Children's Home run by Progressive Futures Care Limited in Knowsley

Unique reference number SC431931 Inspection date 05/06/2013 Inspector Sonya Robinson Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 24/01/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is able to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is managed by a private company.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making satisfactory progress .

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Progress

The home has not provided accommodation to children and young people since its last interim inspection in January 2013. This inspection focuses on whether the children's home meets its statutory requirements in order to maintain its registration and is ready to accept placements.

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Progress

The home provides a detailed Statement of Purpose and children's guide. These comprehensive documents give a clear overview of what placing social workers, parents, children and young people can expect from the service.

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Progress

The Registered Manager is a competent, experienced, suitably qualified and effective leader. She has systems in place to monitor staffing levels on a regular basis to ensure that appropriate numbers of staff are available to meet the needs of young people. There is a policy and procedure to support staff and encourage the improvement of their skills and knowledge; as such, all staff attend regular training.

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Progress

The owner of this home undertakes regular monthly visits to look at the overall effectiveness of the home, and copies of these reports are regularly sent to Ofsted. Monitoring of records is also undertaken by the Registered Manager and this helps to identify some of the strengths and weaknesses within the service.

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Progress

Records are in place to support health and safety measures within the home, including environmental risk assessments. Checks, such as appliance testing, fire tests, electrical and gas certificates are in place; this shows that facilities and services within the home are assessed as safe. However, the fire risk assessment has recently expired; this means that an annual fire risk assessment safety check is overdue.

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Progress

The accommodation is maintained to ensure that the home remains fit for purpose and able to provide a good standard of accommodation for anyone wishing to move in. Systems are also in place to ensure that appropriate records will be implemented and maintained in respect of children and young people, in order to provide an overview of their experience and time while living at the home.

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Progress

The service and systems in place are satisfactory and remain fit for purpose. This means that they are able to accept the placement of children and young people.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that there are adequate precautions against the risk of fire: specifically that the fire risk assessment is updated. (Regulation 32 (1)(a)) 31/07/2013

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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