Children's Home run by Cherish Children’s Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2547761 1 Registered provider: Cherish Children’s Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children home is operated by a private company and is registered to care for up to three children with social and emotional issues.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 17 November 2021

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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: 2547761 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2547761 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are progressing well from their starting points. One child has been supported to re-establish important contact that they have not had for some time. This is important to them and will support them to feel a stronger sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend education, and staff are creative in finding resources that work for each individual child. A child who had been out of the education system for some time prior to living in the home has increased their attendance to over 90%. This is a big step forward and will support them in learning for the future and give opportunities to build their self-esteem and meet with peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have regular opportunities to speak to staff and for their opinions to be heard and wishes acted on. They meet with staff together and as individuals. A social worker for a child said that since the child has been in the home, the child has ‘found their voice’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend important health appointments and help them to make decisions about their health needs. This means that children stay healthy and learn to make positive decisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When appropriate, children are helped in developing independence skills. They are learning how to care for themselves in the home, navigate local transport, learn to budget and plan their meals. This helps to prepare the children for when they grow up and live independently.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always manage children’s relationships effectively, which has led to opportunities for them to enter into inappropriate behaviour. Risk assessments do not take into account the potential for this behaviour to happen.

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improvement to be good

A child was missing from care on several occasions. Staff did try hard to manage this behaviour and were persistent in keeping in touch with the child. Records of the incidents lack analysis. Staff were not able to identify the root cause of this behaviour and prevent the child from being missing from care.

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improvement to be good

The manager did not notify Ofsted when there were significant concerns relating to a young child’s frequent incidents of going missing from home.

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improvement to be good

Staff offer lots of different incentives for good behaviour. There has only been one incidence of needing to physically hold a child in the last three years. Inspection report for children’s home: 2547761 4 Safer recruitment policies are followed. This ensures that staff are suitably vetted to work with children.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they have trusted staff members who they can speak to and that they feel safe in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear about children’s progress and is ambitious for their futures. Children have individual care plans, which are aligned with the local authorities’ care plans. Children say what they want to happen, and the manager acts on this. One child has asked to stay at the home until they reach adulthood, and the manager is supporting them with this wish. Children feel listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He knows the areas that he needs to work on. Some staff have left since the previous inspection, but there is a stable core group of staff that have worked in the children’s home for some time. Having a stable group of carers helps the children to feel secure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a detailed training programme in place, which all staff attend. A therapeutic practitioner spends two days a week at the home and offers both staff and children support. This helps staff to learn how to manage the children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals say that they have good communication with the manager and that they are kept informed about the children. It is helpful for children that everyone is working towards the same goal and is kept informed of any changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager promotes equality and diversity. He challenged homophobic behaviour and spent time explaining to children why some groups of people experience discrimination. This will support children in their future interactions with the world.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision is not regular and, when it is held, it does not regularly give the staff the opportunity to debrief and reflect on their work with the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2547761 5

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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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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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) (e))

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Requirement Due date

This pertains to serious concerns over a child’s missing behaviour, particularly where the child is at heightened risk due to their age and the frequency of missing episodes. 20 February 2023

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(b)(iii)(e)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to appropriate supervision of children in the home to ensure that they do not have the opportunity to enter into harmful behaviour towards each other. 20 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2547761 6

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Recommendation

 The responsible person should ensure that staff are offered regular supervision of their practice to support them to reflect on their work with the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs 13.2)

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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: 2547761 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherish Children’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8, Skyways Commercial Campus, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 3RS

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Inspector

Cathy Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2547761 8 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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