Children's Home run by Frances House Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC403462 1 SC403462 Registered provider: Frances House Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent registered manager in post who is appropriately qualified.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 27 October 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on our website.

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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

Date of last inspection: 10 December 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC403462 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/12/2019 Full Inadequate 17/04/2018 Full Good 20/09/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with the staff. Because of this, the children feel settled and happy living at the home. Children are listened to and have developed trust to be able to talk to staff about how they are feeling. One child said, ‘Everything has changed for the better since being here. This would be my first choice of residential home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers reported that children are treated with respect by a staff team that is attentive to children’s needs. Staff keep social workers updated appropriately and regularly communicate with children’s families, ensuring that children are supported to rebuild and sustain family relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational attendance has significantly improved since living at the home. Children recognise the progress they have made from their starting points, specifically in relation to engaging in counselling to support their emotional needs and working with drugs and alcohol workers to reduce their substance misuse.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff engage children in regular, direct sessions to educate them on topics that are key to promoting healthy relationships and positive identities. Children also complete training courses to help them understand the impact of risk-taking behaviour, for example gang culture and substance misuse.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend routine health appointments. However, when children have sustained injuries and have refused to attend hospital for medical attention, staff have not advocated on behalf of the child by seeking medical guidance from the appropriate healthcare services. The registered manager should ensure that staff access services, such as NHS 111, to seek additional medical advice in relation to children’s health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Electronic buzzers are in place on the home’s external doors to alert staff should children try to leave the home in the night. However, social workers’ consent has not been obtained for the use of the monitoring, and children’s care plans do not include Inspection report children’s home: SC403462 3 regular reviews to show that the continued use of the buzzers is necessary for individual children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions for children leaving the home are well planned. The staff team remains in contact with the children after they have moved out of the home. Children are provided with learning journey files. These files provide them with lovely memories of their time and achievements while living in the home.

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

Children feel safe living at the home. Staff understand children’s risks and actively help children to understand how to keep themselves safe. One social worker said, ‘[Name] is safer than they have ever been since being placed at the home.’

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

There have been no restraints, no allegations and no complaints made by children since the assurance visit. The staff team’s proactive approach to safeguarding means that children’s missing-from-home incidents are minimal and are managed well.

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

Effective multi-agency working with the local police and the child exploitation team helps to reduce the potential risk of children being involved in gang-related, criminal or exploitative behaviour.

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

Children are encouraged to keep themselves safe while out in the community. They are provided with safety alarms, power banks to charge their phone and an agreed safe word should they need to call staff in an emergency. When one child was assaulted in the community, suitable action was taken to support the child to report this to the police. Staff have increased welfare calls and visual checks while the child is out of the home independently.

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

Matching and impact risk assessments to determine the suitability of children being placed together are robust. When children have shared risks, there are clear strategies in place to support them living together safely. Children have positive relationships with each other and spend their social time with separate friendship groups.

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

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans have up-to-date chronologies that highlight children’s main risks and action that staff are expected to take to safeguard children. The documents consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how to keep children safe within the government’s current restrictions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has used the outcome of the previous full inspection as a significant learning opportunity by making improvements to the safeguarding of children, the management of staff and the overall monitoring of the home. This has had a positive impact on the overall care provided to children living in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC403462 4 The manager and the senior team are efficient and organised. Children’s case records are clear, and information is easily accessed. The manager has a good understanding of how children are making progress and uses monitoring systems to improve children’s welfare, safety and life chances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a positive role model. She promotes important values, such as equality, diversity and individuality. This ethos is reflected in the practice of the staff team and filtered through the direct work that staff carry out with children. Children are encouraged to explore their identities, build their self-esteem and improve their resilience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff receive an in-depth induction. Regular practice-related supervisions and team meetings provide support and guidance for staff. These enable them to reflect on the management of incidents and children’s changing needs. The manager ensures that staff receive up-to-date training and access additional courses specific to the children’s needs, for example autism spectrum disorder, gang culture and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (or questioning) (LGBTQ) identities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that children are regularly consulted with about the operation of the home. However, the review of quality of care report contains no evidence of feedback from children, staff working in the home, social workers or parents to be able to contribute to the overall evaluation of the effectiveness of the service. This should be reflected in future reports.

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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 registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance. 3 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC403462 5 (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that electronic buzzers used on external doors are agreed as a strategy to safeguard children at specific times of the day. Children’s social workers provide written consent for the use of the buzzers and children understand the purpose of the monitoring in relation to their care. The manager should regularly review the suitability of the use of the buzzers, and this is reflected in children’s care plans or risk assessments.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff have sufficient understanding of relevant health services. They should support children to navigate these services, advocating on their behalf where necessary and appropriate. Specifically, staff should access appropriate healthcare services to seek advice when children sustain injuries following unforeseen events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.8)

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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: SC403462 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Frances House Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 73 Albert Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 0BP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pamela Forrester

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC403462 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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