Setting run by Shap Limited in St. Helens

Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 1 Shap Limited Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre is registered to accommodate up to two families at any one time. The residential family centre is privately owned. Families access the centre at the direction of the family court or the local authority for the purposes of a twelve week assessment.

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Information about this residential family centre

The previous registered manager left her position in August 2021. The residential family centre currently has no registered manager. An acting manager was appointed in February 2022. She has not yet applied to Ofsted for registration.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account

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good

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of previous inspection: 5 December 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the inspection in December 2019, when the residential family centre was judged to be inadequate, the provider was served two compliance notices, under regulation 8 and regulation 12. A monitoring visit was undertaken in January 2020. The inspector at that visit found that both compliance notices had been met . Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families develop positive and trusting relationships with a staff team that provides nurturing care. Parents feel happy in the centre, they feel listened to and they value the guidance that the staff team provides them with. Social workers reported that the staff team is invested in the families and they are committed to supporting progress. Consequently, children are thriving and parents are making positive progress in their parenting skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

When families move into the centre, the staff team works closely with placing authorities to ensure that parents understand the purpose of the assessment. A contract of expectations is discussed with parents in a pre-placement meeting. When families move out of the centre, the staff team liaises with social workers and personal advisers to ensure that careful consideration is given to implementing the agreed plans and to identifying the ongoing support that parents and their children require.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff encourage parents to develop their parenting skills and help prepare them for their future. This includes encouraging them to keep on top of daily household chores, working on their independence skills and supporting them to develop consistent daily routines, such as feeding and bedtime routines. The staff team works with health visitors to support parents and their children with maintaining good health. They also ensure that routine health appointments are attended.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Key-work sessions provide parents with the opportunity to discuss their progress openly and honestly with the staff team. Direct work is guided by the ongoing parenting assessment. The work is focused on identifying parents’ strengths and addressing any areas of concern. Parents say that these sessions improve their confidence and their knowledge in areas such as childhood illnesses.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Final assessments are carried out by a qualified social worker and are of good quality. The assessments highlight parents’ strengths and weaknesses, their current parental capacity, any concerns relating to safeguarding and recommendations for improvement. Parents are fully involved in their assessments and their views about their progress are regularly obtained. The assessing social worker helps parents to understand the assessment process and the recommendations made about their parenting skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre provides fully furnished accommodation for families. Each family has their own separate self-contained two-floor flat. Some areas of the accommodation require refurbishing, such as redecorating rooms that are looking tired and worn. There are some cracks in walls and ceilings that also need addressing. Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 3

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The staff team provides parents with support and guidance to help keep their child and themselves safe. Staff are positive role models and provide consistent boundaries for parents to be able to follow. Parents are helped to access mental health services and develop their understanding of the impact of domestic abuse. The staff team also has direct links to external agencies, who work with parents to reduce risks such as substance misuse and vulnerability to abusive relationships.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Matching assessments reflect the risks shared by social workers at referral stages. Appropriate control measures are identified to support families and keep them safe. Parents are given a clear induction to the centre, which includes expectations relating to acceptable behaviour. Risk assessments provide staff with clear guidance about how risks for parents and their children should be managed.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Cause for concern records evidence that appropriate and prompt action is taken by staff to ensure the safety of children and to further educate parents. Following any serious concern, including if a parent is missing from the centre, safety plans are reviewed with relevant safeguarding professionals and strategies implemented to prevent future occurrences. These include regular drug testing, an increase in closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring, reducing unsupervised time in the community and introducing waking nights.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

One concern about staff practice has been raised by a parent. Senior managers were transparent in their response. The parent declined the opportunity to formalise their concerns. A restorative discussion was enabled between the parent and the staff member to resolve the issue effectively.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

CCTV is only used to monitor families where and when necessary. Agreements for monitoring parents and their children are needs led and based on risk levels. When they arrive at the centre, parents are helped to understand the use of CCTV and its purpose. The staff team monitors families safely and when required uses CCTV to help parents reflect on progress made or discuss any concerning parenting during the assessment period.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The operations manager is developing a safe area risk assessment, to identify areas of concern related to exploitation, how to access police support services and the availability of additional agencies to support parents. This demonstrates a proactive approach to safeguarding.

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good

There have been some significant changes to the management structure. The registered manager left her role and the operations manager has been overseeing the centre. The deputy manager has been promoted to acting manager. She has not yet applied for registration with Ofsted. The acting manager and assessing social Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 4 worker collectively know the parents and their children well. They understand the capabilities and areas for development required by individual families.

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good

Case files are not complete. The inspector found that the placing authority placement plan, letter of instruction and up-to-date court order was not on file for one family. Senior managers evidenced that they have requested these documents on several occasions. However, they have not escalated their requests effectively to ensure that they have these documents. These records are required so that staff are clear about the courts and placing authorities’ objectives and to support families effectively.

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good

The acting manager’s oversight of internal records has not been robust. One internal placement plan lacks detail and does not provide a full oversight of the family’s needs, strategies to minimise risk and work completed with the parent to assess their parental capacity. Additionally, the plan does not include parents’ views about their placement.

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good

The staff team is provided with lots of opportunities for training and development, including training courses that are specific to the needs of the families. However, the staff team has not completed training in the management of medication. Although the staff are not responsible for administering medication, they are responsible for completing medication administration records, accounting for medication errors and disposing of medication safely.

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good

Staff receive regular supervisions to review their practice and discuss the care provided to families. Team meetings take place weekly, providing regular opportunities for the staff team to discuss each family’s strengths, areas of support and planned work they require. The staff team participates well in the meetings and demonstrates that they advocate on behalf of the families.

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good

Staff feel supported by senior managers. They are positive about the acting manager’s ability to lead the staff team and implement her vision. Team morale is positive and staff say that they enjoy working with the families. There have been minimal changes to the core staff team since the last inspection, which has provided continuity of care for families.

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good

The quality of the independent person’s reports requires some improvements. The reports do not provide clear evaluation of the conduct of the centre and do not include regular feedback from parents and staff about the effectiveness of the service. There is a significant delay in submitting reports, which means the regulator is unable to monitor the progress of the centre at regular intervals. That said, a six- monthly monitoring report provides a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of care and a clear action plan to address areas for development in the coming months. Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 5

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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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider shall appoint an individual to manage a residential family centre if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the residential family centre. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)) 23 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall, before providing a family with accommodation in the residential family centre, or if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as possible thereafter, draw up in consultation with the placing authority a written plan (in these Regulations referred to as "the placement plan") setting out, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

the facilities and services to be provided during the course of the placement;

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Requirement Due date

the objectives and intended outcome of the placement;

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Requirement Due date

an assessment of the risks, if any, which a resident at the residential family centre may present to their own health, safety and welfare or that of other residents or staff at the centre.

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Requirement Due date

In preparing or reviewing the placement plan the registered person shall, so far as practicable—

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Requirement Due date

seek and take account of the views of the members of the family. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(c) (3)(a)) 9 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall maintain in respect of each family accommodated in the residential family centre a record which—

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Requirement Due date

includes the information, documents and other records specified in Schedule 3 relating to the members of the family. (Regulation 19 (1)(a)) 9 June 2022 Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 6 This relates specifically to the placing authority placement plan, an up-to-date court order and a letter of expectations evidenced on each family’s files. When these are not provided by the placing authority, the provider should escalate their requests effectively to obtain these documents.

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Requirement Due date

Where the registered provider is an individual but is not in day-to-day charge of the residential family centre, he shall visit the residential family centre in accordance with this regulation.

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Requirement Due date

The person carrying out the visit shall—

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Requirement Due date

interview, with their consent and in private, such of the residents and persons working at the residential family centre as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the residential family centre. (Regulation 25 (1) (4)(a)(b)(c)) 9 June 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the centre provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated. (‘Residential family centres NMS’, page 19, 11.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are equipped with the skills, and have the experience required, to meet the needs of the parents and their children and the purpose of the centre. (‘Residential family centres NMS’, page 25, 16.1)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 7

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lakeside Building, Prescott Road, St Helens WA10 3TT

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Selina Cooper House 8 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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