Children's home run by Phoenix Care & Education Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report children’s home: 1228091 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Care and Education Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to care for up to three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in August 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 24 April 2018, Ofsted completed a full inspection that judged the home inadequate. A restriction of accommodation notice was issued following the inspection. This restriction notice ended on 12 June 2018. Other monitoring visits completed since the full inspection have included 25 May 2018, 12 June 2018, 20 August 2018 and 20 September 2018.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

The home is subject to ongoing enforcement action by Ofsted.

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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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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

This home was judged inadequate at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection the home was ‘not judged’, due to there being no children accommodated in the home.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

Since the restriction of accommodation notice ended on 12 June 2018, no young people have been admitted to the home. This means that over the last five months no young people have resided at the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1228091 2 The staff team has reduced in size since the full inspection. With the exception of the registered manager, staff only work on a part-time basis. It is planned that staff will resume full-time work at the point that a young person is admitted to the home.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

The registered manager has been able to identify, in theory, how they intend to assess and review young people’s needs at the point of admission. This would include working with partner agencies to address young people’s educational and health needs and to address any presenting vulnerabilities.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

However, until a young person is admitted to the home, it is not possible to determine the effectiveness of the home’s care for young people. As a result, the requirements raised at the full inspection under regulation 8 (education), regulation 10 (health), regulation 12 (child protection), regulation 14 (care planning) and regulation 36 (children’s case records) cannot be assessed by Ofsted and remain in place.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

Since the full inspection, the home’s leadership team has developed. The home now has a registered manager in place. The appointed responsible individual has the appropriate skills and knowledge to undertake the role. Furthermore, a deputy manager has been recruited.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

The registered manager has used the period without young people in placement to facilitate staff training. Staff have completed training in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Based on this, it is judged that the requirement raised under regulation 13 has been met. Notwithstanding this, the extent to which this training has provided staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet young people’s needs, remains untested.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and supervision sessions. Due to there being no young people in placement, the registered manager has had to be creative in ensuring that these forums are beneficial for the development of staff. For example, the registered manager uses questionnaires and scenarios to test staff’s knowledge on the home’s policies and procedures.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

The leadership team’s attention to the actions highlighted by the regulation 44 visitor needs development. For example, the independent visitor has identified in his reports over the last seven months, the date that the home’s fire extinguishers had to be serviced. Despite this, on the day of the inspection, the registered manager was not aware that this task was overdue. The registered manager was not able to evidence that the fire extinguishers had been serviced as required. The impact of this is low, as there are no young people in placement.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

The registered manager has completed appropriate recruitment and vetting checks for current staff. This means that the requirement raised under regulation 32 has been met.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

The registered manager has undertaken a quality of care review. This review has been used to inform the home’s development plan. This means that the requirement raised Inspection report children’s home: 1228091 3 under regulation 45 has been met.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children

Since the last monitoring visit, the registered manager has maintained records of shifts completed by staff. This means that the requirement raised under regulation 37 has been met.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2018 20/08/2018 Monitoring Monitoring Not judged Not judged

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/04/2018 Full Inadequate 17/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 02/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/04/2017 Full Inadequate

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; help each child to understand the importance and value of 20/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1228091 4 education, learning, training and employment; help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment. (Regulation 8

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Requirement Due date

(1)(2)(a)(iii)(iv)(vii)(viii)(ix)) The health and well-being standard is that— the health and well-being needs of children are met; children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to— understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding; understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) and (2)(a)(ii)(iv)) 20/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)(vi)) 20/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if— the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs; 20/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1228091 5 the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(e)(i)(ii)) The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)). This particularly refers to ensuring that local authority care plans

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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

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: 1228091 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Care and Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 22–24 Balfour Road, Bootle L20 4NZ

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Inspector

Paul Robinson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1228091 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 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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