Children's home run by Aspris Care North West Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1240573 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 is a privately owned children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home provides care and accommodation for single-gender occupancy only. The manager was registered with Ofsted in May 2019.

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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: 23 October 2018

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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: 1240573 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/10/2018 Full Good 30/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1240573 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b) and (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, children should live in a home that is not damaged and the home’s decor should be of a good standard 30/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or 30/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1240573 4 potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c), (2)(a)(iv)(xi) and (2)(b)) The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b) and (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, impact assessments and matching considerations should be recorded for any child admitted to the home. 30/08/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children at this home make good progress from their starting points. They enjoy long- term placements where they become settled and form strong bonds with staff. The staff team shows a high level of commitment to each child and provides a consistent, caring environment. A strength of this home is the positive role modelling that the largely male staff team provides the boys with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in building their confidence, maturity and self-esteem and their capacity to interact in a socially appropriate way. Children spoken to during this inspection are relaxed and happy in the home. They reported that coming to live at the home has been a positive experience for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s interests. Children engage in a range of activities including singing lessons, football club, fishing and trips to places that interest them, for example Legoland. Children are also eager to go on the planned summer holiday to Bulgaria. These opportunities help children to have a positive experience of living at the home and to have their individual interests promoted. Inspection report children’s home: 1240573 5 The home needs some repair and redecoration in order to provide a more comfortable and homelier environment. Although this has been acknowledged and the work scheduled by the provider, at the time of the inspection it had not taken place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

After a lengthy and settled period in the home, one child’s placement has broken down. Staff made every effort to support him through a difficult time, but ultimately acknowledged they could no longer keep him safe and meet his needs. They also understood the impact he had on the other children in the home and ended his placement appropriately. Despite him having moved on, a requirement is made due to the detrimental impact his behaviour has had on the experiences of the other children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to engage in therapeutic support, either with the home’s psychotherapist or an external agency. This promotes their emotional well-being and improves their outcomes. Staff are supported by the psychotherapist to understand children’s needs and provide therapeutic care.

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

Children’s risks are understood. Risk management plans clearly identify actions staff should take to manage and reduce risks. Children who pose a risk to other children are closely supervised. Children are also supported to engage with agencies such as youth offending services to help them understand and minimise their risks.

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

Although incidents of missing from care and physical restraint have slightly increased, they are still comparatively low. Incident records are clear. They show what staff have done to prevent escalation of incidents and ways in which they have supported children following incidents. Staff are skilled at de-escalating children’s behaviours because they have strong positive relationships with them.

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

Staff make good use of key work sessions to educate young people about issues which may compromise their safety, such as knife crime, criminal exploitation and county lines.

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

Children are kept safe online. Parental controls ensure that children do not have access to unsuitable content. Children who like playing online games must do so in communal areas of the home so that staff can monitor what they are playing and ensure that they are interacting with others safely online.

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

The home’s environment is safe. There are systems in place to ensure that health and safety checks are completed, and any deficits are rectified. Additionally, the company follows safe recruitment procedures to ensure that staff employed are suitable and safe to work with children.

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

Children are not unnecessarily criminalised. The police are rarely called out to the home, and when they are it is appropriate. Incidents of very challenging behaviour are generally managed by staff without resorting to requesting police support. Inspection report children’s home: 1240573 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The newly registered manager has made a positive start to managing the home. He has implemented some improvements and is open to ideas for improving and developing the service. The manager understands the children’s needs well and ensures that care is specific and individualised to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoken to during this inspection feel both supported and empowered in their roles. They are confident in their knowledge of the children and in the day-to-day running of the home in the absence of the manager and assistant manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a good training package in place, covering all basic and mandatory areas of training. Staff are educated in the impact of adverse childhood experiences and trained in the specific therapeutic approach used by the company. They feel that this enables them to help and support young people in the best way possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a systematic approach to handing over information between staff. Detailed minutes from staff team meetings show how information is shared and consistency maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although managers reported that children are carefully matched before admission to the home, on inspection there was no evidence to show this is the case, and no records could be found relating to the most recently admitted child. This results in a requirement being made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new independent visitor has been appointed and has been rigorous in her scrutiny of the home. This has helped the manager to continue to develop and improve systems in the home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1240573 7 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: 1240573 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Charlie Bamber, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1240573 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 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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