Children's Home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 1 SC432741 Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post. She has not yet submitted a fully completed application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in 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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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: 28 January 2020

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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: SC432741 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/01/2020 Full Good 08/10/2019 Full Inadequate 08/01/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/08/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 3

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improvement to be good

Decisions to move children into the home have not always been well considered. The previous manager failed to properly consider the needs of two children, and whether they would be an appropriate match with children already living in the home. As a result, children experienced some unpleasant incidents and two children’s placements ended in an unplanned and negative way.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a safe and comfortable home. They have access to a good range of spaces and take pride in their nicely personalised bedrooms. One child, who recently moved to the home, spoke of how she enjoyed choosing decor, bedding and curtains in her favourite colour.

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improvement to be good

Children described positive relationships with staff and said that they feel able to share their views or worries with the staff. Direct work takes place with children regularly. This is supportive in nature and children are encouraged to discuss important matters in a meaningful way.

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improvement to be good

Some aspects of care planning are good. There is much consideration of children’s emotional well-being and how this can be supported. Joint working with an in-house clinician also helps to ensure that children’s emotional well-being is closely supported and monitored. However, some children’s care plans lack clarity regarding the action that is required to meet other aspects of their needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of education, and closely support and encourage children’s educational progress. The manager works well with education colleagues to ensure that children who are facing additional challenges in accessing learning receive appropriate support.

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improvement to be good

Children have good opportunities to learn and have fun. Staff have a good understanding of children’s likes and ensure that they have access to a wide variety of well-planned activities. Children’s talents are recognised and encouraged. One child, who has a love of music, has his own drum kit, piano and guitar.

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improvement to be good

Individualised risk management plans are in place for each child. These provide guidance for staff on how to maintain children’s safety and well-being. In some examples, strategies to manage risks are limited, which means that staff may not be clear about what is required of them.

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improvement to be good

Children do not go missing from this home regularly. There is guidance in place for staff regarding the steps they should take to safeguard children who are missing. Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 4 However, this guidance is generic and not individual to each child. This means that specific risks to children may not be fully understood.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff understand the need to allow children to develop and learn from their experiences. Positive risk-taking is encouraged in the right circumstances. This helps to promote children’s confidence and independence.

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improvement to be good

Staff show good insight into children’s behaviours. They understand why children behave in certain ways and how to support children when they are distressed. Generally, staff manage incidents well, which helps children to develop safer behaviours over time.

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improvement to be good

Incidents in which the staff physically intervene to safeguard children do occur at times. Careful records are maintained of these incidents, which are monitored effectively and evaluated. However, debriefs for staff and children following physical interventions are inconsistent.

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good

There is a manager in post. She is in the process of submitting an application to register with Ofsted. The manager demonstrates a strong commitment to improving outcomes for children. She has a warm and nurturing approach, and has developed positive relationships with children and staff.

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good

The manager works well with external professionals, and ensures that any relevant information or concerns are promptly shared. However, the manager did not escalate a concern in a suitable manner, regarding the timescales for one child’s statutory review.

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good

A high turnover of staff affected the consistency of approaches in the home, and the manager recognises the impact that this had on stability for children. The situation has now stabilised and staff described the team as positive and cohesive.

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good

Staff have supervision regularly and value this as a time to reflect on practice. Staff spoke highly of the manager, and they share her vision for the home.

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good

Staff have received some training. However, there are some shortfalls, and training in relation to some children’s specific needs is yet to be provided. Training records for staff are not consistently updated, which means that this area is not monitored effectively.

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good

Appropriate action has not been taken to meet two requirements raised at the last inspection of the home. This means that shortfalls have continued. In addition, the monitoring of quality and safety is not consistently effective in areas such as staff training and children’s risk management plans. Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 5 Currently there is no formal system in place to gather feedback from children, staff or external stakeholders. Consultation with children and other stakeholders during monthly visits by the independent visitor is also inconsistent. This means that the manager’s ability to identify areas for development is limited. Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 12 November

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(c)(g)(ii)(h)) 12 November Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 7 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 12 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than five days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35 (3)(c)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should undertake a review, every six months, that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. This review should include the feedback and opinions of children and other

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Recommendations

stakeholders. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home or in preparation for leaving the home, the home must challenge them to meet the child’s needs (see regulation 5(c)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)  The registered person should specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission, and how staff should support the child on their return to the home. These procedures should take children’s individual needs into account. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28) Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 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: SC432741 9

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Inspectors

Marie Cordingley, Social Care Inspector Emma Thornton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC432741 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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