Children's Home run by Future Focused Ltd in Wigan

Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 1 Registered provider: Future Focused Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of a number operated by a private provider. The home provides care and support for up to two children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in March 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2019 Full Good 17/04/2018 Full Good 02/08/2017 Full Good 13/02/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in this home benefit from living in a homely environment. It is a small, family home which children can personalise with their own belongings, so that they feel comfortable and relaxed here. However, the shower screen is in need of replacement and detracts from the homely environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress while living here. One child is now attending full-time education on a daily basis, which is considerable progress given her starting point. Another child is attending college on a part-time basis and has a focus on what she wants to do next, which is helping to motivate her to succeed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is largely stable, allowing children to establish positive relationships with staff. Children feel listened to by staff which helps them feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to follow a healthy lifestyle. Staff are in the process of making a covered outside gym area in the back garden to promote physical activity. Children also receive advice and guidance on matters, such as the risks associated with smoking. However, both children continue to choose to smoke. Children have weekly access to the organisation’s therapist, supporting their emotional health needs. Staff also receive regular advice and guidance from the organisation’s psychologist on how best to manage any presenting issues. This easy access to specialist advice ensures that matters are quickly addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff appreciate the difficulties that children face when preparing to move on from the home. Staff help equip and support children to develop their life skills, such as budgeting and cooking. Staff help children prepare their curriculum vitae, and one child has had a part-time job. These are important skills to ensure that children are able to manage when they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to keep in contact with their family and friends. Staff appreciate the significance of these relationships and children are supported to invite those special to them to visit the home. Staff are mindful to arrange such visits in order to cause minimal disruption to other children in the home. The children and their families appreciate this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with other professionals and act as good advocates for children. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs. Social work professionals are positive about the home. One commented, ‘Staff are patient, aspirational and consistent.’

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

The positive relationships that staff have with children enable them to de-escalate the most challenging situations. Incidents that require a physical intervention are rare and staff only intervene if this is necessary to keep everyone safe. However, the Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 4 records do not include all the necessary details required by regulation. Records do not include the duration of the hold, or an evaluation by the manager as to the effectiveness of the measure. Similarly, sanction records do not include the manager’s evaluation or the child’s view on the sanction given. This hinders the manager’s ability to learn from these incidents and does not demonstrate how children’s views are considered.

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

Staff are proactive at reducing the number of times children go missing from the home, as such incidents have significantly reduced. This is because staff have listened to children’s views about who they want to spend time with. Staff have worked with the children and their social workers to facilitate this in a planned way.

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

Individual risk management plans assess a range of risks associated with each child’s behaviour. They agree on the most appropriate strategy to adopt to reduce risk and keep children safe. However, some known risks have been omitted or information conflicts with other records maintained in the home, for example in room search records.

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

There has been no independent fire risk assessment for a number of years. The registered manager’s own assessment has failed to address some pertinent fire safety matters. The front door of the property requires a key to exit the home. While the back door has a thumb turn lock, children are unable to access this part of the home overnight as one member of staff sleeps in the dining room area of the home and this area is locked. This means that children’s movement in their home is restricted. It also prevents children being able to leave the home in an event of a fire without staff, who have access to a key.

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

Staff recruitment procedures are not sufficiently robust. Gaps in employment are not always explored with individual staff members as part of the recruitment process. The manager does not ensure that evidence of qualifications is obtained prior to staff starting work in the home.

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

Regular key-working conversations ensure that children are provided with accurate information on pertinent issues, such as sexual health. Children told inspectors that they would be happy to talk to staff about any concerns that they have. On one occasion, a child was able to speak to staff about her concerns relating to another resident. Staff took immediate action to ensure the safety and well-being of all involved.

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good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. She is child centred and knows the children well. Staff say they feel supported by the manager and are able to approach her with any problems they may have, both personally and professionally.

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good

The monitoring and oversight of the home is weak. Information is missing from important documents, such as restraint and sanction records, and an impact risk Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 5 assessment referred to the wrong child. The manager’s quality of care reviews do not include consultation with children or stakeholders, nor identify areas for improvement. The current development plan has not been regularly reviewed. Lack of monitoring and oversight limits the ability of the manager to identify where improvements are required.

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good

Shortfalls were identified on the home’s duty rotas, as they do not include the hours that the staff and manager are working. The home’s admission and discharge record is also missing information regarding the child’s placing authority. These details are required by regulation.

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good

Staff have received core training, and online training opportunities have been available during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, staff have not received specific training in the identified key risks for children, such as the misuse of drugs and alcohol. Consequently, this limits staff’s ability to be alert to behaviours of concern and provide accurate information to children. In addition, staff who supervise others as part of their role have not received the appropriate training to ensure that they have the skills required to deliver this effectively. Supervision records seen by inspectors are brief and contain generic statements. Records do not fully capture whether issues pertinent to children have been discussed, and actions arising from supervision are not consistently reviewed. This limits the effectiveness of supervision.

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good

Staff meetings take place monthly and records indicate that inconsistent practice is challenged. However, it is not clear if actions that have arisen from previous meetings have been completed, as previous actions are not reviewed in the meetings.

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good

The manager champions the progress of children and is passionate about improving their long-term outcomes. External professionals and family members were positive about the manager and the support that the home provides to children. One social work professional commented, ‘The manager is experienced and knowledgeable.’ Furthermore, a family member said, ‘The home has been brilliant. Any issues that I have had have been quickly sorted.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 6

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) This specifically relates to ensuring that all known risks are identified on children’s individual risk management plans. 4 June 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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h)) 4 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home— the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for 4 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 7 article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) This specifically relates to ensuring that there is adequate means of escape from the home in the event of a fire. The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children’s home; if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d)) This specifically relates to evidence of a full employment

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Requirement Due date

history, a written explanation of any gaps in employment and evidence of qualifications relevant to the role held on staff files. 4 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— a description of the measure and its duration; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vii)(c)) 4 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. The registered person must— maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)) In particular, that the home’s admissions and discharge register includes details of the placing authority, and duty rosters record the actual hours worked by staff in the home. 4 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that action is taken to replace the shower screen in the home’s bathroom. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1241634 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Future Focused Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 1, Crows Nest Business Park, Ashton Road, Billinge, Wigan, Lancashire WN5 7XX

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Inspectors

Mandy Williams, Social Care Inspector Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1241634 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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