Children's Home run by Meadows Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 1 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and registered to provide care for up to three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in May 2020. The manager was registered at the same time as the home.

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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 4 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 3

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improvement to be good

Children mostly lead healthy lifestyles. They have access to in-house therapists and participate in sessions at their own pace. However, some children’s emotional well- being has been affected due to their relationships with other children in the home. Staff and children told the inspectors that better decisions should have been made about some children continuing to live together.

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improvement to be good

That said, children are now happy living in the home. Their positive relationships with staff mean they feel listened to and involved in decisions about their care. Children’s social workers and families are pleased with children’s progress, specifically, improvements in family relationships, children’s involvement in education and their overall stability. One social worker said, ‘This is the most settled [name of child] has been.’

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improvement to be good

Since moving into the home, children’s school attendance has significantly improved. One child has obtained some extremely positive GCSE exam results and is on track to secure a course at their chosen sixth form. Another child is engaging in education for the first time in several months, and they are working towards earning themselves an apprenticeship. Children’s hobbies are promoted, such as going to the gym and having fun days out and music sessions to keep them occupied out of school hours.

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improvement to be good

Family time is made a priority for all children. The staff team is proactive in supporting families to have quality time with their children on a regular basis, including families who live a distance away. The staff team has arranged a summer family barbecue for all children’s families to come together and meet each other.

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improvement to be good

Consulting with children and obtaining their views is a focus of the team. Individual sessions show that staff have direct and honest conversations with children. ‘What went well’ sessions reflect on children’s progress and achievements. The sessions help staff to work with children to agree future targets and ensure that their needs are being met.

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improvement to be good

Children’s independence skills are promoted daily to help them develop positive routines. Children are supported to take responsibility for budgeting, planning their shopping and preparing their own meals. As children build up trust, they are encouraged to spend time with friends, including overnight stays and holidays away with their friends’ families. Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 4

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improvement to be good

Following some serious safeguarding concerns, careful consideration has not been given to the impact of some children continuing to live together. The ongoing risks associated with these concerns have not been effectively managed. Staff said that they could not ensure the children’s safety while they lived together. Furthermore, decision-making by managers has resulted in unsafe situations.

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improvement to be good

Impact and matching risk assessments evidence that some children were identified as having similar risk-taking behaviour, such as substance misuse and physical aggression, and behaviour that puts them at risk of exploitation. Matching has not been robust and has had a negative effect on the safety of children. For example, children’s risk-taking behaviour increased and children were smoking cannabis in the home. Children currently living in the home are now settled. Future matching decision-making must be robust.

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improvement to be good

Children said that they feel safe living at the home and this is confirmed by their social workers. One child said they have improved their ability to talk about their feelings with staff and this has helped them make safer choices. Planned and effective project work helps children to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff are consistent in their use of agreed procedures to prevent children from going missing from home. The manager works proactively with relevant agencies to safeguard children if they are at risk of going missing from home. Children rarely have return home interviews. The manager must ensure that all children’s placing authorities agree an independent person to facilitate these interviews.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments provide staff with clear and up-to-date strategies to manage children’s risk-taking behaviours. Staff understand key risks for children and, because of this, children’s risks of exploitation and self-injurious behaviour have reduced. Staff are vigilant in monitoring children’s relationships and children are now supervised consistently while they spend time together in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children rarely make complaints and action is always taken to resolve their concerns. The registered manager responds to complaints suitably and ensures that children are given an opportunity to talk about the outcome of their complaint. Additionally, the management of allegations is appropriate and all relevant agencies are notified.

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good

A significant number of staff left the home due to practice issues, internal moves and other staff leaving the company. Consequently, a high number of staff have been used in the home from across the company. Staff, social workers and children spoke about the unsettling effect that this has had on the children. In recent weeks, the staff team has started to stabilise, and the staff are supportive of each other. Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 5 The manager must now work to maintain a consistent staff team to ensure continuity of care for children.

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good

The manager always oversees all significant incident reports. However, her oversight of some records needs to be more in-depth. This is to ensure that incident records give a clear account of any safeguarding incidents and demonstrate that appropriate action has been taken to safeguard children. Any shortfalls in records should be identified by the manager in her evaluation and action taken to ensure that staff have the skills to record effectively.

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good

The independent visitor’s monthly report does not always provide a clear evaluation to confirm if they feel children are effectively safeguarded or their well-being promoted. In addition, the manager’s review of the quality of care report contains no evidence of feedback from children, staff, families or social workers. This limits the ability to be able to assess the overall effectiveness of the service.

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good

The manager is focused on improvement and is keen to develop the skills of her staff team. Staff receive regular practice-related supervisions where they are given honest and constructive feedback. Team meetings are reflective and review lessons learned. The meetings focus on key safeguarding issues for children and provide staff with up-to-date information on children’s current circumstances.

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good

Monthly monitoring is a shared task between the manager and quality assurance manager. The manager’s audit is compliance focused and identifies areas of development and training to inform the home’s workforce development plan. The manager continues to develop her monitoring, using it as a tool to strengthen staff practice and make improvements to the overall quality of care provided to children. Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 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, 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(c)) 1 October 2021

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)) 1 October 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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. 1 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 7 (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, asset out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)) 1 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)) 1 October 2021

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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. (Regulation 45 (2)(b) (5)) 1 October 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 8 place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: 2570481 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Lorna Schlechte, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2570481 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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