Children's Home run by Bright Futures Care Limited in Halton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 1 Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by an independent company. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who may have learning disabilities, sensory impairment and social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, the home was operating without a registered manager.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 3

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improvement to be good

Currently, three children are living in the home. The children live in a bright, spacious home with modern furnishings throughout. Some communal areas are colourful and homely. Staff are developing other areas of the home to provide a more nurturing environment for children.

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improvement to be good

Children are now making good progress with their education and are settled in their home. An independent reviewing officer said that the staff team ‘has given [name of child] the professionalism, stability and support he needs to grow and develop’.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to manage their health needs. Staff encourage children to eat a healthy diet and they sit together with children at mealtimes. This promotes children’s physical and emotional health needs.

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improvement to be good

The quality of the care plans are inconsistent and some plans are not included in children’s files. This means that children’s plans and targets are not always clear. This may affect children’s outcomes.

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improvement to be good

The staff team helps children to maintain family time with the people who are important to them. There is a focus on establishing children’s support networks and links with agencies. This promotes the children’s emotional health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff create memory books for children while they are living in the home. These include photos of children’s overall experiences and positive activities. This contributes to children’s history and life-story work.

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improvement to be good

There have not been any incidents of children going missing from home in the reporting period. However, managers do not refer to children’s missing-from-home protocols in risk management plans. As a result, some staff are not clear how to respond if a child is missing from home.

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improvement to be good

Staff attend regular training courses. These provide them with the skills and knowledge to keep children safe. However, not all staff receive training to help them respond to children’s specific needs.

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improvement to be good

Communication between internal staff teams is inconsistent. As a result, leaders do not always update staff on children’s current risks. This creates shortfalls in the risk management process. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 4 All staff have suitable background checks before starting work at the home. This ensures that children are not placed at risk from unsuitable adults working at the home.

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improvement to be good

There is inconsistency in the quality of recording when staff use physical restraint. Records do not evidence that children are able to reflect on an incident with a member of staff who was not involved in the restraint. This is a missed opportunity to improve the team’s learning and practice.

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improvement to be good

The manager does not consistently review incidents. This means that the manager is not able to identify whether staff need to change their practice in response to incidents. It also prevents the manager from easily identifying trends and patterns in children’s behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Staff work closely with an in-house team of therapists. This helps staff develop strategies to manage children’s behavioural needs. As a result, children develop closer relationships with staff and respond positively to support.

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good

A new manager is now in post, he is not yet registered with Ofsted. He demonstrates a good understanding of his role and a commitment to improving children’s experiences and outcomes.

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good

Leaders and managers communicate well with parents. They provide regular feedback on children’s progress and highlight issues without delay. One parent said, ‘I can’t fault them. They’re brilliant with [name of child] and with us.’

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good

Leaders and managers do not challenge the placing authority effectively. This means that children’s plans are not always up to date and do not fully reflect their needs. In some cases, plans were not provided. This negatively affects multi-agency working and children’s progress.

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good

Inconsistent levels of staffing in some of the reporting period affected the continuity of care to children. Some staff did not have the right experience or skills to meet the needs of one child. This meant that one child’s needs could not be fully met.

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good

The manager is developing systems for monitoring and management oversight. This helps to keep health and safety checks up to date. It also helps to track children’s progress and improve general practice.

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good

Staff generally feel supported in their roles and attend regular supervision meetings with managers. They also attend team meetings to share their knowledge and discuss current issues. However, some staff are unable to attend full staff meetings and do not feel part of the wider team. This affects communication between staff and lowers staff morale. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 5 Staff are familiar with the internal whistle-blowing procedure. The managers include this in staff induction and training. However, some staff are reluctant to use the process. This causes delays in reporting allegations to the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 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, the 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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that all staff receive training to meet each child’s individual needs in order to reduce risk of harm, including PICA training. In addition, ensure that risk management plans are rigorously reviewed and updated and provide clear strategies for staff to follow. 4 November 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— 11 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 7 ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(c)(d)(e)(g)(ii))

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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.

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that each child has relevant plans in place from the beginning of their placement which clearly detail specific, achievable, child-focused outcomes. 4 November 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—

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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

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

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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")— 4 November 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 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 (3)(a)(iii)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that children are given an opportunity to express their feelings following a restraint, and that debriefs with children are not conducted by members of staff involved in the restraint. Furthermore, that managers evaluate each incident to identify trends and to improve practice.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that each child has a current education, health and care plan, and a copy of the placing authority’s care plan and placement plan. 4 November 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all areas of the home provide a welcoming and homely environment that meets the needs of its children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2652976 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Asher House, Barsbank Lane, Lymm WA13 0ED

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rachelle Russell

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Inspector

Mark Woodbridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 10 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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