Children's home run by Evolve Care Group Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2783656 1 Registered provider: Evolve Care Group 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 owned by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A suitably experienced and qualified manager leads the home and has been in post since February 2024. The responsible individual is in post but has not yet had her suitability assessed by Ofsted. There is a plan for them to move from the home when the new responsible individual joins the home in October.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children are living in the home. Since the last inspection, two new children have moved into the home and no children have moved out. All children who live in the home were spoken to and contributed to the 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 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 February 2025

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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: 2783656 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/02/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2783656 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children joining the home have benefited from a carefully planned move. Plans were completed with the input of the in-house therapist to consider how best to support the child. This has provided ongoing support from the point of moving to ensure they have access to specialist support while they adjust to their new routine. Children have benefited from meeting the staff and visiting the home before moving in, and where possible, family members have been involved with introductory visits. As a result, children have experienced a seamless move with reduced anxiety and reassurances about their next steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The chosen model of therapeutic care is clearly embedded in the home. In-house clinicians support staff and children on a weekly basis. Children engage well with therapeutic support, and clinical supervision with staff ensures that the team has a clear understanding of how to support the children. Strategies are shared with the staff to provide a consistent approach. Children are cared for in a way that supports their needs and promotes children’s resilience, so they can learn how to cope and respond to their own challenges.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place children at the centre of their practice. Children engage well with the staff team and enjoy spending time together. Children benefit from a range of activities and experiences, including holidays and day trips. The manager has created a strong family culture, and mealtimes provide a social occasion where the household sits down to eat together and shares their highlights from the day. This restorative approach provides a strong sense of community and an inclusive atmosphere in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is supported well by staff and the manager. Three children are attending school settings, and one child is tutored at home. All children engage well and are making progress. Where children attend schools out of area, the manager has ensured that children’s school placements are maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has advocated for the needs of the child who is not attending school and has escalated his concerns for the delays in finding an alternative provision. Additionally, the staff team has provided support through the provision of learning materials to supplement the child’s learning and maintain a structured routine for when they return to education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Staff support and encourage children to attend all routine health appointments. When specialist support is required, the manager advocates for the needs of the child. Identity and diversity needs are treated respectfully and sensitively, with cultural needs supported in the home and staff providing information and guidance to educate and support children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2783656 4

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

Significant incidents in the home are reducing; there have been no episodes of children going missing from home, and physical restraint incidents are less frequent. When restraint is used by staff, it is proportionate and well recorded. The manager has good oversight of incidents and evaluates the effectiveness of holds used by staff. Detailed and meaningful discussions take place after holds; these are well- planned conversations that ensure children are provided with reassurance and support. As a result, children are learning how to manage their behaviour and emotions safely.

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

There have been two incidents where children have left the home during the evening. Staff provided a well-coordinated approach, ensuring they kept sight of the children, and encouraged their return. The manager has reviewed the quick succession of the incidents and has taken prompt action to mitigate further risks. This has resulted in an approach that is least restrictive to children and has prevented further incidents due to creative changes to the staff rota during the evenings.

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

Staff are well trained and have meaningful conversations with children to educate them about the risks associated with social media and online activity. Applications and internet filters are installed to reduce and manage risks but are set accordingly to recognise the needs and age of each child. This practice helps to keep children safe when exploring the internet and ensures that practice is not risk-averse and is proportionate to each child and their identified risks.

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

Positive behaviour is rewarded, and consistent boundaries are supporting the reduction of incidents in the home. When incidents occur, staff respond proportionately and consider the reasons behind the behaviour. Consequences are not routinely used in the home, and there is a focus on using rewards and praise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A confident and experienced manager leads the home. He has created a culture within the staff team of high expectations for the children. He is ambitious for children and considers ways to promote positive experiences and create the feel of a family environment within the home. Two children have their own pets, and each child has a personalised mural in their room. Children design and share their visions, and a local artist is commissioned to create this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are safely recruited. The manager ensures that all safer recruitment checks are completed and has formed a staff team that is passionate about the children, with staff who ‘want to do the best they can’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a committed and stable staff team that understands the ethos of the home and strives to support the child’s progress and development. No agency staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2783656 5 are used in the home, resulting in children being cared for by people they know and trust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have formed effective partnership relationships with those who support the child. Feedback from professionals was positive and reflected the good partnership working between the home’s staff and the key agencies that support children. Furthermore, the manager has sought to build relationships with the community. This has resulted in the children volunteering in community-based activities, including litter picking and sending a card to a neighbour who had suffered a bereavement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued; they are supported by leaders and receive regular supervision from managers and additional clinical support from the therapeutic teams. Staff enjoy coming to work and speak with enthusiasm about the children and the progress they are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and reviewing systems are not always effective. Some children’s care plans have been reviewed, but the quality of recording and reporting has resulted in some plans containing conflicting information due to outdated content remaining in the document.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Risk assessments do not always include up-to-date information, which means staff may not have access to current guidance on how best to support children. One child’s local authority medical review had not been obtained or requested so key information to inform in-house care plans had been missed. On some occasions, reporting of information to some placing authorities had been delayed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has gathered external feedback from stakeholders, but this information has not been included or used to inform the Regulation 45 reports for the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses. He has already identified that recording, reporting and monitoring systems need further development and has started to take steps towards achieving this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, it was identified during the inspection that information that the responsible individual holds is not readily available to the manager if she is not contactable. Consideration is needed to ensure that other significant people can always access this information in her absence. Inspection report for children’s home: 2783656 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s 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

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5)) 1 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2783656 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that records that are kept electronically (regulation 38) can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. In particular, the registered person should ensure that information stored by the manager can be accessed if needed when they are away from the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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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: 2783656 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Evolve Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 170 Uttoxeter Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST3 1QH

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Inspector

Joanne Hawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2783656 9 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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