Leaving Care Solutions

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Leaving Care Solutions 1 Leaving Care Solutions Registered provider: Leaving Care Solutions Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service was registered on 11 June 2024 and is owned by a private provider. It can accommodate up to 60 individuals in 12 shared or group living premises that are not limited to accommodating looked-after children or care leavers, and in 12 single-occupancy premises. The premises are spread between the North West and South East of England.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, there were 18 children living across shared and single occupancy premises.

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provider

The registered service manager left in September 2025.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 10 November and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 12 to 14 November 2025.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 3 years.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have effective oversight of the service and take appropriate action to address issues as they arise.

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Summary of findings

A thoughtful and empathetic staff group focuses on individual children’s progress.

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Summary of findings

Children experience timely support that promotes their safety and improves well- being.

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Summary of findings

Children make progress from their unique starting points. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Leaving Care Solutions 2 Children are safeguarded effectively. The agency routinely and consistently shares information with partner agencies about children living in the accommodation.

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Summary of findings

There are minor areas for practice to improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The child-focused nominated individual, supported by a hard-working management team, scrutinises information they receive about children, their starting points and vulnerabilities before any child moves into the service. This ensures that children make progress and get the right support at the right time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children feel valued and empowered. They consider the possibilities for their future because of the relationships that they build with the range of staff involved in their support. One child said: ‘I like every one of them. They all help me. They are good people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The children talk about what they need to do to improve their future employment prospects. They feel motivated because they see that they are making progress across their lives. The staff are ambitions for children, and so many children are in education or have an apprenticeship. Often, staff are creative to find solutions to support those children who are less confident to engage with mainstream education. The staff successfully liaise with virtual school staff to find alternative provisions to support children’s formal learning. Nonetheless, more can be done in some homes to reduce barriers to learning for those children who avoid learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children develop their skills in preparing to live independently, for example in meal preparation, planning, budgeting and self-care. Children feel listened to about the plans for their support, because the managers build in direct consultation with the children as part of their day-to-day activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s mental health improves because they get the help that they need from services such as community mental health. Children have gym memberships and often use them. This helps to reduce isolation and loneliness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The diverse staff team ensures respect for individual children’s cultural heritage and customs. In addition to the staff who work in the premises, dedicated, child-focused support workers come to the houses across the week to be alongside the children. They spend time with children, offering tailored support, for example helping individual children to make, attend and follow up on appointments and prior commitments. This helps children to successfully learn how to navigate time and prioritise their own well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

A warm welcome awaits new children. Children like their homes and often the areas where they live. Homes are located close to public transport and children can easily access local services, places of worship and amenities.

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How well children are helped and protected

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Leaving Care Solutions 3 The staff are good at keeping in touch with the children throughout the day and into the evening. They make efforts to get to know the children’s family and friends, making it their business to get to know each of the children’s routines and habits. This helps the staff to intervene promptly when they see the risks for individual children are increasing. The staff are clear about their responsibilities to safeguard children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff, with regular guidance from managers, are particularly good at liaising with other professionals and keeping them up to date with what is happening for individual children. Regular weekly reports for social workers ensure that they know what is happening for their child.

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How well children are helped and protected

When children display inappropriate risk-taking behaviour staff follow the required protocols, keeping managers up to date and informing the relevant agencies. The staff attend multi-agency meetings, including looked-after reviews, to ensure there is good communication and relevant information available to inform decision-making.

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How well children are helped and protected

Incidents of children going missing from home have reduced for those children who have previously been at risk of criminal exploitation. Staff are excellent at talking with the children and tenacious to work through any resistance from children to change.

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How well children are helped and protected

The staff do not physically intervene to manage children’s behaviour. They pause, take a step back and re-engage with children. This reduces the likelihood for conflict and helps the children to build trust in the staff’s ability to support them during times of crises. When children living together in shared accommodation cannot live with other children, the managers intervene to identify suitable alternative arrangements. Staff help to educate the children about the impact of derogatory, racial or homophobic comments. This helps to reduce tension in the households.

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How well children are helped and protected

Managers take clear and appropriate action to address any matters relating to staff conduct or performance. This helps to ensure that the children are safe and confident in the people responsible for supporting them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The nominated individual is hands on and proactively promotes the ethos of the service. He has a clear focus on supporting the children to develop their independence in preparation for adult living.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager left in September 2025. They had a significant role in the management team and made a lasting impact with some of the children. They often spent individual time with children listening to their hopes and fears, and role modelling for staff the expectations of child-focused practice. While there has been some recent, considerable change in the operational management team, the nominated individual has applied to register as service manager. The senior Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Leaving Care Solutions 4 managers have purposefully reduced the numbers of children living in the supported accommodation while they appoint to the vacant managers’ positions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

A lot of the staff are intuitive and empathetic to children’s lived experiences. Good staff selection, a dedicated induction, supervision sessions and the imbedded expectation that staff continuously complete relevant training mean that children receive good support from the staff. Training that includes mental health awareness, professional curiosity and understanding the effects of cannabis use helps the staff to deliver bespoke support to each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is good senior management oversight of the service. A suite of reporting and auditing structures ensures that managers are aware of the areas for improvement and the progress of individual children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Managers are committed to providing stability for children so there have been very few unplanned endings. Children are involved in the planning discussions where they, their social workers and staff plan their move on from the service. Conversations start early to help children to prepare for next steps. When children do move on to other supported accommodation services, the managers have missed an opportunity to share the relevant, up-to-date information with the new setting.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The statement of purpose does not accurately reflect the services on offer for children aged 16 and 17. Information regarding the organisational structure is missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

A welcome pack and children’s guide help to explain what each child can expect from the service, how to contact managers and how to express their views. The recent introduction of quick response codes, accessible by phone, helps to ensure children’s swift access to managers. Managers are visible and present across the services, which provides a further layer of assurance for the children and the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The children are confident that the adults who are supporting them understand their needs, can work effectively together and have the appropriate skills to advocate for them. One child said: ‘I am happy that they are helping me to be the person I want to be when I leave here.’ Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Leaving Care Solutions 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff work effectively together to support young people to receive the right support when they need it, for example with regard to education, so that they can feel empowered to reach their full potential. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 15)  The registered person should ensure that staff have an understanding of young people’s capabilities and needs, so that staff will have a valuable contribution to make to the pathway planning process. The registered person should actively seek to make the fullest contribution, working with other relevant persons. In particular, when 16 or 17-year-old children move out to ensure sharing of relevant information with new supported accommodation providers. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 41)  The registered provider should ensure that the statement of purpose outlines the

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Recommendations

arrangements for support the service will provide and the degree of staff involvement so that young people and local authorities are clear on what they can expect. This statement should clarify the characteristics of the young people, according to their needs and/or level of autonomy, who would be suitable for and thrive in the setting. As part of this, the statement of purpose should communicate the level of support offered by the service. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 33)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Leaving Care Solutions 6

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Leaving Care Solutions Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Saxon Business Park, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4AD

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: enquiries@leavingcaresolutions.org

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Inspectors

Rosie Davie, Social Care Inspector Julie Cresswell, Social Care Inspector Phyllis Dyer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Leaving Care Solutions 7 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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