Children's Home run by Frances House Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 1 SC403462 Registered provider: Frances House Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home registered for up to five children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children living in this home may have a range of social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2016. While the registered manager was on maternity leave, the deputy manager stepped into the role as manager and registered with Ofsted. The deputy manager is due to cancel her registration and resume her role as deputy manager now that the home’s manager has returned.

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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: SC403462 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/04/2021 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Inadequate 17/04/2018 Full Good 20/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 3

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improvement to be good

Most children have poor school attendance and are not achieving good outcomes in their education. Children lack consistent routines on school days, including when they are expected to engage in online work at home until a suitable school provision can be found. The manager liaises with schools and children’s social workers regularly; however, there are significant delays in securing education provisions for children. Children’s barriers to education are not thoroughly explored and incentives to engage in education and attend school are ineffective.

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improvement to be good

Children make progress in some areas of their lives, such as in building their confidence, reducing anxiety and improving independence skills. Children’s routine healthcare is monitored well by the staff team. External agencies are accessed to support children with any additional health needs. The staff team is proactive in encouraging children to engage with therapeutic work, especially when children have struggled in the past to work with mental health professionals.

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improvement to be good

Children are happy living at the home. Children have established positive and trusting relationships with the staff. They said that they feel genuinely cared for by a staff team that listens to them and understands their needs. Children said that they are involved in planning for their care and that staff endeavour to help them with their care needs.

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improvement to be good

Social workers are happy with children’s placements and the work that the staff team implements to help stabilise children’s behaviour and set safe boundaries. Family contact is promoted regularly. Children are supported to rebuild family relationships at their own pace.

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improvement to be good

Children’s views and wishes are reflected in child-focused care plans. Children also participate in regular house meetings to share their opinions about the care they receive. However, children are not given feedback from the manager about the outcomes of the meetings. This means that children do not see the results of their views being listened to or know whether any action is planned.

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improvement to be good

Improvements are being made to the internal decoration of the home and new soft furnishings have been purchased to make it more homely. Children’s bedrooms are also in the process of being decorated and individually personalised.

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improvement to be good

In the last year, children with complex safeguarding needs and high-risk behaviour have lived together at the home. This has meant that the staff team and the manager have been focused on reacting to serious incidents in order to safeguard Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 4 children. Although the staff team has been proactive in its safeguarding practice and has worked hard to keep children safe, this has had an impact on the outcomes for children in other areas of their care, such as in education.

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improvement to be good

The matching of children to the home is not always robust. On one occasion, the manager failed to provide evidence of effective care planning when placing a child at the home. The child had similar risk-taking behaviour to a child who was already living in the home. The two children’s placements ended due to this poor matching and the escalating risk-taking behaviour of all the children. Children have not always had positive experiences of leaving the home.

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improvement to be good

The manager does not consistently evaluate serious incidents and missing-from- home records. This is a missed opportunity to consider any lessons learned or to evidence the action that has been taken to safeguard the children involved. That said, when children do go missing from the home, staff take prompt action to try to return them home safely. Appropriate safeguarding measures are implemented by the staff team, and contact is made with relevant agencies to try to prevent further incidents.

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improvement to be good

There has been one serious incident of children fighting. Staff responded to the incident effectively and without delay. Although the police were called, no action was taken and instead an effective piece of restorative work was completed with the children, who remained in placement. Children reported that the home is now settled and there is not a bullying culture in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children said that they feel safe at the home and that staff help them to make safer choices. Direct work sessions are focused on reducing children’s risk-taking behaviour. They engage children well and are set at their individual age and level of understanding. Children have been helped to reduce risks associated with substance misuse and self-harm.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff are vigilant to signs of risk and exploitation. The staff team makes prompt referrals to external agencies to protect children from the risk of exploitation. The safe area risk assessment is thorough and reflects feedback obtained from relevant professionals about high-risk areas, known hotspots and unsafe trends in the community.

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improvement to be good

Risk-management plans provide staff with clear guidance to safeguard children. Safety support plans are individualised and identify strategies that are effective in supporting each child. Staff have a clear understanding of the risks for children and how they should respond to their behaviour. Children work well with de-escalation strategies that staff use and, because of this, restraint is rarely used.

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good

The manager has ensured that the staff team prioritised children’s safety during an unsettled period. The manager recognises that, now that the children have begun to Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 5 settle, there needs to be a more holistic approach to promoting positive outcomes for children in all areas of their lives.

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good

The senior management team knows the children well and has a nurturing approach. This is reflected in the staff team’s interaction with the children. The staff team has positive working relationships with placing authorities, and ensures that there is regular communication and sharing of information.

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good

Staff said that they are well supported by the management team and there is an open-door policy for both staff and children in the home. Staff morale has improved and they enjoy their roles. Following numerous staff changes in previous months, the manager now has a focus on sustaining the current staff team, to provide stability and continuity of care for children.

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good

Staff engage in regular practice-related supervisions. They are provided with up-to- date mandatory training, refresher courses and training that is specific to the needs of the children. Team meetings take place monthly; these are child-focused and provide staff with the opportunity to discuss new ideas to help children progress.

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good

Some serious-incident notifications are not being received by Ofsted in a timely way. Additionally, on occasions, several incidents have been combined and reported in one notification. This affects the regulator’s ability to have sufficient oversight of the home.

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good

The manager’s review of the quality-of-care report is evaluative. The report provides an oversight of the progress children have made and identifies areas for improvement.

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good

The independent visitor’s reports do not evidence regular feedback from children, staff and families to be able to provide a full evaluation of the quality of the service provided to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(viii)) 2 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

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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)) 2 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 7 Specifically, the registered manager should ensure that they complete a robust evaluation on all serious incident and missing-from-home reports, to review the effectiveness of staff practice and the quality of care provided to children.

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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))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, impact risk assessments should evidence that careful consideration is given to placing children together who have shared risks, and that clear strategies are identified to prevent or reduce these risks. 2 June 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;

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Requirement Due date

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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(e)) 2 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 2 June 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with feedback regarding their views and feelings shared at house meetings. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 8  The registered person should ensure that they demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted and that children receive the continuity of care that they need (regulation 31(1)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

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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: SC403462 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Frances House Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 73 Albert Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 0BP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pamela Forrester

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Emma Cooper Amy Mansfield

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC403462 10 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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