Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 1271375 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care 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

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have social, emotional or behavioural needs.

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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 good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1271375 2

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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 protection of children standard The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 16/11/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Specifically relating to staff debriefing. The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  Specifically relating to internet use. Children must feel safe and be safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be

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Recommendations

protected from significant harm. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive safe and effective care that supports their progress and promotes Inspection report children’s home: 1271375 3 their general well-being. Young people’s families and external professionals report high levels of satisfaction with the care and support provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of young people’s needs, which enables them to provide responsive, individualised care. Young people benefit from regular contact with an in-house therapist. The therapist also works closely with the staff team to enhance their understanding of young people’s behaviours and assist in developing strategies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager works effectively with external partners to ensure that young people have appropriate education provision in place. Young people are making good progress in education. They achieve consistently good attendance and have made positive friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff ensure that young people are encouraged to share their views and wishes about their care. There are good examples of young people’s wishes being acted on. For example, the registered manager recently worked closely with one young person’s placing authority to enable the young person to have increased contact with family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have regular opportunities to engage in fun and fulfilling activities. This builds on young people’s social interaction skills and supports them to develop new interests.

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

The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. Any safeguarding concerns are quickly identified and dealt with appropriately. Where appropriate, the registered manager ensures that concerns are referred to the relevant agencies.

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

Risks to the safety and well-being of young people are identified and assessed. In some instances, strategies to manage risks could be more clearly outlined in young people’s risk management plans. This would help to ensure that all staff work in a consistent way to maintain young people’s safety.

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

There have been no incidents of young people being missing from this home. There are clear, individualised protocols in place, which provide staff with guidance if this does happen. These protocols help to ensure that staff will take appropriate action and ensure that all relevant agencies are immediately informed if a young person does become missing.

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

Staff have a good understanding of young people’s emotional responses and behaviours. This was recently demonstrated when staff identified behaviour that was out of character for one young person. This led them to identify that the young person had some concerns about a situation outside the home, which they were then able to resolve. Inspection report children’s home: 1271375 4 Young people have behaviour support plans in place, which assist staff in identifying individual triggers for young people. The plans also include strategies to assist staff in de-escalating challenging situations. This results in consistent support that assists young people to develop safer and more appropriate behaviours over time.

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

Incidents that result in physical restraint of young people are recorded and reviewed by the registered manager. However, some records lack clarity and require more detail, although it was noted that the quality of these records has improved over time. Debriefs are usually provided to staff who have been involved in incidents but in one case this had not taken place. Effective debriefing supports a consistent and professional approach and helps to safeguard young people from inappropriate or excessive restraint.

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

Young people are encouraged to reflect on negative behaviours and on some occasions, receive consequences to assist them in doing so. Consequences are usually recorded and monitored by the registered manager to ensure that they are fair and proportionate. However, in a small number of instances, consequences had not been appropriately recorded. Accurate recording is necessary to support a consistent approach and enable the registered manager to monitor young people’s behaviour support effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager who has been registered since the home began operating in April 2018. The registered manager is soon to move on to a new role. A new manager has been appointed and will have the opportunity to engage in a handover period with the current registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works well with external professionals to ensure that young people receive the care they require. He ensures that effective communication takes place and that young people’s views are advocated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of the registered manager and express confidence in his leadership. Staff describe the registered manager and wider management team as supportive and approachable, and report a positive culture within which they are able to share their views and raise concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a comprehensive training plan in place, which helps to ensure that staff have the correct skills and knowledge to provide safe and effective care. In addition to core training, staff benefit from in-house training based on the individual needs of the young people they support. This enhances the staff team’s understanding of young people’s complex needs and behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses quality assurance systems effectively to ensure that young people’s progress and care standards are consistently monitored. The registered manager is aware of the home’s strengths and is able to recognise areas for improvement. This means that young people benefit from a constantly improving service. Inspection report children’s home: 1271375 5

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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 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: 1271375 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 9DG

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1271375 7 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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