Children's Home run by Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children's home: 1263425 1 Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to care for up to two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home has been in operation since September 2018. The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2019. She is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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 children's home: 1263425 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/06/2021 Full Good 04/11/2019 Full Good 05/03/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1263425 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, six children have come to live at the home and five children have left the home. Some children have left to move to new homes in line with their care plans. Other children have left as the staff were unable to meet their needs and keep them safe. This high turnover of children coming in and out of the home means that opportunities for staff to make a positive difference to children’s lives is limited. Significant instability and inconsistency in the staff team has impacted on children’s ability to build trusting relationships with staff.

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improvement to be good

One child has recently come to live at the home. This was a planned move and a clear plan was put in place to introduce the child to the staff team. As the only child currently living at the home, the child has been able to choose his bedroom. He has been out with staff and bought paint of his choice to redecorate and furnish the room to his tastes. This helps the child to develop a sense of belonging and builds relationships with the staff team.

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improvement to be good

The child currently living at the home has a very limited education timetable. When he is not at his educational provision, there is nothing in place to support his learning. Although the child’s care records say that staff will contact his education provider for work on the days he is not in formal education, this does not happen. He is not being provided with a clear timetable of educational activities to complete at home during school hours. As a result, the child’s days lack structure and he is not being supported back into formal learning.

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improvement to be good

The child is not being provided with clear and consistent boundaries. Although it was an agreed expectation when the child came to live at the home that he would hand his phone in at night, he has refused to do this. He is now allowed to have this with him throughout the night. This does not help to safeguard the child, who is considered at risk of exploitation. It also means his sleep patterns are disrupted. He is awake during the night and wants to sleep during the day, when he should be attending education.

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improvement to be good

The child is being supported by staff to have a positive sense of self-worth and express his individuality. The child has been provided with information about local resources to meet his emotional and social needs. Although he is not currently choosing to engage with these services, staff continue to promote these resources, and ensure that the child has the information he needs to make informed decisions.

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improvement to be good

There have been occasions in the reporting period when staff have locked the door to the kitchen at night without any written assessment to support this practice being in place. As a result, children have not had reasonable access to all areas of the home as is expected in a family environment. Inspection report children's home: 1263425 4

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improvement to be good

Staff lack a clear understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of the child. The child’s risk management plans identify that the child is at high risk of going missing from home and from sexual exploitation. There is a risk reduction plan in place to address missing from home incidences. There is no risk reduction plan in place to address the risk of sexual exploitation. As a result, staff do not have agreed actions and strategies in place to reduce and respond to these known risks.

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improvement to be good

Staff told the inspector they were aware of the child’s risk of missing from home, but they were unsure if he was at risk of sexual exploitation. The registered manager has not ensured that staff have been given clear written and verbal information about these important issues. The registered manager was uncertain if the child has a worker from the complex safeguarding team involved with his care. Staff, including the registered manager, do not have all the information they need to safeguard the child.

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improvement to be good

The child’s care records contain numerous errors. The child’s name has been spelled incorrectly throughout his placement plan. The wrong child’s name is in some reports. Records contain professional jargon which is not helpful to children. This does not demonstrate that staff understand the importance of children’s care records. It does not help children reading their records to feel valued. The quality and accuracy of care records was raised as a requirement at the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention has been used appropriately by staff to help a child previously living at the home who self-harmed. These interventions were used to stop the child harming herself and reduce the risk of further harm. This practice helped staff build a positive and trusting relationship with the child.

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improvement to be good

Staff have been trained to respond to children who self-harm with ligatures. Staff have had no additional specialist face-to-face training to help them understand and meet the needs of children with complex emotional health needs. This places children and staff in a vulnerable position.

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improvement to be good

A number of serious incidents have not been notified to Ofsted. These include children missing from care, children involved in serious self-harming incidents and children making threats against staff which led to police being called to the home, as staff feared for their own safety. This lack of information sharing, as required by regulation, hinders the opportunity for Ofsted to evaluate the quality of practice and assess if the correct actions have been taken to safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

Allegations made by children against staff are responded to swiftly and appropriately. Information is shared with the local authority, Ofsted and all relevant services. This ensures that children are safeguarded and staff are supported while allegations are investigated. Safer recruitment processes are followed by the provider and all reasonable actions are undertaken to make sure children are cared for safely. Inspection report children's home: 1263425 5

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good

Leadership and management of the home lacks effectiveness. None of the requirements made at the last inspection have been met. Leaders and managers are not providing sufficiently robust management oversight of practice which addresses shortfalls and drives improvement.

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good

The registered manager’s review of the quality of care does not provide a good quality evaluation of practice and the progress of children. It is not being provided to Ofsted in a timely manner. These issues were raised as a requirement at the last inspection.

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good

An independent person visits the home monthly to provide external scrutiny of practice. These visits provide challenge and support for the registered manager and there is some evidence of her learning from the recommendations made by the independent visitor. The reports from these visits are still not being sent to Ofsted in a timely manner and some reports are not received at all. This was also raised as a requirement at the last inspection.

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good

There has been a high turnover of staff. One result of this has been the registered manager not having a stable senior staff team in place to support her in her work. A new senior worker has now moved from another of the provider’s homes to begin to rebuild the senior staff team. This provides additional support to staff and oversight of the quality of care children are experiencing.

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good

Staff receive regular one-to-one supervision and team meetings also take place regularly. The quality of these individual and team meetings is variable. Supervision meetings are not always used to reflect on the experience and progress of children.

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good

One member of staff who started his employment two months ago has not yet had a supervision meeting which focuses on the needs of the child and his skills in meeting these needs. His supervision meetings have focused solely on tasks and processes in the home. Team meetings are not used to develop the team and to encourage reflective practice. As a result, the registered manager is not using this time with staff effectively to improve practice in the home.

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good

Staff receive face-to-face training in relation to the provider’s model of behaviour support, which includes physical intervention. All other training is being provided through e-learning. The registered manager does not have processes in place to review the effectiveness of training and the impact on the practice of staff. As a result, she does not know if this training is providing staff with the skills and knowledge they need to safeguard children and provide them with a good quality of care. Inspection report children's home: 1263425 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 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 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 that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the registered person should ensure that the language used in records is child-centred and there are processes in place to encourage children to read and add to their records.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the registered person should ensure that the information contained in records is accurate.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 August 2022

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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. 30 September Inspection report children's home: 1263425 7 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 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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b) and (5))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1)(7)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 August 2022 Inspection report children's home: 1263425 8 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—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, in relation to the skills of staff, the registered person should: - ensure that staff have good quality training to understand and respond effectively to children’s mental health needs, including self-harming behaviours. - have systems in place to review the effectiveness of training and the impact on the practice of staff. 31 August 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— that staff—

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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; 31 July 2022 Inspection report children's home: 1263425 9 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the registered person ensures that risk assessments and risk reduction plans identify and address all known risks and that staff read and understand these plans and act upon them.

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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; 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 an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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)(c)(d)(i)(ii) and (e)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises— is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv)) 31 July 2022 Inspection report children's home: 1263425 10 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the door to the kitchen is not locked at night unless there is a serious risk which is supported by a written risk assessment.

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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 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)(viii)(x) and (b)) 31/07/2022

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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 children's home: 1263425 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Shaw Rd, Heaton Moor, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1263425 12 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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