Children's Home run by Inspire Children’s Services Limited in St Helens

Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 1 SC441410 Registered provider: Inspire Children’s Services 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 it provides care for up to one child with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a no registered manager in post.

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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 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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2019 Full Good 18/12/2018 Full Good 13/12/2017 Full Good 07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 3

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inadequate

A child’s overall experiences and progress were hindered by the poor safeguarding practice, inadequate care planning and ineffective leadership and management in the home.

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inadequate

There is currently one child living at the home. He has recently moved in.

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inadequate

Two children have recently moved out of the home. One was a planned move to a semi-independent setting. This child had lived in the home for several years and made good progress. However, one child left the home after only a few days, as staff were unable to keep the child safe. This was not a positive experience for this child.

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inadequate

The home is well furnished, and staff have worked hard to ensure this is a welcoming home. However, the child’s bedroom is not personalised. This does not provide the child with a homely, individualised space.

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inadequate

The child currently living in the home is settling in well and building some good relationships with the staff. They are making good progress in education and all their health needs are met. The child said they felt safe and were able to identify trusted adults who they can speak to about any worries. Feedback from professionals is positive. One educational tutor said, ‘Staff go above and beyond for [name of child].’

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inadequate

Staff work closely with families and important people in the child’s life. Due to the support provided by the staff team, a child’s relationship with family members has improved.

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

Safeguarding practice in this home is not robust.

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

Leaders and managers agreed a placement for a child without adequately assessing a child’s complex needs and the strategies required to keep a child safe. There was insufficient consideration of the skills and expertise of the staff team in managing a child’s complex needs. For example, when a child showed significant levels of self- injurious behaviour, such as swallowing items around the home, staff were unable to take control and mitigate these risks and behaviours. This led to a child being hospitalised.

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

A child who was subject to a court directed order moved into the home without an up-to-date copy of the order on arrival. Additionally, there was not an up-to-date copy of the child’s local authority plans on file. This means that staff did not have all the necessary information to support the child effectively and meet their needs. Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 4 Despite a child being known to have significant self-injurious behaviour and behaviours that may challenge staff, the child’s risk management plans do not include clear strategies for staff to follow in practice to reduce the risk of harm. Leaders and managers have not addressed this shortfall. Additionally, the risk assessment for managing a child’s self-harming behaviour was not sufficiently robust, and some risk assessments were not in place. This meant staff were unable to keep the child safe.

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

Staff failed to complete and record appropriate room checks when staff were concerned over a child’s self-injurious behaviour.

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

Behaviour management plans failed to identify the child’s needs and the guidance on how to manage behaviours effectively. The staff are not always able to de- escalate incidents. As a result, staff were unable to prevent a child leaving the home, on more than one occasion, when the child headed towards the local railway lines. This placed a child at risk of significant harm.

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

Staffing levels did increase with the use of agency staff; however, there was a lack of robust employment checks completed by the provider to ensure that these workers were suitable. This compromised the safety of the child.

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

There are widespread failures across record-keeping. For example, incident reports were not always completed for a child with complex behaviours. As a result, it is not clear what action took place to ensure the child’s safety during times of distress. Furthermore, the child’s case records were incomplete, and some records were not signed or dated by the author.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been failings in the management oversight and monitoring of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been no registered manager in post since October 2021. Despite the reassurances from the provider, the management arrangements remain unclear and chaotic. As a result, there is a lack of accountability, and there has been an impact on the stability in the home. Furthermore, this has led to serious shortfalls in the help and protection of a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is an interim manager who has been in place for a few weeks. He has brought some organisation to the monitoring and reviewing systems of the home, and some improvements were seen. However, he has not submitted an application to be registered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There were no documents in the home that were able to demonstrate the accurate staffing levels required for a child who displayed significant self-injurious behaviour. This left the child and staff highly vulnerable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers and staff have not effectively challenged the child’s placing authority to ensure that all essential paperwork is in place. The inspector found that there was Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 5 not an up-to-date local authority care plan or placement plan on file. This means staff do not have all relevant plans to meet the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to notify Ofsted of significant incidents when a child was admitted to hospital due to concerns around their emotional well-being and self-injurious behaviour. This does not help the regulator to have a thorough oversight of events and check all actions taken were appropriate to keep a child safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff working in the home have not consistently received supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Consequently, staff are unable to discuss important issues around the child, to reflect on their practice and to discuss their training needs in line with their continuing professional development. Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 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; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and

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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; and

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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b)) 1 April 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

promotes their welfare. 1 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 7 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; and

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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; 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)(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

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 1 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 8 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; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c))

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 1 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

if the child dies before attaining the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of the child’s death;

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Requirement Due date

in cases not falling within sub-paragraph (a), for 75 years from the child’s date of birth; and

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and

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Requirement Due date

in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 1 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; 1 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 9 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter; and

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must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are homely, domestic environments. In particular, a child’s bedroom should be personalised, and new fencing is required along the bottom of the property. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC441410 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 3 Craig Court, Standish Street, St Helens, Merseyside WA10 1GJ

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Inspector

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 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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