Children's home run by Good Foundations Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 1 SC456417 Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home is registered to care for up to four children who may have social or emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The suitably qualified and experienced manager registered with Ofsted in 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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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

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2019 Full Good 27/11/2018 Full Outstanding 24/01/2018 Full Outstanding 01/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 3

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improvement to be good

The staff build good relationships with children. Most children make positive progress in all areas of their lives. A child said that the home was, ‘a safe, caring and all-round good place to be’.

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improvement to be good

Children attend school and college regularly. There is good communication between the staff and education providers. The staff are strong advocates for children. They challenge placing authorities so that children are assessed for education, health and care plans. They make sure that education professionals understand children’s abilities, so that children can take part and develop.

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improvement to be good

The staff support children to develop their social and independent living skills. This means that children feel more comfortable in participating in group activities. They are growing in confidence and preparing for their future adult lives.

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improvement to be good

The staff help children to see their families and friends. The staff check, as any parent would, before children go for sleepovers with their friends. Children say that they enjoy a range of fun activities. They help to develop their own plans. They are consulted regularly about their wishes and feelings.

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improvement to be good

Children’s individual plans do not include important information such as arrangements for therapy for their emotional needs. They do not guide the staff to monitor children’s emotional well-being. When children decide they no longer want to access therapy, the staff reassure them that they can access services if they need them again.

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improvement to be good

Some children’s plans do not reflect their changing circumstances, including their wishes and feelings about where they live. This makes it more difficult to understand children’s experiences and their journey of living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Pre-admission planning does not consider the individual vulnerabilities and needs of children who already live in the home. This means that care planning lacks clear strategies to manage any potential risks or similar needs, so that children can live safely together.

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improvement to be good

The manager and the staff have a good understanding of safeguarding. They respond appropriately to any serious safeguarding concerns. They work with other agencies to keep children safe after significant incidents.

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improvement to be good

Records of the action taken by staff when a child goes missing from the home are Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 4 disjointed. In one case, although the staff took action to keep the child safe, it is difficult to understand clearly the chronology of events.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments and management plans are in place. However, there are several similar risks that are considered separately. More streamlined plans would prevent repetition. This would provide the staff with clear and concise guidance and help children to understand their experiences.

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improvement to be good

Children currently living in the home say that they feel safe. They can talk to the staff about any worries that they have. They understand that the boundaries put in place are there to protect them. Children respond well to incentives that the staff use to promote good school attendance and positive behaviour.

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improvement to be good

The staff supported children when they needed to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19. Appropriate infection-control measures were in place to minimise transmission.

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improvement to be good

A placing authority failed to provide important information as part of a child’s referral. This meant that the manager admitted a child without fully understanding how the staff needed to keep the child safe. This also affected other children, who said they felt less safe or felt pressurised to take part in negative behaviours.

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good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced manager and her deputy. They have addressed the requirement and recommendations from the last inspection. The manager took appropriate action to review a child’s plan with a local authority when it became apparent that the child’s needs could not be met.

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good

Social workers say that communication is always good. They are confident that the whole staff team knows the children well and can provide up-to-date information when it is needed. A social worker praised the staff team for how they helped a child to move on to their adult accommodation.

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good

The staff say that they are supported well. They have opportunities to reflect on their practice in supervision and as a group at team meetings. There are clear plans in place for individuals to continue in their professional development. These are regularly reviewed to ensure that training is up to date.

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good

Relevant plans from placing authorities were missing for two of the children. This hinders the manager’s ability to demonstrate how care in the home is planned to meet the local authorities’ expectations. The manager appropriately challenged the local authority to try to obtain one child’s plans soon after their arrival. However, monitoring systems had not identified that another child’s plans were missing.

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good

Independent external monitoring does not robustly analyse the care provided in the home to identify shortfalls and recommend improvements. The independent person Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 5 does not regularly seek the views of the staff, children’s families or external professionals. These opinions are important to confirm that children are receiving care that meets their needs. Reports are not sent to Ofsted in a timely way.

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good

The manager’s last report of the review of the quality of care captures the opinions of children living at the home. The reports now include a plan for further developments to improve care practice. However, they do not yet focus on how the care provided helps children to make progress. They do not include the opinions of staff, external professionals or families about how the staff support children to promote positive outcomes. Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, pre-admission planning should robustly consider the needs of any new child and those of all children already living in the home, and how any risks will be minimised. Children’s plans should be kept under review and updated to reflect their current circumstances and their wishes and feelings. 24 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 24 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 7 registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that children’s relevant plans are obtained from the placing local authority to inform care planning to meet children’s needs.

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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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

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;

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should have robust systems in place to monitor and review children’s plans and their progress in accordance with their relevant plans. 24 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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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— 24 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 8 children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44 (2)(a) (4)(a)(b) (5) (7)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the independent person should regularly consult with a range of stakeholders to gain their opinions about the quality of care provided in the home. The report should provide robust evaluation and highlight any shortfalls. Recommendations should be made to obtain important documentation, such as relevant plans, to inform care planning in the home. The report should be sent promptly to the regulatory body.

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Requirement Due date

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 quality of care provided for children;

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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)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the report should evaluate how the care provided supports children’s progress. The report should consistently capture the views of children and other relevant stakeholders. 24 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 9

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that plans clearly provide guidance for staff to recognise children’s presenting needs and the arrangements for children to access services in support of their health and well-being. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.7)  The registered provider should ensure that children’s documents clearly and concisely record events in their lives to help them to understand their experiences and journey. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.4 and 14.5)

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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: SC456417 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspectors

Karen Willson, Social Care Inspector Chris Scully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456417 11 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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