Children's Home run by Building Bridges Care Homes Ltd in St Helens

Inspection report children’s home: 1250035 1 Registered provider: Building Bridges Care Homes Ltd Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of several owned and managed by a private company. The home is registered to care for up to four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home continues to be led and managed by a qualified, experienced and committed registered manager. She is supported well by the deputy manager and the staff team. A full staff team is now in place and all staff have completed their required training, including safeguarding children. This means that staff are able to respond appropriately to any safeguarding concerns. This includes reporting concerns which, on the surface, may seem insignificant, and has enhanced the safety and well-being of young people.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff confirm that they receive regular professional supervision that supports their ongoing development. A recent development day for all staff prompted suggestions for ligature training to support the staff to meet the needs of the young people. This has been actioned. Inspection report children’s home: 1250035 2 Record keeping has been much improved and, in the main, demonstrates the support that is provided to young people and their identified progress. Placement plans and risk assessments now outline the specific needs of the young people and the associated risks. Consequently, staff are able to respond effectively to the young people’s ever- changing needs. There are some minor weaknesses in some incident reports and sanctions records. This is because they lack clarity on the actual events leading up to the incident and the effectiveness of the sanction. The registered manager is fully aware that, although record keeping has improved, there is still some way to go to ensure that

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

records are continually completed to a high standard.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Improved monitoring and reporting by the independent person and registered manager mean that the manager is fully aware of any shortfalls. Consequently, she takes swift action to rectify the shortfall. The registered manager has recently completed her six- monthly monitoring of the home. This includes a detailed reflection of what went well and the areas of development for the home. The registered manager said that, as a direct result of the report, she had responded differently to one young person’s difficulties at the home. Ultimately, this enabled the staff to maintain the placement. The young person is pleased that she does not have to move from the home, and is much more open with staff about anything that is worrying her. This means that staff are able to support her and to keep her safe.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Two young people have recently moved back home to their family. This is a massive achievement for them. Staff provided invaluable support to enable the young people to reach their individual goals and to be able to sustain the move back to the family home. Staff actively listened to the young people and were strong advocates for them. This meant that other professionals heard and acted upon the young people’s wishes and views.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people live a warm, welcoming and homely environment. Maintenance issues are addressed quickly, so that they do not detract from the homeliness of the home. Young people new to the home said that staff had asked them about the decor in their individual rooms and that they had been shopping to purchase their chosen items. One young person’s bedroom smells strongly of cigarette smoke. There were several cigarette butts in various parts of the room, and a lighter and cigarette ash receptacle were sat in an open drawer. This did not appear to be from just one day. Staff were not aware of this. This poses a risk to the young person and other young people in the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Overall, young people are making good progress in all areas of their development. Staff work in partnership with schools and the virtual headteachers to ensure that all young people receive the right education and support. The organisation’s educational consultant provides invaluable support in the interim period, when young people are not in education. Staff make very good use of the information sourced from families and carers to support individual young people. This means that staff are able to provide consistent support to help to reduce young people’s anxieties.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people value their relationships with staff. They are able to talk to staff about Inspection report children’s home: 1250035 3 their feelings and understand that staff will do their utmost to help them. For one young person, the incidence of being missing from care has been significantly reduced because of their improved relationship with the staff.

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Recommendations

 Ensure staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, this relates to the risk around a young person smoking in their bedroom.  Ensure that the records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Information about the children must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child should they access their information now or in the future. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.4 and 14.5) In particular, this relates to incident records and sanctions records.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

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

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 children’s home: 1250035 4

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Building Bridges Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mill Farm, Bull Bridge Lane, Liverpool L10 6LZ

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Inspector

Chris Scully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1250035 5 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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