Children's Home run by Progressive Futures Care Limited in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC061924 1 SC061924 Registered provider: Progressive Futures Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The interim manager was appointed in August 2021 and has made an application to register with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 19 January 2022

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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: SC061924 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/03/2020 Full Good 19/11/2018 Full Good 23/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC061924 3

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improvement to be good

There are two children living in the home. These are the same children who lived in the home at the last inspection. The home is small and welcoming. One child said: ‘It’s nice living here.’

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improvement to be good

A stable and consistent staff team means that children are able to build relationships with staff and form positive attachments. The inspector observed positive relationships between the children and staff. If additional staff are needed, care is usually provided by staff already known to the children. This further promotes consistency of care.

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improvement to be good

Children’s progress in education is mixed. One child attends school regularly and has made good progress. Another child has refused to attend school since February 2022 despite various plans being put into place to try to encourage this.

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improvement to be good

One child enjoys contact with his family. This has progressed to unsupervised contact, with the child staying overnight. The plan is for him to move home soon. The interim manager and staff have facilitated and supported this family contact. This promotes children’s identity.

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improvement to be good

Children’s care plans are out of date and do not contain the relevant information. This means that staff do not have the most up-to-date information in relation to children. Therefore, it is not always clear whether staff are meeting all children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Consultation with children does not consistently take place. It is not clear how children’s views contribute to improvements in the home. This is a missed opportunity to engage children in decision-making, making them feel empowered and improving relationships.

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improvement to be good

The interim manager and staff demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of risks to the child and the protective strategies in place. However, the quality of written risk assessments is variable, and at times information is inconsistent. This means that staff do not have written guidance on what to do to minimise risks to children.

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improvement to be good

Children are not enabled to recognise and respond to risk in an age-appropriate way. Structured discussions about risk do not take place regularly with the children. This prevents children from learning how to keep themselves safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC061924 4 One child is regularly missing from home for long periods of time. His missing-from- home protocol is not up to date. However, the interim manager and staff were able to demonstrate their knowledge in relation to this. Records show that staff are proactive in trying to find the child when he is missing. The interim manager has attended all strategy meetings to ensure that information is shared with the relevant professionals.

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improvement to be good

Incidents in the home are infrequent and when they do occur, they are managed well. Staff have the strategies to deal with challenging behaviour and safeguard children during incidents. However, there is no written guidance available to them in as children’s behaviour support plans contain out-of-date information.

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improvement to be good

Members of the staff team usually lone work and this appropriately risk-assessed. Staff are aware of the measures in place should they need support. This is an on-call facility that staff can access. The interim manager was able to demonstrate this via the home’s rota.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff work effectively with a range of other professionals. As a result, children benefit from coordinated care. A child’s independent reviewing officer said that she has seen good communication between the interim manager, staff and other professionals.

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good

The interim manager is new to the role, and this is her first experience of managing a children’s home. She has recently made an application to register with Ofsted. She is approachable and child-focused.

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good

Supervision happens frequently for staff. Supervisions give staff the opportunity to discuss the children and reflect on their practice.

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good

Team meetings are well attended. The children are discussed in detail using a specific model. This allows staff to identify progress, any concerns and any plans that need to be actioned.

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good

Staff are suitably qualified or currently undertaking their qualifications in residential childcare. There is a good training programme in place to ensure that staff have the necessary skills to meet the complex and challenging needs of the children in their care.

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good

There are shortfalls in the interim manager’s overall monitoring and review systems. This is particularly in relation to risk management and children’s placement plans. The lack of this monitoring means that opportunities to improve the care for children are being missed.

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good

Children’s records do not contain the most relevant up-to-date information, such as looked after children review minutes and personal education plans. This reduces the Inspection report for children’s home: SC061924 5 true analysis and evaluation of the care provided for children and the impact on children’s outcomes. Inspection report for children’s home: SC061924 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 6 June 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 6 June 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 promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 6 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC061924 7 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)((a)(b) (2)(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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)) 6 June 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. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)) 6 June 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: SC061924 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Progressive Futures Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 22 Hoghton Street, Southport, Merseyside PR9 0PG

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Inspector

Rachael Crook, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC061924 9 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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