Children's Home run by Aspris Care North West Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2537058 1

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Sandcastle Care Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is one of several homes owned and operated by a private organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is not currently registered with Ofsted. However, the manager has submitted their application for registration.

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This monitoring visit

This visit was carried out in line with Ofsted’s procedures for monitoring services during the current period of suspended routine inspection activity.

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This monitoring visit

The visit was carried out on site due to a recent increase in safeguarding notifications received from the home relating to children going missing from the home and involvement in criminal activity. Therefore, the focus of the visit was to assess the manager and staff’s safeguarding practice. Feedback was obtained from external professionals. Children were also spoken to during the visit.

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This monitoring visit

The staff team provides set rules and boundaries for children. This helps minimise incidents occurring and contributes to children’s safety. However, children do not always comply with handing their mobile phones to staff in line with agreed arrangements. A lack of challenge means that staff are unable to monitor mobile phone use rigorously.

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This monitoring visit

Staff demonstrate an understanding of the steps to take in the event of a child going missing from home. When incidents of missing from home do occur, these are suitably managed. However, records do not consistently show that return home interviews are carried out in a timely manner. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2537058 2 There are systems in place for ensuring that communication about children’s care and routine is exchanged between staff on a regular basis, including daily handovers and the use of a logbook. This serves as a means of ensuring that important information affecting the care of children is shared, including any emerging risks.

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This monitoring visit

Staff do not consistently follow the agreed protocol for recording the times when they have completed welfare checks when children have returned home under the influence of alcohol. This compromises the effectiveness of the risk assessment strategies in place for the children.

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This monitoring visit

Incidents are reflected on, and strategies to manage risk-taking behaviours are adapted accordingly. This includes staff carrying out focused support sessions with children on the dangers associated with criminal behaviours, such as knife crime and substance misuse. While the sessions are meaningful, they lack a true analysis of their effectiveness.

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This monitoring visit

The manager works collaboratively with external professionals. She regularly attends multi-agency meetings. The meetings consider times when children at the home have been in crisis and when a revision of risk reduction plans and care plans is needed. This ensures that strategies to keep children safe are kept current and in line with any emerging patterns of behaviour.

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This monitoring visit

The manager shows initiative when bringing in external professionals to present training material to children associated with criminal behaviour, such as knife crime. This helps to raise children’s awareness of the risks and harm they can inflict on themselves or others.

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This monitoring visit

Communication with social workers is maintained on a regular basis. The staff ensure that care professionals are kept up to date on all relevant matters relating to children, including any occurring safeguarding incidents. Allegations are managed appropriately. Referrals are made to the designated officer in a timely manner. Staff know what to do in response to allegations.

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This monitoring visit

Staff monitor children’s emotional well-being carefully and seek professional advice when necessary with the support of the in-house therapist. Children are beginning to learn how to self-regulate when they feel angry and frustrated.

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This monitoring visit

In order to reduce the risk of incidents, staff have actively encouraged children to take part in structured activity, such as baking, cooking and art. Children have contributed to producing self-portraits of themselves that have been neatly framed. Children can also use a gym that is attached to the home along with table football. They helped design a mural on the wall, which was very good to see. Children also benefit from going for walks out into the local community and parks. This helps them to reduce their stress levels when they might be feeling anxious. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2537058 3 A child spoken to as part of this visit said that he likes the home and the staff. The child recognised that sometimes he does not comply with the home’s rules and boundaries; however, he feels that staff are helping him keep safe.

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This monitoring visit

A social worker gave positive feedback about the home. Information is regularly shared about the child’s care and any incidents. The social worker stated that staff are demonstrating that they are taking all steps necessary to stabilise the child, who has complex challenging behaviours, in placement. The social worker has confidence that the staff can keep the child safe.

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This monitoring visit

New staff, as part of their induction, benefit from an extensive training programme that includes self harm, understanding challenging behaviours and safeguarding. Existing staff have been able to continue to develop their skills and knowledge through relevant training, but they are not consistently taking all measures necessary to keep children safe in carrying out welfare checks.

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This monitoring visit

Although the manager has quality assurance tools in place to monitor the home’s practice, these are not always effective. For example, the manager had not identified shortfalls in practice relating to staff not carrying out welfare checks on children at the agreed frequency. The recording of important information in the home’s logbook is also not consistently being adhered to by staff.

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This monitoring visit

There are internal processes in place for monitoring the quality of care and support to inform outcomes for children. The manager carries out weekly quality assurance checks, making sure that care plans are kept up to date and support sessions with children are completed. However, some aspects of monitoring, such as risk assessment practice and support sessions with children, require further improvement to be fully effective.

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This monitoring visit

Monthly visits are carried out by an independent person. These visits are conducted virtually due to company policy amid COVID-19 (coronavirus) restrictions. Direct consultation by the visitor with parents, staff and children is occasionally lacking. This therefore limits the overall reporting of the quality and impact on outcomes for children.

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This monitoring visit

The recommendations set at the last inspection will be carried forward to the next inspection.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 14/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2537058 4

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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, the 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that staff are consistent in implementing risk management strategies, including the carrying out of welfare checks at the intervals agreed, and revising the measures in place to monitor children’s use of mobile phones. 27 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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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 staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 27 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2537058 5 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that there are robust systems in place for monitoring and overseeing staff practice in the following areas: staff implementation of all agreed strategies to safeguard children, in-house return home interviews being completed in a timely manner, review and evaluation of practice relating to support sessions carried out with children.

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Recommendations

 Children’s care plans should reflect that they are receiving care which meets their needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account the child’s gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences and any relevant plans (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2). Specifically, care plans should contain greater detail on how identified outcomes will be achieved.  Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or

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Recommendations

regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9). Specifically, focused direct work should be completed with young people to help them develop strategies to keep themselves safe.  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home

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Recommendations

and make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2537058 6  The registered person must ensure that the independent visitor seeks the views of children, parents and relatives, professionals and other stakeholders about the quality of care provided. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Mike Charnley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2537058 7 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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