Children's Home run by Mercia Children Services Limited in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2587763 1 Registered provider: Mercia Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately operated and registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since May 2022.

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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

Date of last inspection: 27 January 2022

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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: 2587763 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2587763 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in all aspects of their lives. Children’s plans are designed around their specific needs. This means that children receive personalised support from staff. Children say that the adults caring for them understand them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good attendance levels and achieve in their education settings. Staff understand children’s individual needs and education targets. This means that children receive the right support at home to make good progress in school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children regularly attend health appointments. When moving in, staff ensure that children are quickly registered with local doctors, dentists and any other identified services. Children’s routine health checks are up to date and their health needs are being met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use a trauma-informed approach to supporting children. The team receives regular clinical supervision and guidance from a psychologist. This helps staff to have a better therapeutic understanding of the reasons behind each child’s needs and vulnerabilities. Staff then support children to develop their own understanding of their life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a large, welcoming home. They are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms to reflect their own interests. The home is generally well maintained and modern, although there are some areas awaiting renovation. In particular, the garage, which is used for table tennis, and the rear games room need to be cleaned and decorated to be fit for use by the children. One child said, ‘There’s a lot of space that we don’t use, it would be good if it was all done up.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do not all have good-quality plans to help them through transitions. One child was not properly prepared for the reality of moving into foster care. This may have contributed to her return to the home. For another child approaching independence, there is no clear plan. Therefore, children are not being supported emotionally or practically through significant life changes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a range of activities and staff undertake regular key-work sessions. This is a valuable opportunity for children to develop their social skills and form strong bonds with staff. However, written records of these events lack detail. This is a missed opportunity to capture memories for children to look back on in the future.

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

Staff know how to keep children safe. They understand their role and responsibilities across a range of safeguarding scenarios and work as a team. This means that children feel safe and supported. Inspection report for children’s home: 2587763 4 Staff are consistent in their approach to behaviour management. Achievements, no matter how small, are always celebrated and negative consequences are rarely used. Children feel that they are valued and treated fairly.

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

Staff understand de-escalation techniques and use these skills well to prevent incidents escalating. Through this approach, children are being supported to develop better ways of managing their own emotions. This has led to a reduction in safeguarding incidents and a settled home environment.

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

Risk management plans do not always provide staff with clear steps to take. Not all staff are aware of all the risk management plans on file for each child. This has not had an impact on children, but has the potential to do so.

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

Staff use their understanding of children’s needs to prevent incidents rather than simply reacting to crises. Staff understand the robust missing-from-care protocol and act quickly to keep children safe. As a result, children have not been missing from home.

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

The registered manager quickly notifies all agencies when safeguarding concerns arise. Staff understand and follow safeguarding procedures. This effective communication ensures that all professionals have the information they need to keep children safe.

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

The manager considers each child’s needs carefully before they move in to decide if the staff team can keep all children safe. This matching process includes a thorough review of risks in the local area and the vulnerabilities of the children who already live in the home. This approach to the assessment of risk ensures that, even before a child moves in, the foundations for safety and success are in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. The manager has implemented some good systems for internal oversight and has a good understanding of the areas for improvement. The manager has completed a useful workforce development plan which will ensure that the care provided to children continues to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the management team. Staff regularly receive good-quality supervision. This provides staff with an opportunity to reflect on their practice and focus on continued professional development. As a result, a culture of learning has been developed within the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have been consistently cared for by a stable staff team. The manager makes efforts to ensure that children know the staff who are caring for them. This allows children to form warm and positive relationships with the adults looking after them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2587763 5 The registered manager has robust systems for safe recruitment in place. When new members of staff do join the team, there is a carefully planned induction process. This ensures that children’s safety and consistency of care is protected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff regularly complete training. This helps them to develop the skills and knowledge to offer a good standard of care. However, staff do not consistently complete training which is aimed to meet the needs of the specific children they are caring for. Also, the manager does not have a good system in place to easily monitor staff training. This is a missed opportunity for staff learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides an effective review of the quality of care. Feedback from children, their family members and professionals is a useful contribution. Robust analysis allows the manager to gain a good understanding of areas of improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2587763 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children’s risk assessments include clear instruction as to the actions to take if an incident was to occur.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must also make sure that staff are aware of the content of the risk assessments for each child. 1 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—

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to managers ensuring that staff are provided with training around the children’s specific needs. Also, that 20 December Inspection report for children’s home: 2587763 7 the registered manager should use an effective monitoring system to have oversight of staff training.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all areas of the home environment are fit for use. This includes the garage and games room, as they are used by the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that each child’s records represent a significant contribution to their life history. This is specifically in relation to writing up activities and key-work sessions in sufficient detail. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned so as to help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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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: 2587763 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Mercia Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bramhall House, 14 ACK Lane East, Bramhall, Stockport, Cheshire SK7 2BY

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Inspector

Nicola Shaw, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2587763 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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