Children's home run by Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 1 Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) 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 is registered to provide care and support for one child with social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager registered with Ofsted in December 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 SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We visited this setting on 20 January 2021 and 30 March 2021 to carry out monitoring visits. The reports are published on the Ofsted website. This is the home’s first full inspection.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, one child had been living in the home for almost six months. The child is starting to build positive, caring relationships with the staff. The child’s bedroom is personalised and the child’s interests are actively promoted by staff. Observations and conversations show that the child is happy and has good relationships with the adults who care for her.

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improvement to be good

The staff listen to children and provide encouragement, positivity and guidance. Some of the children who have moved out of the home remain in contact with the staff.

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improvement to be good

Children learn to trust the adults who care for them and, through this, they begin to talk about what is difficult in their lives. The child has been encouraged to communicate with staff through a non-verbal format. This has helped her to open up and talk about sensitive things, which has improved her emotional well-being. The child told inspectors that she has improved her feelings of trust for staff.

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improvement to be good

Not all children have benefited from well-planned moves in and out of the home. As a result, some children did not understand when or why they were moving on from the home. One child’s time at the home was ended abruptly due to staff not being able to meet their needs. This meant that they did not have a positive experience and did not make any progress while living there.

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improvement to be good

The plan for the child currently living at the home does not contain important goals, or how staff will support the child to reach her full potential in all areas of her life. As a result, there is no shared understanding of the outcomes that the child is working towards. Furthermore, not all staff have a thorough awareness of the child’s background and care experiences.

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improvement to be good

Inspectors were told that the child had not had a statutory review for over 10 months. There was no evidence of challenge from the manager or staff on behalf of the child, and there was no understanding of when the child’s next review meeting was to be held. This does not demonstrate proactive care planning.

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improvement to be good

The child has primary healthcare professionals in place. However, the health plan for one child who previously lived at the home did not include key information about his health condition. An education, health and care plan for another child no longer living in the home had been out of date. This means that the overall healthcare needs of children are not fully understood. Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 4

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improvement to be good

The child said that they feel safe and protected from harm. They can identify an adult they can talk to in the home about any worries or concerns. They understand how to complain if they are not happy with the care they are receiving. The child confirmed that staff help her understand the risks that she may face in and around the home.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, staff proactively search local areas and known places to ensure that they are supported to return home safely. Staff have a good understanding of why children go missing from home and use this information to inform the risk management plan. Missing-from-home incidents have decreased.

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improvement to be good

Safe and effective recruitment processes help to safeguard children. New staff members are well informed and receive regular supervision. However, there are significant gaps in training, specifically in safeguarding and behaviour management. This means that staff are not confident in managing risks. Inspectors spoke with four staff members during the inspection and none of them were trained in physical restraint, despite this being a strategy in children’s behaviour management plans. Staff not being able to safely intervene and provide measures of control, including restraint, has left children at increased risk of harm when displaying self-harming behaviours.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff understand the behaviour management plans in place. They have developed an approach to behaviour management that includes giving rewards and sanctions. However, not all sanctions are proportionate, and some do not have an end or review date. This means that staff and children do not know how long a sanction remains in place. Some sanctions are not restorative in nature.

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improvement to be good

The assessment to consider whether staff can meet a child’s needs before that child moves into the home is not robust. The process does not fully consider any risks associated with the location of the home or the required skills, experience and training of staff working in the home. Since the last visit, children have moved into the home and staff did not have the necessary skills, knowledge or experience to keep them safe, due to an escalation of their known risks. This subsequently resulted in children moving out of the home in an unplanned way. This lack of clear risk identification and matching is detrimental to children.

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improvement to be good

At times, staff’s safeguarding practice is risk averse. Risk assessments are not always bespoke to the child’s individual needs or reflect their progress. This is preventing the child from taking age-appropriate risks and developing their independence skills. Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 5

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good

The current manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2021. She is passionate about her role and has a good understanding of the needs of children. Staff say that they feel supported and listened to, and that communication is good. The child spoke fondly of the manager, and inspectors observed warm interactions.

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good

All staff receive supervision sessions in accordance with the company’s policy, and team meetings are held regularly. However, records demonstrate that supervision discussions lack reflection on practice, learning from training and areas for improvement. Objectives are not captured to support professional development or improve practice.

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good

There have been a high number of changes in staff and shifts are regularly covered by the manager. At times, there is only one person working in the home. Most of the staff are unqualified and there has been a delay in enrolling staff on a suitable residential childcare course. This affects their ability to provide good-quality care.

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good

There is a lack of management evaluation to identify whether staff need to change their practice in response to incidents. The manager does not consistently monitor or consider if care plans and risk management plans are clear and accurate. This means that improvements to practice are not always identified and the agreed strategies implemented. Evaluations of safeguarding incidents are not always signed and dated. Contact information contained in some documents is factually incorrect.

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good

The independent person visiting the home has not consistently requested feedback from children or external stakeholders. Their report lacks evaluation of practice and does not provide clear actions to improve the quality of care.

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good

The internal monitoring of the home requires improvement. There are shortfalls in children’s records. The manager has been caring directly for children at times, and this has had a negative effect on her ability to regularly monitor standards within the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 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;

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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;

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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)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e)) 18 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 7 This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s risk assessments include all their risks and that their safety plans have clear directions for the adults caring for them.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that staff and the manager are aware of their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children. The manager must ensure that child protection procedures are followed when there is an allegation of abuse against a child.

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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

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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

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)(c)(f)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that there are monitoring and review systems to make improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. Also, that management oversight and evaluation identify poor practice and it is addressed. 18 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 8 This also relates to the team receiving training to meet the children’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

Also, to the manager challenging poor practice by other agencies and using escalation procedures to ensure children receive a positive outcome.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that children have relevant plans that have common, specific and measurable goals.

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Requirement Due date

It relates to an assessment taking place to establish if the adults caring for the child can meet their needs before they move into the home. This assessment should consider the skills of the adults and also the location of the home. 18 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 9 This also relates to ensuring the children are supported during the ending of their placement.

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable, or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the police not routinely being called to support staff manage incidents. 18 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to there being a clear and accurate account of who is caring for the children in their home and has day-to- day accountability. 18 March 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 for children’s home: 2597738 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Social Care Services Group, 31 Shaw Road, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Inspectors

Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2597738 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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