Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care and accommodation for up to two children who have social and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 the 12 April 2021.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, one child lived in the home. She has lived here for two years. The home is welcoming and decorated to a good standard. It has a homely feel. The child has recently been involved in choosing colours to paint the lounge and dining room. The child’s bedroom is personalised and furnished to a good standard.

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improvement to be good

The child has been able to build relationships with staff and form positive attachments. This is due to the child being cared for by a consistent staff team. When additional staff have been needed, these are usually staff who have worked in the home before and who the child knows. This promotes continuity of care.

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improvement to be good

The child’s views in relation to the home and the care she receives are used to improve the home. The child’s views are always responded to by the manager.

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improvement to be good

The child is not currently engaging in education. Progress was made in school, with the child achieving GCSEs. Staff remain persistent in their attempts to engage the child in education and have been creative of doing so. Staff remain ambitious for the child.

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improvement to be good

Children receive support to meet their health needs. This includes the support of a psychologist from the organisation. When the child has chosen not to engage with health services, staff have attended appointments on her behalf. However, there are outstanding health assessments which could have an impact on planning transitions to adulthood. The manager has not been proactive enough in ensuring that these assessments have been completed.

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improvement to be good

The child does not have an up-to-date care plan. There are no clear aims and objectives for the child, and so staff don’t always know what children are working towards. It is difficult to consistently monitor progress to see if children are reaching their potential.

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improvement to be good

Furthermore, independence has not been consistently promoted for the child. There is no clear plan for leaving care. This does not promote positive transitions to adulthood.

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improvement to be good

The child’s relationship with staff is a strength. The child said she feels safe living in the home and gets on well with staff. This is an effective safeguard because the child talks to staff about things that are worrying her. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 4 The child is regularly rewarded for positive achievements. These rewards show the child that staff are aware of and appreciate her achievements. Consequences are proportionate. As a result, staff help the child to manage their behaviours in a safer way.

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improvement to be good

Staff rarely use restraints to manage the child’s behaviour. On the few occasions when this has happened, this has been proportionate and necessary. This has safeguarded the child when placing herself at risk of physical harm. Recording of these interventions is clear, and the child is encouraged to reflect on and comment on these records.

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improvement to be good

New staff are recruited safely. Staff are vetted before being employed. These safe recruitment procedures mean that the child is protected from unsuitable adults being employed to work in the home.

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improvement to be good

Supervision levels for the child are not always consistent. While the staff and the manager have a clear rationale as to when it is appropriate to reduce the supervision levels, the decision is not justified by a written risk assessment. This leads to a lack of consistency for the child.

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improvement to be good

The staff demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of risks to the child. The quality of written risk assessments is variable, and, at times, information is inconsistent. The child’s known vulnerabilities are not reflected in her risk assessments. This has not led to children or young people being harmed, but it is an area that requires improvement. All known risks must be assessed and evaluated. This is essential to ensuring that the risks are being effectively and consistently managed. The manager had begun to rectify this during the inspection.

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good

There is a registered manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in May 2020. This is his first experience as a registered manager in England. The manager is approachable, and staff spoken to at the inspection were positive about his leadership.

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good

Staff receive regular formal and informal supervision. The supervision discusses the child’s needs. However, staff are not given the opportunity to reflect on their practice. This has been made a recommendation.

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good

Staff have undertaken a range of training. They all have safeguarding training, which ensures that they have some basic knowledge of safeguarding practice. However, staff have not received training in relation to some specific risks to the child despite her having lived there for two years. This fails to adequately equip the staff to meet the child’s needs and potentially increases the risk of harm to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 5 The manager’s monitoring and review systems are not effective. There is no true analysis and evaluation of the impact of care on the child’s outcomes. This improvement is required, particularly in relation to risk management and the child’s care plan.

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good

The registered manager needs to ensure that the actual hours worked by him, and staff, are included on the rosters. This will ensure that accurate records are kept if there are any safeguarding concerns.

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good

The manager should ensure that he keeps the statement of purpose for the home up to date and sends it to Ofsted in line with the regulations. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that up-to-date risk assessments detail all known risks. 28/03/2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 7 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; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the manager ensuring that staff are trained in self-harm. 28/03/2022

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to the manager having monitoring systems which identify shortfalls such as out-of-date risk assessments and care plans. 28/03/2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 8 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

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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The refers to ensuring that children have up-to-date care plans which detail their individual needs. 28/03/2022

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the manager ensuring that an up-to-date statement of purpose is sent to Ofsted. 28/03/2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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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; and 28/03/2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 9 retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The manager needs to demonstrate all hours that all staff, including the registered manager, have worked on rosters.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff supervision enables staff to reflect on their own feelings and behaviour and how their feelings and behaviour may affect the children they care for. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)

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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: 2509381 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair Accounting Co. Ltd, 300 St. Mary’s Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Rachael Crook, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 11 regulates and inspects 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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