Children's Home run by A-Triangle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 1 Registered provider: A-Triangle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to two children.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. They spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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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: 2641790 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 3

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improvement to be good

Children living in the home make some progress in comparison to their individual starting points. However, their experiences are not always positive. A decision by the manager and responsible individual to introduce another child into the home without fully considering the needs of the child already living in the home had a detrimental impact on children’s experiences and progress. Staff were not able to safely meet the needs of both children. As a result, one child had to leave the home in an unplanned way.

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improvement to be good

The child living in the home feels listened to and is able to share their views through key discussions with staff and managers. The child has a copy of the children’s guide and knows how to complain. The child told the inspector, ‘I know the staff care. They do their best to help me to have happy days.’

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improvement to be good

In preparation for adult life, children are supported to develop their independence. They have opportunities to learn budgeting and life skills. The team promotes inclusion and acceptance and ensures children are able to express their identity. However, miscommunication across the team means approaches are not always consistent. This can be confusing and frustrating for children.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to pursue their interests and facilitate them attending activities and events regardless of the distance. The child benefits from caring for their own pet. This gives them a sense of responsibility and nurtures their ambition of working with animals in the future.

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improvement to be good

The team works closely with education providers to meet children’s educational needs. They have supported the child to visit colleges and to access practice-based education placements. However, on days when the child chooses to disengage, staff are not consistent in trying to encourage and motivate the child.

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improvement to be good

Children’s physical and emotional health needs are well understood. Children have access to specialist and routine health services. The manager proactively advocates for children to access mental health services as required. When this has not been possible, the organisation has offered to fund private therapy sessions for children.

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improvement to be good

The child is helped to develop a sense of belonging in the home. Their bedroom is personalised, and they have been involved in decorating some communal areas and choosing furnishings for the home. Despite efforts to create a welcoming environment for children, some internal and external areas of the home appear tired and would benefit from being refreshed and personalised. Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 4

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improvement to be good

The child living in the home says staff help to keep them safe. The child struggled when they were living with another child and told the inspector that, at times, they had felt unsafe. The child’s social worker was previously concerned about the staff’s ability to keep both children safe but believes staff are currently able to meet the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand children’s individual needs, but group living dynamics have not been fully understood. There was a significant increase in aggressive and high-level self-harming behaviours prior to the decision being made that it was not safe for both children to remain living in the home. Strategies to manage group living dynamics and reduce risks in the home were implemented by the team. However, shortfalls in de-escalation and child-specific training meant that, on occasion, the police were called to manage children’s behaviours. This is not only distressing for children, but it has the potential to result in children being criminalised. Relevant training has now been completed by the staff team.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of staff holding children to keep them safe are infrequent. However, it was identified during the inspection that records do not clearly identify the type of hold used and following one incident, a debrief had not taken place as required by regulation. This limits the manager’s oversight and reduces opportunities for reflection and learning.

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improvement to be good

Plans identify children’s vulnerabilities and risks and include strategies for staff to follow. They are regularly reviewed and updated but are not consistently followed, as staff do not always read updated plans. Some staff spoke about how the recent dynamics between children had meant they had not had the opportunity to read plans and were not aware of updates. This means staff are not always aware of strategies being used to keep children safe. The manager has oversight of all safeguarding incidents and ensures relevant partner agencies are informed.

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improvement to be good

The responsible individual and quality assurance officer have made changes to recruitment practices, but these are still not sufficiently robust and there is limited oversight from the manager. For example, pre-employment checks had not been fully completed prior to one member of staff starting their employment in the home. Failure to follow safer recruitment practices could result in children being cared for by adults who are not suitable.

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good

The home is being managed by an acting manager. She has not yet submitted her application to register with Ofsted. The manager is child-centred and has a clear vision for the home. She has started to introduce a number of improvements, but these have not yet been fully implemented. Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 5 The team is newly formed. The introduction of a second child meant additional staff were needed and some staff left to work elsewhere in the organisation. For the majority of staff, this is their first role in children’s residential childcare, and they do not hold the relevant qualification. However, the manager ensures that there is always at least one experienced member of staff working in the home. Agency staff are not used, and any shortfalls are covered by staff from within the organisation.

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good

Staff benefit from regular reflective supervision with the manager. They have access to a variety of generic and child-specific training courses. Additional courses have been identified to further develop their understanding of their role. The workforce plan has been updated.

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good

The manager is implementing processes to use internal and external monitoring systems to develop the service. The quality of care review is still within the timescale for completion, meaning the requirement set at the previous inspection could not be measured and has been restated.

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good

Four recommendations and one requirement made at the previous inspection have been met. Five of the requirements have not been met and have been restated. Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been restated 10 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

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; and 10 June 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 7 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)(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

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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)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that decision-making relating to children being accommodated in the home takes into consideration whether the child’s assessed needs can be met in the home and the impact of that placement on children already living in the home. In addition, ensure that children are supported to move into and on from the home in a planned way. 10 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— 10 June 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 8 a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(iv)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that records clearly reflect the measure of restraint used and that all users of the measure are spoken to within the required timeframe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been restated 10 June 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 9 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been restated 10 June 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the condition of the children’s home is maintained to a high standard throughout. Some internal and external areas of the home appear tired and would benefit from being refreshed and personalised. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that recordings are individualised and that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2641790 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A-Triangle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Crescent East, Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire FY5 3LJ

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Inspector

Caroline Bertram, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2641790 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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