Children's Home run by Your Chapter Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 1 Registered provider: Your Chapter Holdings Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. The provider states in their statement of purpose that they provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in May 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people 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 children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 30/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/03/2020 Full Good 12/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at this home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved on to live independently and one child has moved in. Children’s moves into the home are well planned and sensitive to children’s needs. Children were happy to speak to inspectors and wanted to be part of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop good relationships with their staff team, enabling them to talk openly about their feelings. This helps children to develop social skills while building resilience and self-confidence. Children contribute to their plans, and they are involved in care planning. For example, one child’s placement plan includes the child’s views. However, children spoken to were not aware of the goals staff are supporting them to achieve. This affects children’s ability to reflect on their progress and experiences. Staff also need to improve how they support children to develop their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s education. Children who have previously not engaged in education are now attending suitable provisions. The manager was instrumental in sourcing a suitable provision for one child and inspectors saw evidence of good partnership working.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in various activities that promote their talents, hobbies and interests. Staff are sensitive to children’s individual needs, and they encourage them to safely try new activities. This has increased children’s self-esteem and supported them to manage new situations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being are promoted by staff. Statutory health assessments have been completed, and children are supported to attend required medical appointments. This had led to improvements in children’s physical health and dental care. However, some information in one child’s health plan is contradictory, and the plan is not consistently updated. This makes it difficult for staff to fully understand the child’s health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been decorated and new furniture purchased. There are photographs of children enjoying activities throughout the home. This makes the home feel more homely. Children have had the opportunity to decorate and personalise their bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to children moving into the home, leaders and managers have considered each child’s individual needs. However, assessments do not demonstrate that the location of the home has been considered or include clear rationale around the decision- making process. Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 4

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are safe and well cared for. Individual risk assessments are followed by all staff, and strategies are effective in ensuring that children are safe. Appropriate safety and monitoring measures are in place to ensure that children are safe, including when they use the internet.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are trained in de-escalation techniques, and these interventions are effective in preventing incidents from escalating. Incident reports are detailed and include any lessons learned to improve practice. Staff listen to children and help them to reflect on incidents. This promotes children’s self-awareness and helps them to manage their behaviour. This helps to prevent incidents from recurring.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Physical intervention is rare and only used as a last resort to keep children safe. However, one record included the incorrect date and did not include a debrief with the child about the hold used. Therefore, this record does not demonstrate that the child’s views were considered.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff respond proactively when children go missing from their home. Staff work closely with other agencies in order to locate children and ensure that they are safe. Strategies for staff to follow are clearly recorded and easy to understand. Staff support children to understand risks in their lives and help them to develop strategies to keep themselves safe. As a result, there has been a reduction in incidents.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The registered manager reviews children’s risk management plans after every incident. In addition, the manger also completes weekly and monthly audits to ensure that all risks are identified and appropriately managed. This promotes good communication across the team and provides consistent care for children.

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good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. The manager knows each of the children well, and he has created a warm and nurturing environment and a positive ethos among the team. Staff are child centred in their approach. Staff feel supported and talk positively about the manager as being a strong, supportive and caring leader.

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good

The manager works well with professionals. The inspectors saw evidence of proactive challenge to external agencies when decisions were not felt to be in children’s best interests. This shows persistence from the manager in the best interests of the children.

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good

Supervision sessions are completed in line with the provider’s statement of purpose and are valued by the staff team. Staff are suitably trained to meet the children’s individual needs. They have engaged in a wide range of training that supports them Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 5 to develop their knowledge of current issues affecting children in society. This has enabled staff to educate and empower children by developing their knowledge.

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good

The registered manager regularly monitors the quality of care. He works closely with the independent person and acts on the recommendations from their monthly reports. This helps to develop practice and improve outcomes for children.

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good

Leaders and managers regularly review children’s plans. They work closely with placing authorities to discuss children’s changing needs. This ensures that plans are up-to-date and meet the children’s needs. However, not all records are signed and dated by the author.

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good

Leaders and managers have not improved parts of the home environment in order to ensure that sleeping accommodation for staff provides them with privacy and allows children access to all rooms in their home. This is having an impact on children. One child told inspectors that at times he feels ‘trapped’ in his own home. This was identified at the previous inspection and subsequent monitoring visit when a requirement was made. Therefore, this requirement is repeated for the third time. This has impacted on the judgement in this area.

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good

Although safer recruitment practices for staff working at the home are followed, when a member of staff has a criminal conviction, the risk assessment completed by the provider is poor and does not consider or evaluate any associated risks. This does not impact on children’s safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that robust risk assessments are in place if a member of staff has a known criminal conviction. 31 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

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)(iii)(iv)) 31 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 7 This is particularly in relation to staff sleeping arrangements. Children need to have access to all areas of their home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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")— 31 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 8 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; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 36 (1) (a)(b)(c)) 31 October 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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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: 1240843 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Your Chapter Holdings Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hobart House, Oakwater Avenue, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3SR

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Inspectors

Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Nichola Croft, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1240843 10 regulates and inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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