Children's Home run by Safe Base Care Limited in Wirral

Inspection report children's home: SC480075 1 SC480075 Registered provider: Safe Base Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 September 2018

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC480075 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2017 Full Good 02/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/10/2016 Full Good 17/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC480075 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who–

p.3

Requirement Due date

understand the children‟s home‟s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.3

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children‟s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

p.3

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; and ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(1), (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i))

p.3

Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the house, including children‟s bedrooms and bathrooms, is clean, maintained, decorated, furnished and equipped to a good standard in the way that a good parent would, in order to provide children with a welcoming, comfortable and pleasant place to live. 31/10/2018

p.3

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–

p.3

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

p.3

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and deliver the outcomes, set out in the home‟s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the 31/10/2018 Inspection report children's home: SC480075 4 experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(a)(c)(h))

p.3

Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that staff follow the home‟s policy in relation to smoking and actively encourage and support children who smoke to understand the dangers of smoking and to give up. Also, ensure that staff have opportunities to build their knowledge and skills in understanding the assessed needs of the children in their care; including life-story work, and working with children who have suffered abuse, neglect and trauma. The registered person must appoint a person to manage the children‟s home if–

p.4

Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

p.4

Requirement Due date

an organisation or partnership; does not satisfy regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

p.4

Requirement Due date

If the registered person appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must without delay, give HMCI notice of–

p.4

Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27(1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii), (2)(a)(b)) 30/09/2018

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which–

p.4

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c))

p.4

Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that each child‟s records include any copy of any education, health and care (EHC) plan or statement of special educational needs, personal educational plan and school reports. Introduce a system to monitor the quality and accuracy each child‟s case records. 31/10/2018

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. 31/10/2018 Inspection report children's home: SC480075 5 After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45(1), (3), (4)(a)) Inspection report children's home: SC480075 6

p.5

improvement to be good

Young people are happy and settled. They have a strong sense of belonging. Staff make sure that young people live in a nurturing and positive environment. Young people know that staff care about them and care for them properly.

p.6

improvement to be good

Young people are making improved and sustained progress in their education, health and well-being and social and emotional development. They know how well they are doing and now have positive aspirations for their futures. A young person said: „I‟m going to school. I didn‟t before I came here. I‟ve quietened down and am keeping out of trouble. I want a nice job and to have a nice life.‟

p.6

improvement to be good

Staff have the enthusiasm, personal qualities and skills to put young people at ease and build meaningful relationships. Staff treat young people with respect and know what is important to young people. Staff listen to young people and help them to express their wishes and feelings, including about seeing more of their families.

p.6

improvement to be good

Young people‟s participation in education is excellent. Staff have worked closely with young people, education providers and local authorities to find the right programme and support to meet each young person‟s learning needs and interests. Young people are feeling more able to ask for help with their studies when they struggle and now more readily accept the support that they need.

p.6

improvement to be good

Staff provide exciting opportunities for young people to learn informally, develop their interests and try new things, including fishing, camping and going on holiday. However, staff do not always follow the home‟s policy in relation to smoking, notably to encourage and support children who smoke to understand the dangers of smoking and to give up.

p.6

improvement to be good

The house is not decorated or maintained to a standard in the way that a good parent would. Work is needed to make sure that young people live in a comfortable and pleasant home.

p.6

improvement to be good

Young people‟s case records do not contain all the information that staff need to make sure that they know how to look after each young person properly. For example, the records do not include personal education plans and school reports to show young people‟s progress, attainments and targets. Some records do not include information about the outcome of health appointments. Weekly records do not show the name of the author or the date that they were completed. Inspection report children's home: SC480075 7

p.6

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

Young people feel safe and are protected from harm. They trust staff and have a strong sense of safety. A young person said: „If I have any problems, I talk to staff. I‟ve not had any big problems, but if I need to talk to someone I know they‟re there for me.‟

p.7

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

Staff have good safeguarding skills and actively monitor young people‟s safety. They are vigilant and can identify signs that young people may be at risk of harm from neglect, abuse or exploitation. Staff take decisive action when they have concerns, such as when a young person went missing from the home. Staff work in partnership with the police and children‟s services to understand the dangers that young people face and to put effective safeguarding plans into action.

p.7

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

Staff support young people to be aware of and manage their safety. They support young people to be safe when they use social media and play online games. Likewise, staff help young people to be safe in the community. Young people no longer go missing from home. They stay in touch with staff when they are out with their friends and always come in on time.

p.7

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

Staff work positively and confidently with young people when they are upset. Staff find the least intrusive way possible to help young people to manage their feelings and to control their behaviour.

p.7

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

Young people are no longer being aggressive or breaking things. They are managing their frustrations with online games by taking a break. A young person said, „My anger is better than it was. I‟m not going missing. I‟m calmer and can chill.‟

p.7

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

Staff support young people to build and sustain healthy relationships. They use mediation successfully to help young people to sort out arguments safely. Staff help young people to see the impact of their behaviour on other people and to find ways to put things right.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate, because the home has not had a registered manager for over 50 weeks. The organisation is currently recruiting a new manager. In the meantime, the organisation‟s responsible individual is in day-to- day charge of the home. The responsible individual is an experienced, knowledgeable and qualified manager. He has a reassuring presence that provides stability and clear leadership.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual has made sure that the changes to the management of the home have minimised any disruption to the lives of the young people. The staff team is stable and cohesive. The staffing arrangements provide young people with good continuity of care. Young people are cared for by people whom they have known for some time and to whom they have secure attachments. Inspection report children's home: SC480075 8 The responsible individual and staff have created a warm, positive and inclusive atmosphere. They are focused on making sure that young people are safe and have the opportunities and help that they need to do well. The responsible individual provides staff with the right support, encouragement, supervision and guidance to help them to meet the needs of each young person. However, staff have not had training opportunities to expand their skills and knowledge in supporting young people to make

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

sense of their experiences in working with young people who have been abused or suffered from trauma.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual and staff have a detailed understanding of the progress that each young person is making. They can show the positive impact that they are having on young people‟s life chances. However, a quality of care review is not being carried at least every six months. The responsible individual and director are not reviewing the quality of care effectively to prevent shortfalls, identify weaknesses and act to make necessary improvements. For example, they do not have thorough systems for monitoring the quality of young people‟s case records or the standard of the decoration and maintenance of the house. Inspection report children's home: SC480075 9

p.8

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.

p.9

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: SC480075 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Safe Base Care Limited

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 The Pines, Liverpool L12 0QU

p.10

Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC480075 11 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.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

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

p.11

Inspector

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

p.11