Children's home run by Care Afloat Ltd in West Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 1 SC006017 Registered provider: Care Afloat 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

This children’s home provides care and accommodation for one young person who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is run by a private organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 07/06/2018 Full Good 31/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 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—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(1)(2)(c)(i)(ii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the house is decorated, maintained and furnished to a good standard to provide children with a homely and pleasant environment, specifically the kitchen and dining room. 30/09/2019

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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.

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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 achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; support each child’s learning and development, including helping 14/09/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 4 the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(i)(ii)(iii)(x)) The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1)(2) (a) (i)(ii) & (b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, staff should encourage and support children to overcome their worries about taking part in activities that they enjoy in the community and provide opportunities for children to spend time with other children and make friends. 31/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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 staff help each child to— 31/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 5 achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being; (Regulation 10 (1)(2)(a) (i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, to encourage and support children to have the dental treatment they require, to engage the therapeutic advice and treatment and to attend appointments with the child and adolescent mental health service.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2).

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Recommendations

Specifically, use a reflective practice approach to help staff to review their work and any serious events so that they can understand the needs of children, identify the impact of their practice on children’s lives, and identify any learning to make sure that they are meeting children’s needs effectively.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2). Specifically, the report should provide a detailed analysis of the quality of care and the impact that the service is having on children’s lives and experiences. The report should clearly show how the improvements that are identified will be addressed, and record children’s views about the quality of care they receive and their experiences of living in the home.

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Inspection judgements

Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 6

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improvement to be good

The young person has not made sustained progress in her education and learning. When she first moved in, her participation in education improved significantly. However, staff are struggling to help her to build on this progress. Her school attendance is only 66%, which is limiting her ability to achieve her educational potential.

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improvement to be good

The young person does not attend all of her health appointments and has missed dental treatment. She struggles to engage consistently with therapeutic support. Consequently, the young person is not getting the help that she needs to manage her feelings, build resilience and recover from adverse and traumatic experiences.

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improvement to be good

The young person benefits from living in a safe, caring and stable home. This warm environment has helped her to build positive relationships with the adults looking after her. However, she is socially isolated because she is not getting the opportunity to spend time with other young people and make friends. She is not benefiting from experiences that keep her physically fit or active or that develop her social skills, interests and talents.

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improvement to be good

The young people’s views are well received and responded to by staff. For example, after she told the manager that she would love the house ‘to be more homely’, she was involved in redesigning the bathroom, the decoration of the house and in choosing new soft furnishings and ornaments. However, the decoration and refurbishment of the house have not yet been completed. Work is still needed, in particular in the kitchen and dining room, to make sure that young people live in a pleasant and well-maintained home.

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improvement to be good

The young person enjoys contact with those people that are important to her. Staff ensure that the planned arrangements for her care are followed consistently in practice. Staff respond flexibly to changes in the young person’s plan and always make sure that she gets to see the important people in her life.

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

The manager and staff have worked effectively with the social worker to manage the serious concerns about the current young person’s welfare. Consequently, she is significantly safer from the dangers of abuse, sexual exploitation and going missing from home. She feels safe and is protected from harm. She said, ‘Living here has saved me’.

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

The manager and staff are developing a consistent approach that is helping the young person to manage her emotions and behaviour. They provide her with clear and firm boundaries. Furthermore, they are helping her to understand about socially acceptable behaviour and to be aware of the impact of her actions on other people.

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

Staff are aware of the impact that the current young person’s adverse experiences have Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 7 had on her emotional well-being and her relationships. The manager and staff are starting to work closely with a therapist to understand the young person’s self-harming behaviour and develop an effective support plan to help her. They help her to be aware of risks and to make good decisions to manage her own safety. This includes supporting her to avoid exploitative or damaging relationships.

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

Staff engage positively with the young person to help her when she is having a difficult time. They show empathy and understanding, and work with her to sort out the problem. She said, ‘[A member of staff] really helped me when I was upset, she took me out for a hot chocolate, gave me a hug and we came back and sat together on the sofa watching films. She knew what I needed.’

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

The manager reviews and evaluates any serious incidents and the use of consequences in response to any negative behaviour from the current young person. As a result, the manager has identified that restorative approaches are a better way for staff to help the young person understand about unacceptable behaviour.

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

The manager’s careful recruitment and monitoring of staff prevent unsuitable people from working at the home. She makes sure that staff have the right personal qualities, motivation, skills and values to help vulnerable young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is no longer in charge of two children’s homes. Since 4 July 2019, she has only being responsible for the management of this home. Her increased capacity is starting to have a positive impact on the quality of care that the current young person receives, as well as on advice, guidance and support for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

However, the manager is not making the best use of the home’s monitoring and review systems to improve the quality of care provided to young people. The review of the quality of care does not provide a detailed analysis of the impact that the standard of help is having on the current young person’s life and experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has identified the things that need to improve, including the current young person’s education, health and emotional well-being outcomes. However, she does not have an action plan to show what needs to happen to make the necessary improvements and measure the impact.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The review report regarding the quality of care in the home, does not record the current young person’s views about living in the home and the help they receive. Furthermore, it does not capture how her views are used to inform and support the continued improvement of the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is not using a reflective practice approach to help staff to review their work and any serious events. This limits their ability to understand the needs of young people, to identify the impact of their practice on young people’s lives and to identify any Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 8 learning to make sure that they are meeting young people’s needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has addressed the weaknesses that were identified at the last inspection. Staff are now using a consistent and effective approach to managing the current young person’s behaviour. The manager keeps a record of any complaints and the action taken in response and the outcome. Likewise, the manager and staff are keeping records of supervision meetings. The independent person’s monitoring reports are sent to Ofsted every month.

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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: SC006017 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Afloat Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 158–160 Birkrig, Digmoor Parade, Skelmersdale WN8 9HP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michael Fletcher

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC006017 10 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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