Children's Home run by Cherish Children’s Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children's home: 2547761 1 Registered provider: Cherish Children’s Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children who may have needs that are associated with behavioural and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 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 (SCIFF) 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 21 September 2020 to carry out an assurance 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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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: Not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2547761 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report children's home: 2547761 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a nurturing environment where they receive care and support that provides them with stability. They receive the help that they need to recover from harmful experiences and to move forward in their lives. A social worker said that ‘Staff have supported [name of child] in a loving way and they [staff] have been amazing.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children told the inspector that they are happy here and have people around them that they trust. A child said that the staff are helping them to resolve an issue at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have recently moved into their own home said that the staff had helped them to move confidently into the next stage of their lives. Parents said that the staff had helped their child to develop the skills that they needed to move on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build warm, consistent and positive relationships with children. They show children that they care about them and know what is important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are strong advocates for children’s education. All children are in education and are making steady progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s social and emotional health and well-being are supported effectively. Staff ensure that the children have access to services and professionals to help them overcome past trauma.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are complimentary about the staff and their commitment to building and sustaining contact with the children’s families, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children said that they are enjoying more freedom and are re-engaging with their activities.

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

The manager and staff have created a safe home environment that protects children from harm. Children feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging. They know that they can talk to staff about their worries and that the staff will help them to be safe.

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

Staff are trained in safeguarding and child protection. Consequently, staff have the skills and knowledge to watch for and identify any potential concerns, and act to protect the children.

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

The current risks for the children are low. However, there are severalis risk assessments that do not reflect the current concerns for the children or the action that staff are taking to keep children safe. Furthermore, the risk assessments contain conflicting information. Inspection report children's home: 2547761 4 Children are encouraged to take considered age-appropriate risks, such as travelling home independently using public transport. A member of staff said that they worry about the children but know that they must let them try new things as it is all part of growing up. Children keep in contact with staff when away from the home and let them know if they are going to be late.

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

Children are thriving because of the clear routines and boundaries in place; they are much more able to manage challenging or difficult situations. This is because of the strategies the staff have taught them.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used. However, the records of these do not provide clear insight into the incidents or the reasons why the actions were taken. Similarly, consequences are used rarely, but records fail to demonstrate why they have been given. These issues have not been identified through the manager’s monitoring systems.

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

Staff recruitment practice is sound and helps to ensure that children are cared for by suitable people. The home is well maintained and provides a homely, safe environment for children. Children’s bedrooms reflect their individual tastes and interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a qualified and experienced registered manager. He works in partnership with the staff to support the children and bring about positive changes in their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose does not clearly reflect the care and support provided to the children. Some information about the staff is missing, and there are several typing errors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work together well; they receive good levels of support and say that the manager is approachable. However, the staff rotas are unclear and do not provide a clear account of which staff are on duty each day or the actual hours that they have worked.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring by the registered manager is not robust. His monitoring systems have not identified the issues from this inspection and his six-monthly report does not sufficiently scrutinise or analyse the care and support provided to children. This hinders the ability of the provider to make continuous improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and responsible individual had already acknowledged that reports by the independent person were not helping to identify shortfalls. They have taken appropriate action to ensure that internal monitoring is helping to bring about positive changes. Inspection report children's home: 2547761 5 Records are not maintained to a consistently good standard. Some records contain conflicting information and do not fully tell the child’s story.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s impact risk assessments are not effective as they do not consider all the known risks or the potential impact on other children. Furthermore, the use of some language such as, ‘self-mutilation’ and ‘absconding’ are not suitable to describe children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers, professionals and parents are complimentary about the care that their children are receiving which is helping them to make progress in all areas of their development. Inspection report children's home: 2547761 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure the children’s risk assessments are clear, concise and identify the actual risks to child and the action to be taken. 7 January 2022

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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—

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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’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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, and 7 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2547761 7 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)(e)(f)(h))

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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)) 7 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (5)) 7 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to keeping a record of the actual shifts worked by staff. 7 January 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all physical interventions and use of consequences are subject to regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that records tell the story of the child’s time in the home. Inspection report children's home: 2547761 8  The registered person should ensure that staff do not use inflammatory language such as ‘self-mutilation’ and ‘absconding’. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.4, 14.5)

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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: 2547761 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherish Children’s Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8a, Skyways Commercial Campus, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 3RS

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Inspector

Chris Scully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2547761 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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