Residential Family Centre in Lancashire

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 three 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 assessment. Parenting assessments are usually completed over a 12-week period, but may be extended if agreed with the referring local authority and/or following court instruction.

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Information about this residential family centre

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2021, when the residential family centre became operational. This is the family centre’s first inspection since it registered.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

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

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: not applicable

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families are cared for by a nurturing and supportive staff team. Parents are responsive to the guidance that the staff team provides them. Most parents make progress and children thrive at the centre. Social workers are complimentary about the level of support provided to families and how this helps them to adapt to their role as a parent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

When families move into the centre, a contract of expectations is discussed with parents in a pre-placement meeting. The staff team works closely with placing authorities to ensure that parents understand the purpose of the assessment and to help families settle. When families move out of the centre, their transitions are planned and carefully considered. Some families continue with the provider’s therapeutic service, which helps promote positive change for families’ futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Placement plans are comprehensive. They reflect the assessment objectives agreed with the placing authority and they are regularly kept up to date. Parents say that they are involved in planning their care. However, the placement plans do not evidence parents’ views, feelings and wishes about the plans in place for their family. This is necessary as part of the ongoing parenting assessment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The staff team works closely with health visitors and the local authority nurse to ensure that the health needs of children and their parents are met. The staff team has strong links with specialist professionals and mental health agencies to ensure that parents have the support to be able to safely care for their child. The clinical team and therapists attend regular review of care meetings. They provide direct work for families and guidance for the staff team, to work effectively with parents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Final parenting assessments are of good quality. They highlight progress made, strengths and weaknesses, the current parental capacity, and any areas of safeguarding to consider. Teaching recommendations are relevant and guide future planning for families. Parents are provided with a teaching toolkit based on assessment recommendations. They are easy to understand and help track parents’ progress and parenting capacity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents’ views are listened to. They access support from independent advocates to support them during the assessment process. The staff team is proactive in accessing external groups for parents, such as male mental health groups, and voluntary work to promote parents’ self-esteem and help to reduce social anxiety. Additionally, key-work sessions are planned and meaningful. They help to improve parents’ understanding of routines and skills in parenting their child and link to the teaching recommendations made in assessments.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families have positive experiences of living together. This is because the matching of families is carefully considered and effectively planned. Impact risk assessments consider any shared risks by parents, the potential impact on other families when a new family is admitted, and the skills that staff require to support families effectively.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Risks for parents and their children are appropriately identified. Staff are provided with clear strategies to follow, to support parents to reduce risk-taking behaviour. Risk assessments inform the level of supervision necessary for parents, and this is kept under review throughout the placement. Consequently, staff have a good understanding of risks for families. Staff are good role models for parents to help them keep themselves and their children safe.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

There have been no serious incidents or parents having been reported to the police as missing from the centre. Chronology of events records are completed daily as part of the parenting assessment. These records identify any concerns regarding the parents’ presentation, mental health issues or parenting capabilities. They evidence that staff respond promptly and take appropriate action to ensure that children’s safety is not compromised.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Closed-circuit television (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. Parents are helped to understand the purpose of CCTV on admission, if there are any required changes to the level of monitoring and the reasons for these changes.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

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, which 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

A good practice recommendation has been made in relation to safer recruitment. The manager has not accounted for all gaps in employment in some staff members’ employment history, such as from when they left formal education. This is required to ensure that employment checks are robust.

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good

The manager is a qualified and registered social worker. Initially, she facilitated the parenting assessments. However, due to the lack of capacity to fulfil both the registered manager and assessing social worker role, the manager relinquished her responsibility for the parenting assessments. One family’s assessment is currently being completed by a senior staff member who is not a qualified social worker. Until alternative arrangements are made to employ a qualified assessing social worker, the manager is to resume responsibility for concluding the current parenting assessment.

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good

The manager has a good understanding of parents’ needs, risks and the progress they are making. She works hard to support parents to achieve positive outcomes, and this is reflected in the staff team approach. She is honest and transparent about the strengths and weaknesses of the service and has a clear vision of where the service needs to progress.

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good

Staff say that the senior team is approachable and supports them effectively. Staff morale is positive, and staff enjoy working with the families. The staff members’ confidence in their roles has improved. They support each other to develop skills and share good practice. The staff team is relatively stable. There are sufficient staff on shift to support families, and additional staff are brought in to meet the needs of families when necessary.

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good

Mandatory training is prioritised, and the manager ensures that staff attend regular refresher courses. Training that is specific to the needs of the families is accessed internally and from a wide range of professionals trained to deliver the specialised courses. The staff have a variety of transferable experiences and qualifications to bring to their roles. Furthermore, senior managers promote professional progression and development for all staff.

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good

Staff are provided with monthly supervisions and clinical supervisions to support them in their roles. Staff say these are beneficial to promoting positive practice and motivation. Team meetings are regular, they are well attended, and keep staff up to date on relevant issues for families and the operation of the centre.

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good

The manager completes effective monthly audits, which include full scrutiny of all the families’ case records. In addition to this, the manager’s review of the quality-of- care report provides a comprehensive evaluation of the progress and assessment outcomes for families. However, the independent person’s reports do not obtain regular feedback from parents and staff about the effectiveness of the service. There is also a significant delay in submitting the reports, which means the regulator is unable to monitor the progress of the centre at regular intervals.

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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 person must ensure that the parents’ capacity to respond to the children’s needs and to safeguard their welfare is monitored or assessed by a suitably qualified person in accordance with the requirements of this regulation. (Regulation 13A (1)) 17 June 2022

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider shall supply a copy of the report required to be made under paragraph (4)(c) to—

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Requirement Due date

the Chief Inspector. (Regulation 25 (1) (4)(a) (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, all reports on completion are sent to Ofsted without delay and they include regular feedback from parents and the staff team to provide full scrutiny of the service provided. 17 June 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff complete a written family placement plan, in consultation with the placing authority and agreed, so far as may be practicable, with the parent(s) and, if age appropriate, the child. (‘Residential family centres: national minimum standards’, 9.2 page 17)  The registered person should ensure that they consistently follow good recruitment practice, and all applicable current statutory requirements and guidance, in staff recruitment. This includes all requirements in Schedule 2 of the Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002, as amended. (‘Residential family centres: national minimum standards’, 14.2, page 22)

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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.

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Life Change Care Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered manager: Gillian Bostock-Kellar

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector 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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