Children's home run by Care Assist Children’s Services Limited in West Lancashire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 1 SC061678 Registered provider: Care Assist Children‟s Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns and manages this children‟s home. The home can provide care and accommodation for a maximum of four children or young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2014.

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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

Date of last inspection: 15 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/12/2017 Full Good 16/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good 30/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 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 provider may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home if the individual satisfies the requirement in paragraph (3)(b). The requirement is that the individual has the appropriate qualification for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b) an individual who works in the home in a care role has an appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained, the level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

The relevant date is in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after the 1st April 2014, the date, which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32(2)(3)(b)(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)). Specifically, ensure that all staff who work in a care role have the necessary qualification within the period set out in this regulation. 22/02/2019

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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 every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— the quality of care provided to children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided to children. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review 22/02/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 4 and actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (the quality care review report). The registered person must supply HMCI a copy of the quality of

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Requirement Due date

care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review was completed; and make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated at the home. The systems referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5))

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the staff are familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual young people in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about young people should always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them now or in the future. Case records must be kept up-to-date. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraphs 14.3, 14.4 and 14.5)  The registered person should have a workforce development plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Under regulation 46 the registered person should review the appropriateness and

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Recommendations

suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.11). Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of the needs of each young person living at the home and provide them with a high level of care and support. This care and support help to improve the overall experience and progress for young people. Young people are happy and settled living at the home. A young person said, „This is the best placement I have had and the most settled I have been.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff continually encourage and support young people with their education, training or employment. Young people in formal education have good attendance and continue to make good progress. For those young people who have left formal education, the staff have striven to secure training or employment for them. However, despite the manager and staff‟s efforts to encourage young people to take up the opportunities offered, some are struggling to engage in training or employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff promote good health and well-being for the young people. Young people attend routine health and development appointments, such as dentist and optician, to ensure that their health needs are met. The manager and staff help and encourage young people to eat healthily and to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle. Healthcare plans demonstrate that the registered manager and staff have a good understanding of the individual health and development needs of the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate for young people and support them well to maintain a strong sense of identity. Contact with family members is promoted and maintained in a way that meets the young people‟s best interests. As a result, the young people maintain links and develop relationships with those who are significant to them. Relationships between the staff and family members are good. A parent said, „I have daily communication with the staff and we work really well together to keep my son on track.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a calm and harmonious atmosphere in which the young people thrive. Young people have developed strong and meaningful attachments with the manager and the staff team, and the young people clearly understand expectations and boundaries. The home‟s dog, adds to the house being like any family home and the young people enjoy caring for her.

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

Young people feel safe and are kept safe from harm. Young people know that they can talk to staff if they have any concerns or worries and are confident that they would be listened to and supported. Staff understand their responsibilities in keeping the young people safe and know how to do this. Safeguarding policies and procedures and detailed risk assessments are understood and implemented by the staff team.

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

Safeguarding incidents at the home are few and far between. Since the last inspection, Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 6 there has only been one consequence for negative behaviour. Rewards and incentives and behaviour management plans help the young people to present with age- appropriate and safe behaviour.

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

Young people rarely go missing from home. When they do not return home at the agreed time, they always maintain contact with the staff to let them know that they are safe. One young person who has a history of regularly going missing from previous placements has not been missing since he moved into the home some time ago. He proudly said, „I used to go missing all of the time because I was unhappy in my previous placements, but I am happy living here, so I have not been missing.‟

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

The home‟s location review contains limited information relating to the risks the home‟s location presents to the young people. The manager has not consulted with relevant others to gain safeguarding information and intelligence about all known risks in the community. Furthermore, staff have not completed specific training or learning about the risks young people currently face, such as issues regarding criminal exploitation, gang involvement and knife crime.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively and efficiently by the registered manager. He is supported by a deputy manager and a staff team that share his high expectations and aspirations for the young people. This shared vision, along with the joined-up working between the managers, staff, young people, family members and other professionals, means that the ethos and objectives that are set out in the home‟s statement of purpose are demonstrated in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff are up to date with mandatory training and have the relevant qualification for their role. However, it was raised at the last two inspections that two members of bank staff who have worked at the home for over two years had not commenced their level 3 qualification. One of these members of staff continues to work at the home regularly and she only recently enrolled to complete her qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Generally, records and plans for young people are good and demonstrate their individual circumstances and needs and the good progress that they make. However, some records contain minor errors and omissions. The registered manager is aware of this and has identified this as an area of development for the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and review systems at the home help the manager to identify the home‟s strengths and weaknesses. He is then able to alter practice, where necessary, to make improvements that are in the best interests of the young people. However, although the manager completes monthly quality of care reviews, he does not consolidate and evaluate the information from these reports into a six-monthly quality of care review in line with regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The development plan for the home clearly outlines the manager‟s plans for the development of the home during the next year. However, there is no workforce plan that Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 7 meets the workforce-related requirements of the regulations and quality standards for children‟s homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly progress reports are completed for young people and shared with their placing social workers. This contributes to good partnership working that helps to ensure that care planning for young people is effective and contributes to outcomes being improved for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued and supported by their manager. The manager and staff receive regular and effective supervision that helps them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young people in their care. Additionally, regular team meetings enable staff to discuss and plan for young people and provide them with a consistent level of care.

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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: SC061678 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Assist Children‟s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 High Barn, Back Lane, Aughton, Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 6SX

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC061678 9 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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