Children's Home run by Homes for Support in Cheshire East

Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 1 Registered provider: Homes for Support Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated home provides care for up to two children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties (social and emotional difficulties).

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were registered in June 2021.

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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 SCCFF 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite some earlier challenges with one placement, the overall experiences of children are good. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. Another child left after three months of living here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager reported that the home has undergone extensive repair and decoration following the departure of a child. There is evidence of new doors to replace damaged doors. Although clean and tidy, the environment lacks a homely appeal and the absence of carpet on the landing and stairs adds to a clinical feel. Taking into account incidents of recent damage, the bedroom light fittings, although aesthetically pleasing, are unsuitable for a children’s home due to the glass shades, which have sharp corners. The manager reported that there is ongoing maintenance and repair. A recommendation has been made to address this matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although the home had a challenging time with one child, extensive meetings took place to ensure stability and security for this child. This child was moved to a placement closer to their home and placing authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel happy in their home. The child told the inspector that they feel valued and respected by staff. The child has reflected on past mistakes and wants to do well in life. This child said that there have been staff changes and that they found the previous behaviours of the other child quite stressful and unsettling. The child was supported to express their feelings and views to staff during this time. The manager had a reflective discussion with the child after their peer’s placement ended.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who struggle with mainstream education in school are offered bespoke learning and development opportunities. The child has a combined timetable of functional mathematics and English. The rest of their week is spent with a local construction firm undertaking work experience. The child told the inspector how much they love their training placement and is proud of their work. They showed the inspector a short video of a fence that they had helped to build. This opportunity has given this child a great sense of pride and achievement. They have a ‘chippy’ tea with work colleagues on Fridays, which increases their sense of belonging. The child’s work-placement employer wrote a glowing progress report, and hopes to offer them an apprenticeship when they leave school in summer 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to health services in the local area. Missing health reports have been actively followed up by the manager. Children with substance misuse issues, such as smoking substances, are referred to specialist health services. One child has significantly reduced their smoking of substances. Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 4 Children are supported to maintain positive family relations through overnight stays. This is important for children who may have a plan of rehabilitation at home in the future. A social worker reported excellent communication between the home and professionals. He is delighted with the progress his child has made since living in the home. Children are offered several positive activities to enhance their social and emotional skills and help build positive relations with staff and other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are aged 16 years begin to work on their independence plans. Currently, the child is spending most of their free time out of the area with friends and family. Although this is important for the child’s emotional and social growth, it makes it difficult for structured sessions to be completed with the child. However, staff take the opportunity to engage in useful topics of conversation with the child while transporting them to and from trips to see family and friends some distance away. Subjects such as healthy relationships and the impact of smoking substances are among the topics of conversation.

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

Risk-management plans are detailed, and individual behaviour plans outline actions to manage challenging behaviours. However, a risk assessment for a child with a history of fire-setting did not fully consider that the child had access to an aerosol, and they attempted to set fire to the spray with a lighter. Significant reflection and updated risk assessments were completed to support the child.

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

There were several incidents daily with one child who struggled to settle in the home. The frequent incidents resulted in the child causing extensive damage to the property. The child sourced, and engaged with, local gangs, placing themselves at risk of criminal exploitation. Staff actively tried to engage this child in alternative activities to provide meaningful distraction. The child’s social worker reported that staff acted above and beyond expectations to manage this child’s complex behaviour. The child was able to move on from the home on a positive note, despite leaving sooner than expected.

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

The manager attended a number of multi-agency and strategy meetings to ensure that risks were identified and a support plan put in place. The manager also utilised the knowledge and experience of an external practitioner to provide a therapeutic understanding of the risks for children who have experienced significant trauma. This consultation helped to support the understanding of behaviours and how staff could put their knowledge into practice to support the child.

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

Physical intervention measures are used as an absolute last resort and are proportionate to ensure the safety of the child and others. There is evidence of management oversight and opportunities for children and staff to debrief. There have been no recent physical interventions or missing-from-home episodes. Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 5 Although safeguarding incidents are usually reported to Ofsted, two significant incidents were not reported. This did not result in any serious or widespread concerns. Due to the age and nature of concerns, a requirement has been made to address this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This is the manager’s first appointment as registered manager of a children’s home. The manager presented as sincere, thoughtful and open to learning to improve his knowledge and experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is respected by his team, professionals and the child in the home. The manager has been without a deputy manager, and this has meant a significant increase in workload pressures. The manager has exercised good knowledge of concerns and all reports are detailed. In addition, the manager has robustly challenged stakeholders for missing health and education records on children’s files.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has reflected on lessons he has learned since the abrupt ending of the previous placement. The manager was able to accept that, although he had the child’s best interests in mind, on reflection, this child was not a suitable match to the home. The manager has accepted that care planning, and the negative effect on the other child, were underestimated. The manager showed the inspector evidence of tighter scrutiny and robust decision-making around new referrals being an unsuitable match to the current child in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a high turnover of staff in recent months due to the incidents relating to the previous placement. However, the manager is confident in his new staff, who are already forming good attachments with the current child in the home. The manager may consider a period of stability and staff development prior to taking in another child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision. When necessary, the manager has appropriately challenged staff in supervision records to ensure that performance has improved. Training and development are available to all staff. New staff reported that there is a comprehensive induction programme.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Due to the size of the property, there is one sleep-in room for staff. The other staff member stays at another residential home, which is a short walk from the home. Although waking night arrangements were put in place during the period of disruption, staff have reported feeling unsafe and worried when there have been incidents during the night. Managers will need to consider alternative sleeping arrangements for staff when managing challenging incidents, to ensure that staff are fully supported and feel safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal and external monitoring ensure quality assurance and oversight of the home. The manager completes a report under the regulation 45 requirement. Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 6 Although this is detailed, it lacks evaluation of the experience of children. A recommendation has been made to address this matter. Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 7

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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;

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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;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

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 effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e)) 30 April 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 8 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

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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 30 April 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the review of the quality of care report evaluates and reflects on the progress of children, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. The registered person is responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that fittings and fixtures in children’s bedrooms are reviewed to ensure that any items that could pose a risk of harm are removed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 5, paragraph 1.10)

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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: 2638736 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes for Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1st Floor, Cloister House, Riverside, New Bailey Street, Manchester M3 5FS

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Inspector

Kamal Bhamra, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2638736 11 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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