Children's Home run by Family Care Associates Limited in Sefton

Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 1 Registered provider: Family Care Associates Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. The home provides care and support for up to four children with a learning disability and/or a physical disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since November 2018.

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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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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

Date of last inspection: 23 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of each child’s diverse and unique needs. Staff take the time to build positive relationships with children so that they feel safe and secure in their care. Children said that they are happy and like the staff. Parents said that they are reassured that their children are happy and safe here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and understand that some children did not wish to fully participate in the inspection. Other children were keen to talk to the inspector and show them their dancing and agility skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being are actively promoted. Staff advocate well on behalf of children to ensure that they receive the right medical help and support. One child no longer needs their medication and is thriving, and another has not had any hospital admissions. This is because the children’s medical needs are managed well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are increasing in independence. They are becoming more confident to carry out their personal care needs and to help to make their breakfast and snacks. Some children are gaining confidence to order items online with the staff’s support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff are supporting a child who is due to move into adult services effectively. They are actively challenging other professionals to ensure that the right accommodation is sourced. A social worker said that the registered manager is taking a lead on this as he and the staff know the child best.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning is sound. Staff gather as much information as possible from professionals, parents and others to ensure that they can best meet the children’s needs. However, this information is not reflected in the impact risk assessments for children who are moving into the home. This is a recording issue and does not impact on the care and support provided to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at interpreting the children’s needs and emotions. This enables staff to step in to help reduce the children’s anxieties, for example by holding their hand. Staff know and understand the differing and complicated communication needs of the children. As a result, the children’s voices resonate throughout all their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in full-time education and are making good and steady progress. Staff understand the children’s individual education, health and care plans and provide supplementary activities in the home to help aid children’s education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the children spend as much time as possible with their families. Families said that the COVID-19 restrictions during lockdown periods were hard, especially when they celebrated their child’s birthday through a window. However, they were complimentary about the actions taken by staff to help them to keep in touch with their children. Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 4

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

Staff have a secure understanding of child protection and safeguarding practices. They are confident to report any concerns to the appropriate professionals and to escalate a concern if they feel that it is not being taken seriously.

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

Staff are aware that some children struggle with their anxieties and emotions and they recognise the importance of routines for the children. Daily routines are created to help children to feel safe and secure but also to try new things. This helps to build children’s confidence and self-esteem.

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

Staff know and understand the known risks to children and make suitable adaptations to keep them safe. The risk of children going missing from home is low; however, staff are clear on the action to take should this occur.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used. However, when they are used, the records do not always tell the story of the incident and why specific action was taken and by whom.

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

The home is well maintained and is adapted to meet the needs of the children. Currently, all external doors are locked and can be opened with a key fob. The manager needs to be mindful of the impact of this on all children, and to consider whether there are any alternatives available to prevent this from becoming an unauthorised restriction of the children’s liberty.

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

Children’s bedrooms reflect the specific interests and needs of the children. Some children are now more able to tolerate additional items in their bedrooms.

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

Staff recruitment is sound and means that children are cared for by suitable people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a qualified and experienced registered manager. He is supported well by his deputy and the staff team. The staff are enthusiastic and place the children at the heart of all that they do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy are in the process of completing a level 4 qualification in positive behaviour support. They said this has challenged their way of thinking and is enabling them to make changes in how they support children. The training is being cascaded to staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that the opportunities for training continue to be good and that they feel well supported. There have been some gaps in supervision sessions, but action has been taken to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring by the manager has not been robust. Consequently, some records have not had management oversight, while others contain inaccurate information and Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 5 have not been signed by the relevant people. The manager’s six-monthly report of the home does not provide an analysis of what the home does well and the areas for improvement. Furthermore, the home’s location risk assessment does not take into consideration the location of the home or areas of concern.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records and documentation mainly tell the story of the child’s time in the home and their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Multi-agency and partnership working is effective. Professionals and parents are complimentary about the service and the positive impact it has on the children’s confidence, self-esteem, independence and communication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A parent wrote to the registered manager, saying, ‘I can’t believe it’s been [X] years since [name of child] first started with you. What a ride it’s been and what a lovely job you all do. I’m so thankful he found you.’ Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 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 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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the children’s impact risk assessments. 14 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iv)(vi)) 14 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the 14 January 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 7 purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the practice of locking all external doors is appropriate and does not constitute a restriction of liberty for all children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.63)  The registered person should ensure that the manager’s monitoring of the service enables them to scrutinise the quality of care, records and documentation so that they identify areas of strength and areas for development. The manager’s report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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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: 2496251 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Family Care Associates Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Family Care Associates Ltd, Business Centre, 60 School Lane, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire PR5 6QE

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Inspector

Chris Scully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2496251 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 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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