Children's Home run by Changing Lives Care Group Ltd in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 2662427 1 Registered provider: Changing Lives Care Group 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 by a private provider and registered to care for up to 3 children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There is a new manager in post, and they will be submitting their application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of inspection, 3 children were living in the home. All 3 children contributed to the inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: 28 October 2025

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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: 2662427 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/10/2025 Full Outstanding 18/12/2024 Full Outstanding 19/09/2023 Full Good 31/08/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2662427 3

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Summary of findings

The home provides safe, stable and nurturing care to the children who live there. The staff are led by managers who have aspirations for children, and there is a strong focus on supporting children to achieve positive outcomes. Children are supported to see their families. This promotes their sense of identity, belonging and long-standing relationships. Children access education and attend educational placements that meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children flourish as a result of the excellent care they receive from a dedicated and skilled staff team. The trusting relationships that have developed between staff and children enable them to feel safe and contribute to exceptional progress in their social, physical, emotional and behavioural development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Extremely positive relationships between staff and children were evident during this inspection. One child said that they trust all the adults in the home. They feel listened to and that 'staff care'.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children consistently have positive experiences; they are supported to try new things and develop their own interests. Children have opportunities to visit new places and develop new hobbies. Children make plans with the staff team, and their wishes and feelings are sought when planning activities and holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are supported to see their families when it is safe and appropriate to do so. The staff work with children's families and the professional network to support and develop positive relationships between the children, their parents and extended family members. As a result, children have good-quality family time and improved relationships with their birth families, which support their identity and sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make progress with their education. Their achievements are celebrated, which supports the children's confidence and resilience. Staff communicate effectively with teachers and education professionals to ensure that children receive the right support and are in the right placement. This includes appropriate challenge when needed. This means that children are invested in their education, make progress and now have aspirations for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children benefit from therapeutic support. This can be through the company's therapeutic offer or via outside agencies. Staff are in tune with the children's needs and if the children require support with their emotional wellbeing, action is taken quickly. The staff are supported to understand the emotional needs of the children they are looking after through regular training and development, which directly inform their practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2662427 4 Children benefit from consistently high-quality direct work through key-work sessions and children's meetings. Children are supported to have open and reflective discussions with staff to share their views. Direct work is purposeful and reflects the needs, views and progress of the children.

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

Children benefit from effective care, help and protection. The safety and wellbeing of children is consistently at the centre of staff's practice. Individual risk management plans are regularly updated and shared to ensure that staff are fully familiar with the risks to children and the strategies in place to keep them safe.

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

The manager and staff work with a therapeutic model of parenting. This supports the children to build trusting relationships in the home and leads to effective direct work being undertaken with children to help them understand and reduce risk-taking behaviour.

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

Robust transition plans are implemented when children move into and out of the home. Children are supported through direct work and consistent therapeutic parenting, meaning they are prepared for their future. For one child who was experiencing significant anxiety about their future plans, this led to a positive and supportive move for them. One child who previously lived in this home said that staff 'keep in touch all the time'.

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

When children move into the home, transition planning appropriately involves the children who live in the home. Plans are developed in line with children's individual needs and risks and are bespoke to them. This ensures that all moves are less likely to impact negatively on the children moving in, as well as those already living in the home.

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

There is strong partnership working among the professional network. Any concerns that arise are acted on swiftly and information is shared promptly. Managers challenge the professional network if concerns are not resolved, or plans do not effectively meet children's needs. Professionals are extremely positive about the communication from staff and leadership in the home. One professional described how one child has 'thrived' since living in the home, describing the child's positive relationships with staff as 'it's secure and comfortable and comes from genuine feelings'.

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

When children make complaints or allegations, these are taken seriously and responded to in line with policy. Children are included in the process, and managers make sure that children know what is happening. Updates are provided to the children, often through letters written to them. This helps children to feel valued, involved in decisions that affect them and confident that their views matter.

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

Strong recruitment procedures are used in order to ensure that staff are properly vetted before being employed, so that unsuitable individuals do not work in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2662427 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has recently left the organisation; however, they contributed to the inspection. A new manager has been appointed and had a planned handover with the leaving manager to ensure that they have a detailed knowledge of the children and the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have aspirations for the children, and this is reflected in the progress they are making. The manager is supported by a team of staff who share the same high aspirations for children. Feedback from staff members was positive, with staff describing how they support one another and receive support from managers in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have a focused understanding of the needs and vulnerabilities of the children in their care. They strive to provide a stable, nurturing and safe home environment where children are encouraged to reach their full potential. Managers are committed to ensuring that positive outcomes for children are the focus of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers work with the staff to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to meet the children's needs and provide a high level of individualised care. Staff are supported through regular, reflective, high-quality supervision, team meetings and training and development opportunities. Training is provided to the staff to support them to meet the specific, individual needs of the children. Supervision is effective and well recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have excellent oversight of incidents. Any and concerns are addressed and plans are reviewed and adapted in line with children's risks, needs and progress. Practice in the home is underpinned by research about 'resilience' and is monitored on a 6- monthly basis. Plans are in place to ensure that these reviews are maintained, while the new manager undertakes the necessary training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers routinely monitor the quality of the care given to children. They make positive use of the home's internal and external monitoring activities to support the continued development of the home. Managers seek feedback from external professionals, whose responses were extremely positive. Inspection report for children's home: 2662427 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: 2662427 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Changing Lives Care Group Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Office 7, 35-37 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7JN

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Inspector

Christie May, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2662427 8 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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