Children's home run by After Care (NW) Limited in Sefton

Inspection report children's home: SC037181 1 SC037181 Registered provider: After Care NW Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to two children with social, emotional and mental health needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2014.

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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 29 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: 26 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC037181 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/05/2018 Full Good 31/10/2017 Full Good 01/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC037181 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care in line with their needs, and their home is adapted to enable them to thrive. Children’s communication needs are met through different strategies, which assist them in achieving their goals

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from creative and bespoke plans to support their emotional health. The adults caring for children liaise well with internal and external professionals, who specialise in therapeutic support, to inform children’s care. The adults’ benefit from specialist training to expand their knowledge base about different therapeutic models to support children. This good practice has enabled children to deal with challenges in their lives through improved emotional health, adults who emotionally support them and healthy coping strategies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop life skills to equip them to lead a happy, healthy and successful adult life. There is a framework to evidence children’s progress and areas of development. Children are empowered and equipped to live more independently, with personalised plans that support them through significant milestones in their lives. This practice has enabled children to continue to achieve good outcomes when they move out and to be aspirational for their future adult lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from education plans that meet their needs. The adults caring for children liaise well with education settings to collaboratively develop plans that help children overcome any barriers to their education. This provides children with more opportunities to achieve academically.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been one occasion when the assessment to ensure that children living together are matched appropriately was not robust. The manager’s assessment did not analyse the children’s risks well. The manager did not consider the location of the home or if the adults had the skills to meet the needs of the child who moved into the home. These shortfalls caused disruption for children who had already experienced a significant amount of trauma and disruption.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to capture their memories in personalised books. They have time to reflect on significant milestones, both positive and negative, to develop their emotional resilience. This enables children to develop their knowledge base to make informed decisions about their lives.

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

The adults caring for children are aware of the risks in children’s lives and the strategies in place to keep them safe. Children’s safety plans are detailed and contain individualised strategies that have significantly reduced specific risks in their lives. Inspection report children's home: SC037181 4 There has been one safeguarding incident that was not recorded in line with the provider’s safeguarding procedures. The registered manager failed to liaise with the local authority designated officer for safeguarding. There was no harm to a child, but this practice was not robust due to safeguarding procedures not being followed.

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

When a risk arises in a child’s life, the manager reacts in a timely manner to ensure that there is a multi-agency response. Children benefit from multi-agency safety plans that are reviewed regularly, and measures are quickly put in place to ensure that children are kept safe.

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

Children rarely go missing from their home. However, when a child does go missing, the adults who care for them search all areas known to the child. They contact people in the child’s life to try to locate the child and get them home safely. Children have developed trust with the adults caring for them and have started to say where they are when they are contacted while missing from home. This enables safety plans to be put in place and reduces the risk of children going missing from home.

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

Medication practice is good. Children’s medication is stored in an appropriate place, and children receive their prescribed medication in line with health advice. This has a direct, positive impact on children’s daily lives and ensures that they are safely receiving the correct medication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The adults who care for the children feel well supported by their manager. They feel that the manager is supportive, knowledgeable, understanding and caring. The manager provides this support through supervision sessions, appraisals and team meetings. However, supervision sessions and appraisals are not always in line with the provider’s policy. This shortfall creates the opportunity for drift in relation to team development and ensuring that care for children remains at a high standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and adult team advocate for children when they are unhappy or the support they are receiving from other services is not good enough. Children also benefit from independent advocacy services. This culture has empowered children to have a voice, and changes have been made to improve outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The adults caring for children have completed a wealth of training that meets the needs of their children. The manager explores additional training from external sources, to enhance knowledge within the team. Children directly benefit from adults who are skilled and understand their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of all incidents that take place in children’s lives. She provides oversight and direction to the adults caring for the children that is reflective. However, there is a lack of reflection in team meetings and supervision sessions. There is a lack of analysis relating to emerging practice themes and reflection on learning. This shortfall has the potential to stunt the growth of the team and hinder the culture of continuous improvement for children’s care. Inspection report children's home: SC037181 5 The manager has good monitoring systems in place. She has developed good relationships with children’s support networks, which enhances opportunities to resolve any issues that arise for children. The manager has met all previous requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. Inspection report children's home: SC037181 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, 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

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. (Regulation 12(1) (2)(a)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the local authority designated officer is notified if there are any safeguarding concerns relating to a professional. 31 January 2022

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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.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that a robust assessment takes place to consider the compatibility of children before a child moves into the home. The assessment 28 February 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC037181 7 must consider the location of the home, the skills of the adults caring for the children and analyse the decision.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to appraisals and supervision taking place in line with the provider’s policy and to supervision, appraisals and team meetings being reflective about practice. 31 January 2022

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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: SC037181 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: After Care NW Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 45 Kensington Road, Southport, Lancashire PR9 0RT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Timothy Blundell

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Inspector

Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC037181 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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