Children's Home run by Continuum Care Support – Care Services Limited in St Helens

Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 1 Registered provider: Continuum Support - Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children. The provider states in the statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in May 2020.

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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 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: 16 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a consistent staff team who knows them well. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the children’s needs. The inspector observed warm relationships between children and staff. Both children spoken to told the inspector that they were happy living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff capture the children’s journey of their time in the home. Staff use photographs to record the children’s experiences and make individual memory books. This means that children have a clear record of their time at the home. One child recently celebrated their one year anniversary of moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home are engaged with education and attendance is good. Children are supported to take part in activities that they enjoy, such as swimming lessons or going to the funfair with friends. The relationship between the two children living at the home is well managed by the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individual health needs are well managed and understood by staff. Staff encourage children to follow a healthy lifestyle, participate in physical exercise and eat healthily. One child has recently begun to engage with therapy to support their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with people who are important to them. Staff communicate regularly with parents to ensure that they are kept informed of their child’s progress in the home. Where children’s family are a considerable distance from the home, staff support contact arrangements flexibly. One child said that their relationship with their family has improved since living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social work professionals are positive about the home and the progress that children have made there. One child’s social worker said, ‘They [staff] work in her best interests.’

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

Children benefit from high levels of staff supervision. The positive relationships that staff have with children enables them to de-escalate most challenging situations. This means, for children currently living in the home, there has only been one incident where staff have needed to physically intervene in order to keep the child and staff safe.

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

The pre-admission assessments consider the needs of each child and how the home can meet these. Although there has been one incident of aggression between the children, this was managed well by staff. Following this, work was done with both Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 4 children to help them to reflect on their feelings and the incident. There have been no significant incidents between the children since this incident.

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

Individual risk management plans address a range of known risks. Strategies are in place for staff to follow to minimise these risks. The plans are updated regularly with any new information and are regularly shared with relevant professionals.

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

There have been very few incidents of children being reported as missing from home. However, on one occasion when a child did not return home as planned, staff failed to follow the agreed strategies within the child’s missing-from-home risk management plan. They did not look for the child at a known address. Consequently, the child remained missing overnight. When children do go missing, return-home interviews have taken place and records demonstrate that children are welcomed home appropriately.

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

Regular key-work sessions take place and cover a wide range of topics, including any risks or areas of vulnerability relating to the children. Records are detailed, written in a child-friendly way and reflect the voice of the child. This helps children to understand and manage their behaviour. One child told the inspector, ‘they [key- work sessions] put across how you feel.’

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted through appropriate rewards and incentives. Consequences are used infrequently and are proportionate. Where consequences have been used, the manager has failed to clearly detail the behaviour of the child and the action staff took that led to the measures being put in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager. She has strong relationships with the children living in the home and knows them well. She has high expectations for staff working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. Children are invited to join team meetings if they wish to. Records show detailed discussions regarding the aims set out in children’s placement plans. This ensures that the staff team works consistently to improve outcomes for children and monitors the progress children have made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training specific to the needs of the children living in the home. Furthermore, the manager supports staff’s learning and development through the completion of quizzes on topics relevant to the children living in the home. Monthly and weekly audits ensure that the manager has a good oversight of records in the home and is able to address any weaknesses swiftly. The findings of these audits are also shared at team meetings. Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 5 Staff receive regular supervision and staff spoken to said that they feel supported in their role. Staff appraisals are undertaken annually and include consultation with children. This ensures that staff are supported to meet the needs of the children they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some shortfalls were identified in relation to staff recruitment. Procedures for new staff working at the home are not sufficiently robust. The manager did not have evidence of relevant qualifications for one member of staff and that all recruitment checks had been completed prior to them starting work at the home. This does not ensure that the integrity of all staff working at the home has been thoroughly checked.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring has not been used to drive forward improvements in the home. This had already been recognised by the manager and has been addressed by the organisation. A new independent person has recently been appointed. Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 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.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff follow actions detailed within children’s risk management plans. 22 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (Regulation 32 (1))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that relevant checks are undertaken prior to staff working in the home in order to ensure children’s safety. 22 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all records of consequences used meet matters listed within regulation. (Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 7

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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: 2509802 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Continuum Support - Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2509802 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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