Children's home run by New Start in Sefton

Inspection report children's home: SC409738 1 SC409738 Registered provider: New Start Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children who are unable to live at home due to emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager post has been vacant since July 2020.

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Information about this children's home

We last visited this setting on 6 September 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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: Two compliances notices were issued to the provider following the last inspection of the home on 14 and 15 July 2021. These notices were in relation to breaches of regulation 12 – the protection of children and regulation 13 – leadership and management. Both notices were then re-issued to the provider following the monitoring visit on 6 September 2021. Inspection report children's home: SC409738 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/07/2021 Full Inadequate 10/10/2019 Full Good 15/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/06/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC409738 3

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inadequate

Areas of care planning for children who live in the home is poor. At times there are delays in seeking support for children relating to their physical and emotional wellbeing.

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inadequate

Children’s progress is mixed. One child has lived in the home for several years and is relatively settled, he has previously undertaken a number of GCSE’S. As a result, he has recently registered with an agency to find an apprenticeship.

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inadequate

One child’s outcome for education is poor. The child is currently not engaging in any form of education and says, ‘it doesn’t feel like a home’. The child will often stay out all day with family and friends.

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inadequate

The conditions of the home have improved. The living room now has a snooker table and lots of board games for children. New soft furnishings have been bought to make the environment feel homely for children. However, a child’s bedroom viewed by the inspector contained a number of cobwebs. The child told the inspector she was scared of spiders. The standard of cleanliness in children’s bedrooms does not support their good health or well-being.

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inadequate

Staff support children to see their families regularly in line with their current care.

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inadequate

Children moving in and out of the home have not always done so positively. At times this has not been well planned.

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inadequate

Children do not always form positive relationships with staff due to the high turnover of staff. One child said she didn’t bother with staff and kept herself away in her room.

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inadequate

Independence for children is promoted in line with their ages and abilities.

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

Risk management continues to be ineffective. Managers are failing to provide staff with the right information that enables them to manage children’s behaviours, risk, and vul- nerabilities, safely and effectively.

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

Ofsted has significant concerns about the lack of identified strategies for managing rela- tionships between the children, and for children who are risk of exploitation while being away from home. This requires staff, many of whom are new and inexperienced, to continually make dynamic risk assessments of what actions to take as issues present themselves. This leads to inconsistency which has placed children at significant risk of harm. Inspection report children's home: SC409738 4 Staff failed to safeguard a child by allowing a person into the home who was known to be a risk. Furthermore, staff failed to follow child protection processes when an- other child made threats towards a child who had recently left the home.

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

The home is not secure. The front door is left wide open for people to enter. As a result, a child had managed to leave the home without staff knowing she had left. Staff only became aware when they went to check her room after several hours.

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

There is an insufficient number of experienced and sufficiently skilled staff working in the home. Leaving mostly new and inexperienced staff who do not have the skills, knowledge, or experience to understand or effectively manage the complex, challenging and risk-taking behaviour of the children in the home.

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

Several agency staff profiles were viewed. None of the staff have been trained in safeguarding children. This leaves children at significant risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager since February 2020.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality of management oversight and monitoring has once again deteriorated. The area manager was deployed to the home to have management oversight. Despite this arrangement, managers are failing to identify and address shortfalls and make improvements. This is evident in the serious concerns that have been identified as shortfalls at the last inspection are recurring, and in some areas, quality is diminishing further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The acting manager is warm and has good intentions however, he is not leading the home in a way that enables children to achieve their potential. The acting manager has not taken sufficient action to address shortfalls identified at the previous monitoring visit. The acting manager was not able to articulate the children’s needs and risks to the inspector and had to rely on searching the record system to provide a verbal update.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staffing structure currently implemented is not sufficient to deliver good care for children living in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings take place and are regular with staff however, staff told the inspector they would like these to be more frequent due to their lack of knowledge and experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervision is detailed however there had been no system in place to monitor frequency until the day of Inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

No staff are qualified to the appropriate level. This means children are not being cared for by suitably skilled staff. Inspection report children's home: SC409738 5 Poor recordings and monitoring were identified in a number of areas. For example, the acting manager had signed the last regulation 44 report which confirmed he read the report. The acting manager told the inspector that he was unaware of information within the report relating to a significant safeguarding concern.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The acting manager failed to ensure agency staff he requested to work in the home were effectively trained in safeguarding children. Several agency profiles were viewed which evidenced they were not trained in safeguarding children. The acting manager told the inspector he did not know if they were either.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a result of these findings, the provider has taken immediate action to close the home temporarily. Inspection report children's home: SC409738 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

that staff— 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies; that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health.

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d)) 24 December

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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— 24 December Inspection report children's home: SC409738 7 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(d)(e)(h)) The registered person must compile in relation to the children's home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1)(3)(a)(b)) 24 December

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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: SC409738 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 179 Townsend Lane, Clubmoor, Liverpool, L13 9DY

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Inspector

Rachel Springford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC409738 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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