Children's Home run by Homes for Support in Cheshire East

Inspection report children's home: 2540073 1 Registered provider: Homes for Support Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. The home is registered to provide care for up to five children who may experience emotional, behavioural and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since September 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 19 January 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website. This is the home’s first full inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2540073 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children's home: 2540073 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The overall experiences of children are good. Children have formed positive and nurturing attachments with staff. Children are respectful and have a good understanding of how their behaviour can affect others. Some children have lived at the home for a long time and have stability and security. Children feel settled and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spoke openly to the inspector. One child said, ‘Managers are supportive, and they do their best to get things done.’ Another child has grown in confidence and is making good progress towards becoming more independent. This child is focused on future aspirations and is maturing into an ambitious young adult. Children who have not lived in a residential setting before require an independent advocate to help them understand their care plan. Children have fun. Recently, they enjoyed a Halloween party where a staff member dressed up and posed as a disc jockey for the evening’s entertainment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Generally, the home provides clean and spacious accommodation for children. However, children’s bedrooms require cleaning, and children would benefit from additional storage and shelves. It is important that children have an opportunity to express their views and personalise their living environment to avoid an institutional feel to the home. A recommendation has been made to address this matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed respectful relationships with their caregivers and are able to reflect on their own behaviours. One child wrote an unprompted letter of apology to staff, which demonstrates that children are developing their own emotional awareness. Children are encouraged to talk about their wishes and feelings and express their emotions to develop sensitivity to others. One child is organising a charity event to raise money for homeless people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family members report positive relationships with staff, and the inspector observed warm and nurturing telephone conversations with a family member. One family member said, ‘I can’t fault them (staff). We could call in any time and visit [name of child]. It is a lovely place. I still have a good relationship now. I can call anytime if I am worried about anything.’ Communication with professionals is very good. They report clear communication and good working relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have arrived at the home without education plans. These should be agreed with the placing authority before children arrive. This helps to avoid drift and delay with education plans. The daily structures and activities ensure that children who are at risk of exploitation are occupied in the daytime and less likely to engage in risk- taking behaviour. Children are encouraged to pursue their educational interests, and one child is now completing A-level education with a view to progressing to university. Inspection report children's home: 2540073 4 Tension and conflict between children are quickly resolved. Staff encourage positive relationships with one another. Mediation meetings take place to help unify children. Staff acknowledge that children moving into the home can have an effect on other children who have been living at the home for some time. Staff ensure that the wishes and feelings of these children are captured.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children work on their independence plans in accordance with their age and level of understanding. Managers use their skills to design plans that are individualised, sensitive, balanced and measured, so that any activity considers potential risks and gives the child reassurance to manage those risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers recognise the importance of contact with families and promote it. They have challenged the placing authority on behalf of one child so that she can maintain contact with her younger brother.

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

Children are treated as responsible young people and are given the autonomy, and guidance, to assess their own risks and contribute to their own risk assessments. Staff acknowledge risk-taking behaviour that is appropriate with maturation. Children and staff work together to ensure positive outcomes and, importantly, children are empowered to make responsible decisions for their own actions.

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

Missing-from-care plans are detailed and follow a clear action plan. Children are encouraged to reflect on their actions and feelings when they return to the home. Despite several efforts to ensure one child’s safety, staff acknowledged the increasing risks for the child. Although this placement ended, due to a significant incident, staff have maintained good relationships with the family and the child.

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

Managers took action to fix window restrictors to a bathroom window after one child climbed out of the small opening during the night. This incident was not notified to Ofsted, which is required due to the age of the child and underlying risks. A requirement has been made to address this matter.

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

There has been an incident that involved a child being in possession of a screwdriver which was used as an offensive weapon. This incident required detailed scrutiny and internal investigation to fully understand how this had been obtained by the child.

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

There is evidence of good key-work sessions to help children understand risk-taking behaviour. To recognise inequality and address racist views, staff completed a detailed piece of work with one child. However, some sessions are recorded as a discussion between staff and the child. Managers are unable to measure the impact as some key-work sessions lack appropriate research.

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

Children feel safe, and they understand the actions that staff take to keep them safe. Staff show a consistent approach and set firm boundaries. The need to physically hold a child is proportionate to each incident. Children are only held as an absolute last resort. Children have an opportunity to debrief after an incident and, in Inspection report children's home: 2540073 5 doing so, can reflect on how they may react differently next time. Talking about incidents helps children to understand their own actions, improve self-awareness, increase emotional and social awareness, and make better decisions next time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A strength of this home is the teamwork between the registered manager and deputy manager. Individual strengths among the staff are recognised and balanced evenly between staff who show knowledge, strength and expertise in other areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good understanding of the home’s ethos and have a clear understanding of the overall progress that children make. Managers will openly challenge the placing authority in the best interests of children. There is evidence of good professional relationships with the police and the local safeguarding partnership. Incidents that involve children who are vulnerable and at risk of sexual exploitation and grooming require clarification with the investigators to ensure that all areas of child exploitation have been explored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers lead a team that is ambitious, resilient and has the children’s best interests at the centre of its practice. The team is child-centred and nurturing in its approach. Staff take the time to build trust with children and are not afraid to get involved in activities with children to help them to build trust with carers. Consistent staffing and management arrangements provides continuity of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported and speak highly of their managers. The quality of supervision is good, and staff have an opportunity to progress their careers to senior roles. Some staff have worked at the home for a long time, and children feel secure in their attachments with staff. Staff say that they ‘love’ their work and enjoy coming to work. Staff have a good understanding of the risks associated to each child in their care. Staff are vigilant and professionally curious to ensure that they safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to training, and the training matrix is kept up to date. Staff require additional training in relation to the use of new smartphone applications to ensure that children are using them safely. Drawing on external resources to help facilitate staff training ensures that training is bespoke, current and relevant, particularly in relation to child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home operates an electronic recording system to record children’s files. Currently, there are two operational systems. There is evidence of management oversight as some important and relevant documents, such as education plans and health plans, are missing on children’s main files. A requirement has been made to address this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and review of the home take place internally by the manager and externally by an independent visitor. The views of parents, carers and children are important to ensure that the visitor has a balanced view of the home. Inspection report children's home: 2540073 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 30 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, 30 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2540073 7 where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child's education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child's education and training and to maximise the child's achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child's education or training provider and the child's placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child's relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child's learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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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— 30 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2540073 8 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(g)(i))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the environment meets the needs of the children. In most cases, homes should be homely, domestic environments. The registered person should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children's home regulations including the standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that there is independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children's home regulations including the standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2540073 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes for Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1st Floor, Cloister House, Riverside, New Bailey Street, Manchester M3 5FS

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Inspector

Kamal Bhamra, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2540073 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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