Children's home run by Eden Care Homes Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 1 Registered provider: Eden Care Homes 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

This home is owned and operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has sent in a form to Ofsted to voluntarily cancel his registration. However, this does not take effect until 12 January 2026. An acting manager has been in post since October and is still to make their application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living at the home at the time of this inspection. They were both spoken to by the inspector.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 22 October 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2024 Full Good 08/07/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 3

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improvement to be good

Children have differing experiences when moving on from the home. Staff are facilitating one child’s move from the home in a planned and safe way. However, recent changes in new staff’s practice have unsettled another child. This has resulted in increased behavioural incidents. The child now faces uncertainty about their future and whether they can remain at the home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders do not advocate for children’s education effectively. They do not work closely with the virtual school or raise concerns when children do not make progress. Leaders also do not plan well enough to prevent gaps in children’s learning. As a result, children wait too long to start education and staff do not explore other options that may meet children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff have only a basic therapeutic understanding about how a child’s past can affect them in the present. They do not use guidance in a consistent way to support children emotionally. Structured discussions with the children are limited and do not shape children’s plans or provide daily support to children. However, children’s physical health needs are being met as children are registered with health services and staff review their health needs often.

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improvement to be good

Children build trusting relationships with staff. Staff use daily conversations to help children talk about their feelings and learn what healthy relationships look like. Staff speak with children in a clear way that helps them understand the risks that they face. However, some recording is not written in a way that is helpful to children.

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improvement to be good

Staff have begun supporting children to build routines that give structure and purpose to their day. This helps children try new activities, spend time with friends and work towards personal goals.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently use restorative strategies to help children learn from the impact of their behaviour on others. Some consequences are not clearly linked to the behaviour presented, reducing learning opportunities for children. Where consequences are introduced and followed through, incidents have reduced.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not receive clear guidance on how to respond to children’s risks. Staff respond to incidents in accordance with children’s plans, but their plans lack detail to inform consistent practice. The manager has circulated information in different formats to support staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 4 Staff do not consistently ascertain children’s views or offer advocacy after incidents. This includes when children go missing or after they have been physically held by staff to keep them and others safe. This limits opportunities for children to reflect and for staff to receive feedback to contribute to improving practice. Staff continue to record physical interventions appropriately and only use the least restrictive holds to prevent harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff follow protocols when children go missing from the home. They work closely with other agencies to review and adjust safety plans. This approach has successfully reduced children being missing during the early hours.

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improvement to be good

Staff gather all relevant information when children spend time with people they know. They confirm these arrangements are safe, appropriate and constructive for the children involved. This enables children to build networks in a safe way.

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

This inspection was brought forward in order to address specific concerns received by Ofsted. Leaders have not fully addressed actions from the last inspection, which has left ongoing areas for development. The responsible individual and interim manager understand the home’s priorities and are introducing changes and new strategies. However, leaders’ monitoring processes are not always effective. Leaders do not consistently track incidents or actions from key meetings, limiting their ability to improve practice. Leaders are reviewing the service to develop more effective improvement plans.

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

The interim manager does not always work with other agencies in an effective way. The interim manager does not always understand each professional’s role or know when to involve them. At times, managers have undertaken tasks that other professionals should complete, reducing partnership effectiveness. However, professionals speak positively about working with the home.

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

Children’s voices do not consistently influence the home’s direction. Methods to gather views are in place but are not always acted upon, missing opportunities for positive change. Leaders recognise that the focus has been on safety and are now working to ensure children’s contributions shape ongoing improvements.

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

There has been a change of manager and leaders have faced challenges in filling posts with suitably experienced staff. Changes at all levels have affected staff and children. Leaders have maintained appropriate staffing levels and drawn on staff across the organisation to help to ensure consistency for children. Leaders continue to recruit to remaining posts.

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

Staff morale has been affected by this instability but is beginning to improve. Leaders have created development plans and held meetings and clearer supervision sessions to offer more opportunities for staff’s professional growth. Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 5 Leaders maintain the home’s physical environment well. Damage or wear is repaired quickly, and the home meets children’s needs. However, in some respects the home does not feel like a family home. Further work is needed to make the environment more welcoming and homely. Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 6

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; and

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(b)(iii)) 31 March 2026

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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— that arrangements are in place to—

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(iii)) 31 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that information in the children’s plans is detailed and that all strategies for staff are detailed within these records.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff engage proactively with the placing authority to contribute fully to relevant plans for the child’s care on an ongoing basis to ensure that children’s transitions only happen in a planned way or when essential.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 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)(a)(b) (2)(a)(d)(h)) 31 March 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home provides a nurturing, supportive and homely environment that meets the need of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have an understanding of the role of the headteacher of the virtual school. If a looked-after child from a different local authority area is placed in the home, the headteacher of the virtual school of that local authority remains responsible for promoting the child’s educational achievement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.10) Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 8  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that staff record meaningful information on

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Recommendations

individual children. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2768436 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Eden Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 203 Westgate, Westgate, Bradford BD1 3AD

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Inspector

Vikki Thwaites, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2768436 10 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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Inspector

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