Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report children's home: 2529355 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for one child with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager is newly registered and is qualified in line with regulatory requirements. The home is one of a number operated by a private provider.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2529355 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

N/A Inspection report children's home: 2529355 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The experience for one child who lived at the home was not positive. The impact risk assessment did not robustly consider issues known to have affected previous placements, leading to those placements ending. As a result, the child’s aggressive and volatile behaviour continued at this home and led to the registered manager quickly recognising that the placement could not meet the child’s needs or keep him or staff safe, and the placement was ended.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The experience for another child has been positive. The transition was well supported by staff and this was confirmed by the independent reviewing officer. The staff support regular contact for children, including where they live far away from their families, to ensure that they get to see and speak regularly to the people they want to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager recognises the importance of informal education and ensures that children have the opportunity to take part in games, such as scrabble and monopoly, to develop their learning. In addition, the staff ensure that children are provided with lots of activities, such as boxing and trampolining, to ensure that they have fun and enjoy themselves. Children were observed to enjoy spending time with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff speak positively of children and have a good understanding of their likes and routines. Staff are able to recognise progress from children’s starting points and celebrate their successes. For example, one child is regularly brushing their teeth and having regular showers, which had been a target to improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s therapist attends the home on a regular basis, providing direct support to children and also to staff members. Staff members told the inspector that this has had a positive impact on their confidence in recognising triggers and managing behaviour.

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

Risk assessments for children contain known risks but the actions and guidance for staff are limited. For example, one child has been known to self-harm. The actions for staff do not adequately inform staff what they need to do following any self- harming behaviour.

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

A lack of management oversight following incidents, including following restraints, has meant that staff have not learned from their practice and reflected on their actions to improve their skills. The manager has recognised this and aims to improve reflective practice following incidents to support staff development. Inspection report children's home: 2529355 4 Children do not go missing from home and when one child left the home without permission, staff were proactive in their response to ensure that they returned quickly.

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

Staff use key-worker sessions to help children understand how to keep themselves safe. This includes using a range of resources, such as leaflets and the internet, to provide information on issues affecting children, such as social media pressures, mental health and cyber bullying.

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

The records for the administration of medication benefit from regular audits from the registered manager. However, one child is prescribed medication for a skin complaint that can be used ‘as and when necessary’. The records do not clearly reflect all occasions this medication has been offered and refused or not required and as a result do not provide a clear record of the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate and enthusiastic about improving the lives of children. She recognises strengths and weaknesses of the service and has creative ideas about how to make improvements. Feedback from other professionals is positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s views are regularly sought at meetings for children and they are encouraged to plan menus and weekly routines. However, there is insufficient evidence of ways in which children influence the development of the home. The registered manager recognises the importance of children’s participation, and plans are in place to develop this area of practice, such as by involving them with the recruitment of new staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team members speak positively of the support they receive from managers and from the home’s therapist. They benefit from a well-planned induction programme and regular supervision. Staff told the inspector that a strength of the home is the support they receive from colleagues, that communication is good and this helps them to share consistent practice and work as a team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is good, with a mix of face-to-face and online training. However, substance misuse has been an issue for one child and the staff have not received any training in the risks and management of this behaviour. The registered manager is addressing this. Inspection report children's home: 2529355 5

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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 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 17/03/2020

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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 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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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

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those 17/03/2020 Inspection report children's home: 2529355 6 expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(ix)(x)(xi))

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Recommendations

 Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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Recommendations

 Please see regulation 23. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. Records must be kept of the administration of all medication, which includes occasions when prescribed medication is refused. Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. These are fundamentally the same sorts of arrangements as a good parent would make but are subject to additional safeguards. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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Recommendations

 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 Inspection report children's home: 2529355 7 10.11) This is with particular reference to substance misuse/misuse of aerosols training.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 2529355 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: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 9DG

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Inspector

Jessica Forshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2529355 9 to 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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