Children's home run by Life Change Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 1 Registered provider: Life Change Care 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 is run by a private provider. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has recently been appointed. They have not submitted their application to register 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 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

Date of last inspection: 10 September 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/09/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the same children have remained living in the home. They have received nurturing care from a consistent team of staff who have supported both children to make progress. Children say that they are happy living in the home and that they like the staff team. One child said, ‘If I can’t go and live with my family, then I want to be here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their education and encourage them to engage with their schooling. Where barriers to education are identified, staff actively challenge external professionals and ensure that there are appropriate alternative arrangements in place when delays occur. As a result, both children have tailored education plans in place and identified provisions for the next academic year.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s identities are promoted in line with their wishes and feelings. Staff ensure that children can be curious about their identities, and staff will seek external guidance to give children the most accurate answers and information, where possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children’s relationships with their families and work with families to support a consistent approach for children from both the staff team and their relatives. Children are enabled to spend regular, overnight stays with their respective family members in line with their plans. At the time of inspection, one child was preparing to return to the care of a family member. Their family praised the support they had received from staff, saying, ‘Staff have been really supportive and helpful.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met, and staff give children the knowledge and guidance to make informed, healthier decisions. Staff also help children to take responsibility for their own medication, where appropriate and safe to do so. However, this has not always been thoroughly risk assessed, and children have not been provided with secure storage in which to keep their medicines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been encouraged and supported to personalise their rooms, and they live in a homely environment. However, some areas would benefit from maintenance to ensure that high standards are maintained throughout the home.

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

Staff know the children well and understand their risks. Staff appropriately respond to any presenting risks for the children and know how to keep them safe.

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

Staff help children understand how to make more positive decisions through regular and targeted direct work. Staff support children to develop life-skills and learn how to make safer choices. Children are given the freedoms to make age-appropriate decisions and are then helped by staff to learn from these. Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 4 Incidents of children being missing from the home have reduced since the last inspection. Staff follow children’s plans and take immediate action to find children who are missing. Children are always offered return home interviews and staff complete follow-up work with the child to better their understanding of risks when missing and reduce further incidents. However, when children are staying overnight with family, the steps expected of staff are not always clear if a child goes missing when in the care of their family.

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

Incidents requiring physical intervention are rare, with only one occurring since the last inspection, and incidents overall have significantly reduced. Staff respond in line with children’s plans and support children to express their views and feelings in safe, appropriate ways. However, oversight of incidents has not been robust, and opportunities to further develop staff practice and identify areas for improvement have been missed. This is something that the new manager is taking action to address.

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

Children can move freely in the home and have access to all shared spaces. However, some staff were found to lock the electronic gates during the night, and this would restrict children’s ability to freely leave the home at certain times should they wish to.

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

Children are supported to take part in fire drills and are helped to understand risks associated with fire. However, a thumb lock on an external door has been replaced with a key lock, which is not in line with the home’s fire risk assessment. This lock was replaced on the day of inspection.

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

There have been changes to the management of the home. The previous registered manager left the post shortly before to inspection. There are appropriate management arrangements in place, and the new manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has identified changes she wishes to make in the home and has plans in place for this. She also manages another home within the organisation.

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

Staff say that in the short time the new manager has been in post they feel supported and are positive about the changes happening in the home. New members of the team say that they have been welcomed by more experienced members of staff and are being well supported by the new manager and senior staff team.

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

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. Staff speak about the children and can highlight any areas of concern. However, there are often no actions identified or a lack of review from previous actions taken. This is a missed opportunity to improve practice in the home.

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

Staff attend regular supervision sessions but have not always benefited from reflective, practice-related supervision, and appraisals do not provide any manager’s evaluation or oversight to help improve staff practice.

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

Monitoring and review systems have not been used consistently or effectively. Consequently, management oversight has been limited. These shortfalls in management Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 5 oversight were not identified by senior leaders. However, this is something that the new manager is taking action to address. Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 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

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

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all identified fire exits adhere to the fire risk assessment. 24 July 2025

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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) (2)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that monitoring and review systems are used to identify areas for practice development effectively and that feedback from children and external professionals is regularly captured and used to inform practice in the home. 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 25 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 7 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff receive practice-related supervision that is reflective and used to develop practice alongside appraisals which are evaluative and identify areas for staff development.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that where children have been supported to keep and take their own medication, there is an adequate assessment in place which considers any potential risks to other children and that children are provided with the means to securely store their own medication. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.16)  The registered person should ensure that children’s plans include clear details of the steps staff should take if there were concerns for the child’s welfare whilst in the care of family. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s décor is well maintained to reflect that of a warm and nurturing family environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 13.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that external gates do not restrict children’s liberty of movement when locked. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.43)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2720360 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Life Change Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 47 Bedwin Street, Salisbury SP1 3UT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Elworthy

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Inspector

Justina Henry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2720360 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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