Children's home run by Your Chapter Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 1 Registered provider: Care 4 Children Holdco Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. The provider states in the home’s statement of purpose that they provide care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager is in place but is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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 2 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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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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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2019 Full Good 02/05/2018 Full Good 08/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 02/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, two children lived at the home. One child had only been at the home for three days. Since the last inspection, three children have left. Records show that outcomes for children who have left are varied.

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improvement to be good

The children living in the home were spoken to and were involved in the inspection. One child described the core staff team as ‘my family’ and said that he was ‘happy’ and liked the adults caring for him. However, the child also spoke about the changes in staffing at the home and how this had increased his anxieties.

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improvement to be good

Education is promoted well in the home. Staff encourage and support education in line with children’s plans. One child spoke positively about their education, learning and aspirations for their future. However, staff are not aware of the local offer setting out the support available for children with special educational needs or disabilities. This is a missed opportunity to access a range of specialist resources for children with additional needs.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are not being consistently met. Children are registered with health professionals and staff arrange routine medical appointments. However, when children have suffered an injury, action is not taken to ensure that children receive appropriate medical advice. Serious injuries have not been managed in a timely way and information about action taken is inaccurate, for example, details of when medical attention has been received. The manager accepted this shortfall and immediately sought medical attention for a child during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Plans for children moving into the home do not always carefully consider each child’s needs. This led to a child having to move out of the home quickly and in an unplanned way. Some children’s moves from the home have not been a positive experience.

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improvement to be good

The staff encourage and support the children to keep in touch with their families and friends. The staff take time to make sure that children visit their family home and ensure that support is available to children from a distance. This helps them to maintain their identity and feel connected to home.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a warm, clean home and children’s bedrooms are personalised. However, parts of the home have damage to the walls and paintwork is peeling off. Repairs were arranged by the manager during the inspection. Also, there are locks on doors to the communal living room, as this is used as a staff sleep-in space. This means that children do not have access to all shared areas of their home. On occasions, a child has decided to use the staff sleep-in area as their bedroom. This has led to confusion and disruption at bedtime. Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 4

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improvement to be good

Some staff do not understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting children. Despite individualised risk assessments being in place that include clear strategies on how to minimise risks, these are not consistently used in practice. Furthermore, staff are not clear on how to record sufficient information to demonstrate how incidents have been safely managed. This had led to confusion about a child’s welfare.

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improvement to be good

Some staff lack an understanding of the risks that information on social media can present to children, and of their role in acting as a good parent. Staff rely on parental controls to ensure that children do not access unsuitable websites using the home’s internet. However, there is limited monitoring of what children access if they are using independently purchased data, for example on mobile phones. This does not keep children safe from online grooming or inappropriate internet content.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment checks to test the suitability of staff are not adequate. Information has not been clearly triangulated and unexplained gaps in employment are not thoroughly explored. The interim manager has not ensured that satisfactory information is readily available to ensure that adults are appropriately checked and considered suitable to work in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff use a restorative approach towards behaviour management. There has been one occasion when physical restraint was necessary. This was proportionate and took place in line with policies and procedures. Children thrive in an environment of mutual respect.

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improvement to be good

There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home during this inspection period. There is a clear missing-from-home protocol in place for staff to follow. Staff demonstrate that they know what to do if children were to go missing from the home.

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good

The home is led by an interim manager, who has submitted an application to register with Ofsted. He was previously a senior residential care worker at the home. He has taken time to review care records and practices in the home. He has gradually started to make changes to practices and shared the learning with the staff team.

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good

The manager is child-centred and spoke with warmth about the children he is responsible for. Feedback from a child was very positive about the manager and the changes he has made.

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good

The manager has supported the staff team to meet the needs of children flexibly during the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. This included covering Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 5 shifts to ensure that the child living in the home at that time received support from staff who knew him well.

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good

Staff undertake all the necessary training to meet the needs of the children. The manager has a detailed system in place to ensure that all staff attend training and receive development to support them in their roles. Furthermore, all staff receive regular supervision and performance appraisals. Most of the staff have the qualification required by regulations.

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good

Partnership working with parents, carers and professionals is a strength. An independent reviewing officer said: ‘We cannot fault the service that [name of child] receives. Staff have formed positive relationships with him, and for the last two review meetings [the child] has attended the entirety of his meeting. He has made significant progress over the last six months, and this is a credit to the home.’

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good

The manager accepted the shortfalls identified at the inspection and took immediate action to rectify concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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 each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that all children receive appropriate medical treatment following serious incidents. 11 March 2022

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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

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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; 11 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 7 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that all staff have the skills and knowledge to be able to implement strategies contained in risk assessments to safeguard children.

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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;

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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 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that staff teams working on shift together have the adequate skills, knowledge and experience to safely care for the children. 11 March 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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 11 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises— 11 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 8 is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to children being able to access all areas of their home. Communal areas must not be locked and should not be used as sleeping spaces.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to inconsistencies in staff recruitment information. Information has not been consistently explored and clarified. 11 March 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should make sure that managers and staff are aware of the local offer setting out the support available for children with special education needs or disabilities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 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: 1240884 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Children Holdco Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Stuart Road, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2SR

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Inspectors

Michelle Edge, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Rose Maddocks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1240884 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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