Children's Home run by Invigor Adolescent Care Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2605180 1 Registered provider: Invigor Adolescent Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. It provides care for three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural needs. The organisation offers therapeutic support for children from an external consultant.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager, who has been registered since the home opened.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first inspection following registration in December 2020.

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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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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 for children’s home: 2605180 2

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improvement to be good

Since the home was registered in December 2020, seven children have been admitted and four discharged. Overall progress for children has been varied, partly due to some children’s behaviour having a negative impact on others in the home. The manager recognised this and took action to address this by supporting these children to move on to more appropriate placements. This has helped to stabilise behaviours within the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to attend education and support those children who have left school to go on to apprenticeships or further education. However, at the time of this inspection, only one child was engaged in education. This has an impact on the learning and development opportunities for children’s academic development and future life chances.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to maintain good health and are registered with healthcare professionals. However, some children do smoke tobacco and use cannabis. Staff have sought additional support from substance misuse professionals to help to reduce this risk. There has been mixed engagement from children with the external professionals. However, staff continue to address the impact of smoking and using cannabis with children as part of their one-to-one work.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to manage their behaviours through positive engagement and incentive-based practice. However, there has been significant damage done to the home over a period of time by one child. Support has been provided to help this child manage his anger, and he has been supported through restorative approaches to work with staff and external contractors to repair some of the damage. Some work still needs to be done to the home, which the manager is aware of.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they feel that staff listen to them and, overall, they feel safe. Risk management plans are in place and updated on a regular basis. However, some risks identified as low have increased, which has not been reflected in the risk management plans. For example, one child’s fire-setting risk assessment identifies the risk of smoking in his bedroom, which he has continued to do. He also set fire to an item in another child’s bedroom. Staff responded appropriately and quickly at the time, but the change in risk has not been reflected in the risk management plan. Consequently, the potential risk to other children because of this change in behaviour has not been adequately assessed.

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improvement to be good

Staff work with placing social workers and receive additional support from an independent therapist who helps to develop strategies to support and manage Inspection report for children’s home: 2605180 3 children’s behaviours. For some children, these strategies have been positive. However, some children have continued to struggle to manage their anger and aggression. Despite challenges, staff are keen to further develop and build on these strategies with children to support them to develop socially acceptable behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home procedures are in place, which staff understand and follow. Staff work in partnership with other agencies responsible for safeguarding, including the police. The manager ensures that independent return home interviews are provided to help gain a greater understanding of the reasons why children go missing. This helps the staff understand the ‘push pull’ factors for children. Regular individual work with children on staying safe is carried out to help reduce risks of them going missing and offer them additional safeguarding support.

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good

The home has an experienced and suitably qualified manager in post. He is supported in his role by a deputy manager, team leaders and residential care workers who all demonstrate a commitment to supporting children. The manager recognises that, previously, some children admitted to the home were not a positive match with children already living at the home. To address this for future admissions, he is developing a clear referral form. This will enable him to gather as much information as possible prior to making an offer of a placement.

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good

There are clear monitoring systems in place. This has enabled the manager to reflect on areas for further development while continuing with practice which is having a positive impact for children. He has also focused on the ongoing refurbishment of the home, which will provide children with a homely environment once outstanding repairs have been completed.

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good

Staffing at the home has remained stable since the home opened. Most staff have experience of working with children in children’s homes and hold relevant qualifications. Staff who have yet to gain the level 3 diploma for residential childcare are currently undertaking it, with expected completion dates within the next 12 months.

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good

Staff receive monthly supervision, which further supports them in their role and enables them to reflect and develop their skills and practice. Appraisals have yet to take place due to the length of time the home has been registered. These are planned for the near future.

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good

The home’s statement of purpose is available and contains current information. Following changes in the local area, the home’s locality risk assessment has been updated to reflect these.

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good

The manager ensures that all children, staff and visitors are aware of the home’s fire evacuation procedure and that the health and safety checks are undertaken in accordance with relevant legislation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2605180 4

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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 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

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

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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)(iii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk management plans address all known risks and include strategies for staff to follow, and that staff understand children’s risk management plans and their roles and responsibilities in protecting children. 15 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 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 15 January 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2605180 5 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that consideration is given to the needs of the children currently living within the home and those of any children planned to be admitted to the home before agreeing to a new placement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)  The registered person should ensure that any damage to the home is repaired in order to provide a homely and safe environment for children to live in. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 for children’s home: 2605180 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Invigor Adolescent Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Warren Bruce Court, Warren Bruce Road, Trafford Park, Manchester M17 1LB

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Inspector

Sarah Oldham, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2605180 7 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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