Children's home run by Care 4 Children Limited

Inspection report children‟s home: 1240840 1 Registered provider: Care 4 Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced and registered to manage the home in 2017.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1240840 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/04/2018 Full Good 08/11/2017 Full Outstanding 18/01/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children‟s home: 1240840 3

p.2

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that arrangements are in place to— manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(2)(b)(ii)) 30/11/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 30/11/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

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, are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30/11/2019

p.3

Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, that advice offered by the home’s psychologist is accessible and that evidence of this advice being applied, or otherwise, is clearly recorded by staff and the manager. Inspection report children‟s home: 1240840 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from individualised care that is consistent and reliable. Since the last inspection, there have been no changes in staff and this has provided a stable and predictable environment.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff respond to young people’s complex needs with persistent support and encouragement.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Over time, young people develop a greater understanding of appropriate behaviour and from their starting points they make good progress. Behaviours that previously raised significant concern diminish.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer individual time and activities to enable young people to develop positive leisure interests and opportunities to broaden their social experiences.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In respect of the progress a young person has made, a social worker wrote: ‘I have been very impressed with the commitment that the manager and his staff have shown to ‘X’. Despite some of the challenges that ‘X’ presents, I consider the home to be the best placement for ‘X’.’

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When young people have moved on from the home, they have not always benefited from meetings and planning documents that would specify the services to be provided to them.

p.4

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

Through living at the home, young people become safer. Serious concerns regarding some young people’s behaviours significantly reduce. An independent reviewing officer wrote: ‘The home has done its job and continues to do what it was originally tasked to do, which was to attend to the safety and risk elements of previous behaviour. Looking back, I can see a lot of improvement and development in this area.’

p.4

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

Since the last inspection, there have not been any complaints or allegations made, and there has not been a need for staff to use physical intervention to manage behaviour by young people.

p.4

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

Incidents of going missing from home are infrequent. However, when they do occur, staff respond appropriately. Staff go looking for young people and liaise with other agencies to ensure their safe return.

p.4

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

When concerns have arisen regarding young people’s misuse of alcohol, staff have actively sought input from specialist agencies. Inspection report children‟s home: 1240840 5

p.4

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

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced and was registered to manage the home in 2017. He leads a very stable and committed staff team.

p.5

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

He is knowledgeable about young people’s individual needs and offers suitable guidance and oversight with regards to the care that staff offer. Effective supervision and training ensure that staff work in a supportive environment.

p.5

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

There are suitable processes in place to enable the manager to review and monitor the quality of care that young people receive. However, this oversight has been limited through the lack of up-to-date local authority plans. This is particularly relevant for young people who have moved on from the home.

p.5

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

In addition, the manager has not challenged the local authority when reviews of care plans have not taken place. As a result, some young people have left the home without the commitment of written plans.

p.5

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

Although young people joining the home have been appropriately welcomed and their immediate needs met, staff have not benefited from the receipt of key documentation from the placing authority.

p.5

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

Staff receive support and guidance from the home’s psychologist and this contributes to meeting young people’s needs. However, this advice is not revisited by staff regularly and the information does not inform future key-work discussions.

p.5

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.

p.5

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: 1240840 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Children Limited

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Care 4 Children, 1 Stuart Road, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2SR

p.6

Inspector

Pauline Yates: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1240840 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.

p.6

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7