Children's Home run by Considerate Care Limited in Liverpool

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people live in a warm, nurturing and supportive family-style home. They receive a very high quality of care from competent and skilled staff. This consistent and personalised support meets their assessed needs and has brought stability to young people’s lives which has helped them to feel safe and make significant progress across all aspects of their development. As a result, young people are happier, safer, achieving in education, healthier, taking part in enjoyable activities and managing their feelings constructively.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

In this positive and friendly atmosphere, young people soon build trusting relationships with the registered manager and staff. They all feel able to talk to staff when they are feeling upset or worried. They know that staff will always treat them with honesty and respect, care about them, fight for what is in their best interests, and secure the best possible support and opportunities, as every good parent would. The registered manager and staff listen to young people’s views, wishes and feelings, and always take them into account. Young people are involved in every decision about their lives and the running of the home. They make decisions about the food that they eat, the clothes that they wear, how they spend their spare time, how their home is decorated, where they go to school and college, where they live in the future and the support that they will need. The registered manager works closely with social workers to act on young people’s

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

wishes to see more of their family and go home for Christmas safely.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager and staff fully take into account the individual needs of young people living a long way from their family home. They help them to maintain important links and to see their families when appropriate. The registered manager also makes sure that young people have access to local education and health services as well as services that meet their language and cultural needs in the local area. They encourage and support young people’s cultural identity through food and opportunities to meet with other young people from the same background and language, and they build strong links with their community locally and take part in celebrations.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager ensures that young people move in only when she is confident that the staff have the expertise to respond effectively to the young person’s assessed needs and she has considered the impact that the move may have on both the young person and those already living at the home. Even in emergencies, she only agrees for young people to move in once she has given full consideration to how she will be able to promote and safeguard their welfare.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager and staff have strong working relationships with the police, education and health practitioners, and specialist services offering support around protecting young people from exploitation, domestic abuse, drugs and alcohol. They work together effectively to ensure that young people’s needs are fully met and that they get the best possible support. The registered manager and staff are skilled at identifying areas of unmet need and actively finding the right support for the young people at the right time, including arranging for a young person to have individual specialist support to help him to understand his identity and how to manage his social and communication difficulties.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager and staff provide structure, stability, encouragement and opportunities for young people to take part in education, and to learn and develop their knowledge and skills. A young person who left recently did exceptionally well at school: she achieved 11 GCSEs at A to C grades, including mathematics and English, with five GCSEs at grade A, and is now completing a BTEC diploma at college. Other young people are equally motivated to learn. They attend every day, work hard and want to do well. The registered manager and staff have strong partnerships with schools and training providers that promote young people’s learning effectively and tackle any barriers to their participation in education. The registered manager listened to a young person’s concerns that she was not learning anything new at school, and found a more suitable course to fit her academic abilities and interests.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people have the right support and guidance to help them to develop their life skills and prepare them for moving into their own accommodation. Staff ensure that young people are fully involved in the planning for their future. They support young people to develop practical life skills, including shopping, cooking and managing money. They have recently helped a young person successfully to move into her own accommodation. They have also supported another young person to find a flat, furnish and decorate it, and to sort out the utilities and his entitlements to benefits. They recognise that this has been a stressful time for him and continue to support him emotionally and practically. This continuous support is helping him to build his confidence and knowledge, and to find his feet. The registered manager challenged a placing authority when she felt that a young person was not getting the right level of support to live independently. She worked closely with the

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

young person and his personal adviser to find him more suitable accommodation and the right help and guidance.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager’s and staff’s strong safeguarding practices ensure that young people feel safe and emotionally secure, and they are protected from harm. Young people are considerably safer after coming to live at this home. Staff are vigilant and inquisitive and know when something is wrong by noticing changes in young people’s health, mood and usual behaviour. They act decisively to report serious concerns, including if young people go missing, and take prompt action to protect young people. They work extremely effectively with social workers, the police, and social care, health and education practitioners to understand the risks to individual young people, to share information and to follow rigorous protective plans. Their sensitive and well-planned work around the risks of sexual exploitation and domestic abuse is helping young people to recover from traumatic experiences and understand the difference between healthy and harmful relationships. The

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

management of risk is successfully balancing the level of concern and the need for protection with allowing young people to learn through experience and enjoy appropriate freedoms, as do other young people. Young people enjoy spending time with their friends, using the bus and going clothes shopping independently. Also, staff’s work is enabling young people to use social media safely to keep in touch with their friends and families.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager’s monitoring of the quality of care and professional practice that young people receive clearly identifies the areas for development, and she takes action to secure improvements. She has ensured that appropriate steps have been taken to deal with the weaknesses identified at the last inspection. She has recruited staff with relevant skills and experience to ensure that there are enough suitable staff available to meet the needs of all the young people safely. Young people now have the opportunity to have daily contact with both male and female staff. She has also completed a thorough written assessment of the potential risks and implications for the young people when they are supported by only one member of staff.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The quality of the records kept about young people has improved. They now provide a thorough and detailed account of young people’s experiences and progress, and the support and guidance that they receive, as well as staff's assessment of young people’s progress and the support required to meet their needs and promote their development. Young people now have the opportunity to read and discuss their monthly progress reports with staff. These now include young people’s views about what they think is going well, what has not gone well, what they want to change and the support that they feel they need to help them. This gives young people the opportunity to have their say, reflect on their experiences, and influence decisions about their care and support.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager and staff have a detailed understanding of the local area. They work effectively with their neighbours, community police officer and the local authority to understand the benefits and risks of the home’s location for young people, and they follow clear protective measures that help to reduce risks. The assessment of the home’s location now considers the potential risks of its proximity to a busy motorway to young people’s safety and how these risks can be managed safely.

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 21/06/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/11/2015 Full Good 19/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This 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 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance, ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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