Children's home run by Care Afloat Ltd in West Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC006010 1 SC006010 Registered provider: Care Afloat 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 registered to provide care for one young person who may display a combination of emotional difficulties, associated challenging behaviours and educational underachievement, and who may require intensive support. The home is privately owned and forms part of a small social care organisation which offers an education service and therapeutic support from an external contractor.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager resigned in July 2018. There is no current registered manager in post. However, the home is being supported by a registered manager from another home within the organisation who plans to submit her application to Ofsted to be registered.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 1 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: SC006010 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/12/2017 Full Good 01/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/06/2016 Full Good 04/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC006010 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revision and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must ensure that there is a registered person to 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. (Regulation 13 (2)) 31/10/2018

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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 promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way which is consistent with the approach and ethos, and deliver the outcomes, set out in the homes statement of purpose; ensure that the staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(a)(c)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 31/10/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report children’s home: SC006010 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress living here. They benefit from a safe and nurturing environment that reflects their individuality. Staff know the children well and the children have strong and trusting relationships with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s placement plans are of a good standard. Information is clear, and the documents are easy to navigate. They are child-focused, and the reader has a good insight into the child’s journey.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide consistent care for children. Staff work together effectively to ensure that children receive positive messages that are empowering and consistent. Children respond well to this approach. Children spoke positively about the home. They like living here and can see that staff care about them. Children can identify with the progress that they have made and are happy with their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to establish and maintain positive friendships with their family. Children have access to a variety of activities that help them to build social skills, confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are currently looking for a new education establishment for children who have recently moved into the area to attend. Applications have been submitted and staff will view the schools once they re-open after the summer break.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive the support that they require that will help them to meet their health needs. Staff recognise the improvements that children are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most of the children who have moved on from the home have done so in a planned way. Emergency moves have taken place, but this was as a result of safeguarding concerns. In these instances, the home worked together with local authorities to support the children to make a good transition to their new placement.

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

Staff provide children with a safe place to live. Children are encouraged to take responsibility to keep themselves safe. Staff complete focused and empowering key- working sessions with children to help them with this.

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

Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities about keeping children safe. Staffing levels are very good, which allows children to have access to good levels of support that are in line with their individual assessments.

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

Staff help children to understand their individual behaviours and support them to manage and regulate these. Staff record incidents to a good standard, and these Inspection report children’s home: SC006010 5 recordings demonstrate that staff have insight into why children behave in the way that they do.

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

There is a commissioned therapeutic team that offers support and guidance to staff. This enables staff to have a good understanding of the children’s therapeutic needs and the strategies that they should use to help and support the children.

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

Staff manage safeguarding concerns effectively. They follow procedures well. Recordings are clear and provide the reader with a good understanding of the concerns and the actions taken.

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

The home has been without a registered manager since 9 July 2018. A new manager, who is registered with another home within the organisation, has been recruited to the position. Ofsted has yet to receive an application from the manager to be registered.

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

There has been a settled staff team since the last inspection and this has had a positive impact on the consistency of care for children. However, not all members of staff receive an appraisal each year. This does not ensure that staff are adequately supported to develop the skills that they need for their role. Some staff do not feel that they are supported in their professional development. This does not ensure that they remain motivated in their roles.

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

Some staff lack the experience and training that they require to ensure that they can meet the needs of the children who they are caring for. Only four members of the staff have a relevant childcare qualification, one of whom is the new manager. Seven staff members are unqualified and some staff have been in their roles for over two years without achieving the minimum standard of qualification. This was a requirement raised at the last inspection and, due to a lack of progress with this matter, it has been repeated.

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

The statement of purpose does not reflect the staff team accurately, nor does it state that there is no registered manager in position. In addition, revisions are not sent to commissioners and Ofsted as required. Consequently, parents, commissioners and the regulatory bodies cannot be assured that children are being cared for by a staff team that has the skills, knowledge and qualifications to care for children well.

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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 differences 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC006010 6 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

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: SC006010 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 158–160 Birkrig, Digmoor Parade, Skelmersdale WN8 9HP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michael Fletcher

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Inspector

Elaine Clare, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC006010 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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