and operated by a private company. It provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. Two children had recently moved on and two children had moved in since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in September 2021. A new manager was registered in May 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2646176 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2024 Full Outstanding 22/02/2023 Full Good 14/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2646176 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive highly individualised care and support that helps them to make significant and sustained progress from their starting point. They have strong, trusting relationships with the adults in the home, who consider their wishes and feelings and make their day-to-day experiences fun and enjoyable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children visit the home and spend time getting to know the adults before they move in. Bedrooms are decorated to children’s individual taste and preferences. Children adapt quickly to the warm, nurturing parenting style of adults and feel happy, loved and settled in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Adults help children to prepare for living independently. Children learn how to cook, clean, manage their money and travel alone. They are helped to set up their new home with household items and food, and to take their bedroom furniture, including the television. Another child who moved to live with their parent was bought new clothes to go home with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Education is prioritised, with adults transporting children to school, even when the school is quite a distance away from the home. Adults are committed to children maintaining friendships and consistency. For one child who has been out of school for a considerable time, the manager established a tutor very quickly after they moved in. Regular ‘pep’ talks and incentives help motivate children’s learning. This includes visits to educational centres and places of interest, including art exhibitions and museums.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Meaningful activities and discussions to talk about the things that might be bothering children help them to overcome feelings of rejection and hopelessness. Children engage in their meetings and are supported to make decisions about their future. They are given the tools they need to build resilience and to flourish. Their self-esteem grows and their sense of belonging in the home improves. A child said, ‘They won’t judge me. They are like a family and always do what is best for us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Adults give children time to reflect and space away from the home. For some children, this might involve going for a walk and having some time alone. The trauma-informed adults understand the negative impact of competitive games on some children and chose activities that promote achievement and recognition rather than winning or losing. This includes swimming, roller skating, visiting to water parks, theme parks and going on walks in the peaks. They go on holidays abroad and to Scotland and one child is going to Madrid in the summer. A parent said, ‘[Name of child] has done far more activities than what I can afford.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Adults go out of their way to facilitate children having more time with the people who are important to them. This strengthens children’s identity and their relationships. For one child, this led to an increase from twice a year to monthly time with their brother. Inspection report for children’s home: 2646176 4 The home is cosy and welcoming. There are no institutional practices, such as locked doors or private office spaces, meaning staff are available for children all the time.

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

Children feel safe and learn how to keep themselves increasingly safe. They learn to regulate better, and as a result, negative behaviours and risks have reduced. Self- soothing kits given to children help distract children from the strategies they previously turned to and learn new ways of coping. Art therapy and attachment-focused interventions applied in a trauma-informed style of parenting help children to build trust with the adult caregivers. Consequently, children are not held, and their movements are not restricted when they are testing the boundaries. Instead, good routines, consistent boundaries and effective de-escalation strategies contribute to children’s well-being and provide children with a sense of security.

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

Missing-from-home incidents are rare. On the few instances when children have left the home, adults have responded swiftly. They search for children in the local area and the places they think children may have gone. When a child left the home in an unrecognised car, the adult ran outside and took the registration number and reported it to the police. Adults stay in touch with children while they are away. This helps children to feel safe, and they voluntarily turn on their location on phones to let adults know their whereabouts.

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

Children get on well with each other. They go out on activities together and eat their dinner together in the home. There are no concerns about children bullying others or being bullied. They are not at risk of exploitation or harm outside the home. Their online safety is monitored and managed. Staff adopt a position of vigilance and curiosity and explore who children speak to on the phone and online. When children have differences, adults intervene safely to prevent matters from escalating, and considerable work to repair relationships is completed. Discussions about safe and healthy relationships help children to recognise when others in their life are not worthy of their time.

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

Comprehensive care plans and risk assessments provide adults with the information they need about children. Adults know the children’s individual vulnerabilities considerably well. They know how to respond when children are testing boundaries and feel unheard. Children are helped to develop their inter-personal communication and social skills. This helps to improve their relationships and reduce feelings of isolation.

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

Strong health and safety practice in the home, including regular fire drills and testing of equipment ensure the home environment is safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The committed and passionate management team provides a strong foundation for the adults working in the home. The dedicated adults all get along and work extremely well together. They love their job working in this home and genuinely care for children. An Inspection report for children’s home: 2646176 5 adult compared their experience of working in another children’s home to this home and said, ‘It’s parenting without the politics here, and I have re-found my passion for the work.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Development opportunities and strong and consistent support help the adults to feel valued. They spoke highly of the leadership and management culture and ethos of high support and nurture. The adults bring individual skills and strengths and work collaboratively with schools, social workers and other agencies to promote children’s outcomes. Support from regular supervision and team meetings is enhanced by the endless clinical meetings and reflective practice sessions, including one-to-ones with the company psychotherapist and psychologist. The exceptional insight this brings into children’s underlying behaviours enables adults to effortlessly adopt the provider’s chosen model of practice, which involves acceptance and empathy in their interactions with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Robust recruitment and induction processes mean everyone working in the home is subjected to checks and approvals to confirm their suitability. The rigorous interview process explores their knowledge, skills and strengths. Managers give due consideration to the compatibility of prospective applicants with other adults in the team and their emotional maturity, resilience and motivation for working with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Extensive research-based practice informs adults on how to apply their learning in their work with children. The formulations created by the inhouse psychologist inform children’s plans. Bespoke training from a leading psychologist and author has helped the team’s understanding of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). Monthly practice sessions for managers provide opportunities for them to discuss their reading about DDP in residential care and think about how this is reflected in the home. The manager’s access to clinical supervision helps her to model this to the team and implement the strategies with children further. ARFID training (Avoidant, restrictive Food Intake Disorder) has helped the adults to better understand a child’s relationship with food. The training helped them to adopt an alternative approach to weight management, helping to reduce the child’s feelings of shame.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The independent visitor monthly reports consistently demonstrate a settled home with strong practice and positive outcomes. This was echoed in the inspection through talking to the children, adults, parents and professionals who all provided similar feedback. Extensive consultation and feedback from stakeholders sought by the manager for their bi-annual report provides leaders and the manager with a strong understanding about the quality of care for children. The previous recommendation linked to improving records has been met. The manager now ensures children have a clear narrative explaining the rationale for their behaviours and the events leading to them. Records are written in a child-centred way so that when they are accessed later in life, they provide a comprehensive account of children’s care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2646176 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: 2646176 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Park House, 37 Clarence Street, Leicester LE1 3RW

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Inspector

Parveen Hussain, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2646176 8 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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