Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides therapeutic care for up to four children who experience difficulties relating to trauma. The provider offers support to children who have displayed harmful behaviour.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2019.

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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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm home which is clean and well maintained. Children can personalise their bedrooms, and there are photos of children around the home. Children say that they like living here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to stay active and healthy. They take children to all health appointments and advocate for their needs. Staff help children to identify activities they enjoy and take them to these regularly. Children are supported to attend mental health services. As a result, children’s self-esteem and mental health have improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take children to spend time with family and friends and encourage children to build these relationships. Staff also work hard to build positive and trusting relationships with the children. Staff maintain consistent boundaries so that children know what to expect. One child said, ‘No matter what, staff have never turned their back on me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s educational opportunities and encourage them to enrol on courses of interest. All children are attending education and speak positively about the things they are learning. Staff have supported children to attend school proms and residential trips away with school. As a result, children are making progress with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to stay safe in the community. However, staff do not always record how children are meeting their goals or how staff have assessed children’s readiness to move on with their plans. This is a missed opportunity to help children understand their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given consequences when needed to promote positive behaviour. Staff aim to use restorative consequences; however, some consequences are more punitive in nature. This does not encourage children to learn from their choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have moved to semi-independent living have done so in a planned and supported way. Staff provide ongoing and consistent support to children to help them learn independent living skills well in advance of a plan to move. This enables children to take care of themselves in adult life.

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

Children feel safe living in this home. The manager promotes a safeguarding culture and ensures that visitors are aware that safeguarding concerns are taken seriously. Staff are strong advocates who prioritise children’s safety and well-being. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 4 Children do not go missing from the home often. When they do go missing, all necessary safeguarding procedures are followed. When children return from being missing, staff talk to the child to understand their feelings and help them to think of different ways to respond in future. This enables children to feel heard and to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff regularly update children’s risk and support plans. This keeps information relevant to ensure that all staff know key information about how to keep children safe.

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

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort. When a physical intervention was used, staff did not speak afterwards to the child about how this made them feel. This does not support the child to discuss their views and feelings.

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

Allegations and children’s safety are taken seriously. When needed, staff raise concerns about children’s safety in the community and ensure that these concerns are followed up. This keeps children safe and supports them to better understand how to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced, qualified and has a genuine commitment to the children she cares for. She promotes a family-like environment and is a strong advocate for the children. One staff member said, ‘I feel honoured and privileged to be able to work in this home.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported. One staff member said that the manager goes ‘above and beyond’ for children and staff. Children and staff feel able to talk to the manager about any worries they might have. This promotes positive relationships and teamwork.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When recruiting staff, managers follow safer recruitment procedures to ensure that staff are fully vetted and safe to work with children. This promotes a safe and healthy environment for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable and suitably qualified. Staff receive supervision every six weeks to discuss the needs of the children and reflect on their own feelings and practice. Senior staff provide supervision to junior staff; however, those providing supervision do not have the relevant training needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are able to develop their practice through training that is specific to the needs of each child. All staff benefit from an annual appraisal, which helps to identify further learning opportunities. This ensures that staff have the knowledge and skills to care for children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals working with children say that staff keep them informed about children’s progress and achievements. Staff work well with other agencies to ensure Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 5 that children are kept safe and have the support they need. One child’s independent reviewing officer said, ‘Staff are behind [name of child] all the way.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has robust internal monitoring systems in place. She makes good use of independent monitoring each month to ensure that staff provide consistently good care to the children. This oversight promotes the safety and well-being of the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an assessment of the local area in place to determine areas of enjoyment and areas of risk for children. This assessment does not account for areas of risk in places further away which children could easily access. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that all staff providing supervision have received appropriate training. 17 January 2023

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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”)—

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Requirement Due date

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)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that children are spoken to following a restraint and that restraints are evaluated by someone who was not involved in the intervention. 17 January 2023

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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. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 17 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 7 Specifically, the registered person should ensure that records include assessments of children’s progress and evidence of how children are meeting their goals.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any risks to children outside of the immediate area are considered when transport links connect to areas of risk. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that children are supported to behave in a positive way with empathy and understanding. When children are told consequences will be restorative in nature, this should be followed through. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13)

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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: 2548403 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 9 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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