Children's home run by Care Today (Childrens Services) Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 1 Registered provider: Care Today (Children’s Services) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since its registration with Ofsted, on 26 November 2020.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and managed. The home provides care and support for up to two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in November 2020.

p.1

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.

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: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first inspection since its registration with Ofsted, on 26 November 2020.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in relation to their individual starting points across aspects of their welfare, including their physical, social, emotional and behavioural development. Children develop warm and secure relationships with staff, and they sustain their positive attachments. Children benefit from well-planned, personalised care that promotes their needs effectively and contributes to change and improvement in their lives.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff maintain positive relationships with the families of children. They support children to spend time with their families and this ensures that they can sustain their close relationships with the people who are most important to them.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A parent said, ‘After numerous failed placements, my child moved to [the home] in January. From the outset, I have been impressed with the staff, they are professional, caring, personable and have a positive influence on my child. It is the first time my child has had nothing bad to say about staff in a placement. They genuinely have my child’s best interest at heart. They communicate well and take guidance on board from myself and professionals.’

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a doctor, dentist, optician and other specialist health services to promote their physical, emotional and psychological well-being. Medical consent is obtained, and staff are clear about the types of health decisions and responsibilities that are charged and delegated to them.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child and adolescent psychotherapist said, ‘I have been working with [the child] for a number of years. I have been really happy with the quality of care. I have been really impressed with the communication, thought, understanding, dedication and receptivity to consultation. The staff have quickly been able to establish good relationships.’

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The arrangements for the safekeeping and secure storage of medication require improvement. Some items of medication kept in the home were not stored safely or securely. This included children’s prescribed medication and staff’s personal medication.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although staff encourage children to attend education daily, attendance and engagement in education is time limited and sporadic. Additionally, one child requires a personal education plan to promote their educational achievement. Another child requires a pathway plan to support their readiness for independence. Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 3

p.2

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

Children are kept safe and feel safe. They have a strong sense of personal safety. Staff maintain highly effective partnerships with social workers and other safeguarding agencies to promote the safety and well-being of children.

p.3

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

Staff are trained in child protection, so they know how to protect children from abuse and all other forms of significant harm. Significant incidents are referred to the appropriate authorities to ensure that children are protected and kept safe from harm. Children know how to make a complaint and their rights are promoted effectively. One child spoken to confirmed that they knew how to complain but had not needed to since moving into the home.

p.3

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

Risks associated with children are generally well known and understood by staff. However, risk management plans are not always clear and robust enough to ensure that staff implement and follow the same stringent safety measures to safeguard children. This relates specifically to the actions of staff when children return to the home under the influence of alcohol and/or substances, particularly through the night.

p.3

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

Staff have high expectations of behaviour and consistently praise, acknowledge and reinforce positive behaviour. Consequences used to address unacceptable behaviour are fair, balanced and proportionate. The use of restraint is exceptionally rare, and only ever used as a last resort to protect children from harm.

p.3

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

One child said, ‘It’s a better home than my last placement. It’s more homely here. I don’t normally like people, but these people I actually like. They’ve handled me when I’m angry and they’re good at that. It’s easy-going here, relaxing and everything’s nice.’

p.3

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

The frequency with which children go missing is reducing. On the few occasions a child has gone missing, staff have followed the home’s procedures to secure their safe return. A parent said, ‘Staff keep my child safe and check in with my child regularly when out with friends.’

p.3

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

Health and safety matters are generally managed effectively to ensure a safe environment for children, visitors and staff. However, fire door retainer mechanisms were not working. Additionally, the front and rear door locks need replacing with suitable thumb locks to ensure that children can evacuate the premises safely in the event of an emergency.

p.3

good

The home benefits from a qualified and experienced registered manager who exercises effective leadership of the operation of the home. The registered manager has high expectations of staff and high aspirations for both children. He stimulates staff’s enthusiasm and channels their efforts effectively. Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 4 A therapist said, ‘I have found the manager really open to thinking together and drawing from the network around [the child] who knows them well. He has an impressive way of managing the difficult task of keeping [the child] safe without restricting them.’

p.3

good

Staff meet the aims and objectives as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Children are looked after by a stable staff team that knows the children well. The registered manager ensures that staff changes are kept to a minimum, to provide consistency for children.

p.4

good

Staff work well together as a team and provide children with continuity and consistency in their lives. Staff maintain effective partnerships with the families of children, therapists and social workers to meet the specific needs of children.

p.4

good

Staff confirm they are well supported, managed, led and supervised. Feedback received from several members of staff was consistently positive. However, there are gaps in the records of staff supervision, and the registered manager could not evidence that supervision takes place regularly. Additionally, there were no supervision records for the registered manager.

p.4

good

The performance of the home is monitored. However, monitoring systems have failed to identify some of the concerns raised in the inspection. The registered manager has been slow to make the required improvements in the home, particularly around the environment, which is looking tired and worn.

p.4

good

The registered manager has continued with the arrangement of one member of staff sleeping in the lounge area of the home. As a result, this room is locked at night. This means that children’s movement in their home is restricted. Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— the privacy of children is appropriately protected; children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises— is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) This relates specifically to children having unrestricted access to all communal areas, and the re-allocation of the second staff sleep-in room to protect children’s privacy. 24 May 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii)) This relates specifically to the redecoration of the home and repair of the toilet flush, toilet door latch and broken fire lock 24 May 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 6 retainer mechanisms. This also relates to replacing the front and rear door locks with suitable thumb locks. The registered person must make arrangements for the

p.5

Requirement Due date

handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. In particular the registered person must ensure that— medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)) 24 May 2021

p.6

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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)) This relates to the development of robust risk management plans for staff to understand and implement in keeping children safe, particularly, with regards to the risks of children being asleep while intoxicated and/or under the

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) This relates specifically to staff receiving regular supervision and ensuring supervision records for staff and the registered manager are kept in the home. 24 May 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 7

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that relevant plans are obtained from the placing authority. This relates specifically to obtaining a personal education plan (PEP) and Pathway Plan for children who require them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff consistently pursue full-time education attendance. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)

p.7

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: 2615395 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Today (Children’s Services) Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd, Floor Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

p.8

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Liam Fitzpatrick

p.8

Inspector

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2615395 9 to achieve excellence in the care of children and children, 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.

p.8

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 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.9

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9