Children's Home run by Outbound Care in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2510201 1 Registered provider: Outbound Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2022. The manager is also registered for another home that is owned by the organisation.

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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

Date of last inspection: 7 February 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: 2510201 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2510201 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move into the home in a well-planned way. Staff work hard to develop positive relationships with children who are new to the home. Staff visit children in their home area and children visit the home before moving in. This supports children to become familiar with the staff and helps ease any anxieties they may have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager recognises when children’s needs are not being met and when the safety and well-being of the other children are compromised. He takes appropriate action to ensure that suitable alternative placements are identified. When children move on, staff work hard to support positive transitions for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children living in the home are settled and say that they enjoy living here. They both say that they want to stay here until they reach adulthood. The manager advocates for children when decisions are made about their futures that are against their wishes. This has led to one child being able to remain living in the home rather than returning to his home area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children living in the home are enrolled in full-time education. Staff work hard to promote children’s engagement with education when difficulties arise. Staff implement boundaries and structure for children to promote positive behaviour at school. Incentives are used to promote school attendance. The manager and staff advocate for children when education providers are not meeting their needs. Staff provide educational activities when children are unable to attend their education placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their family and friends safely and in line with their wishes and feelings. Staff work hard to support children to maintain their relationships with family members. One social work professional told the inspector, ‘Staff have done really well in helping [name of child] rebuild his relationship with his family.’ Staff develop positive relationships with children’s friends and family and welcome them into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been no complaints. However, children say they know how to make a complaint and can approach the staff if they have any issues. They feel listened to. They have access to an advocate who visits the home on a regular basis. Children know her well and are encouraged to speak with her.

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

Staff know the children well. They work hard to understand children’s individual needs and risks. However, risk assessment documents do not include all relevant risks for children. This means that staff do not have clear and detailed guidance to support children in all areas of need. Inspection report for children’s home: 2510201 4 Children say that they trust the staff and can talk to them about any concerns or worries. One social work professional said, ‘[Name of child] has developed good and trusting relationships with staff. [Name of child] feels safe and has opened up about previous traumatic experiences.’

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

Staff support children to access external therapeutic support in line with their wishes. Trusting relationships between staff and children support children to feel safe and secure in the home. This supports children’s engagement with therapeutic work.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted. Staff challenge any discriminatory or inappropriate behaviour. They work hard to educate and support children to manage their behaviour and feelings safely.

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

Incidents of children being missing from the home have reduced. When incidents do occur, they are managed well, and staff actively look for children. However, the recording of one incident lacks detail of how staff became aware of the child having left the home.

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

Incidents of physically holding children are rare. When incidents do occur, they are managed well. Children are held to ensure the safety of themselves and others. Debriefs take place with children after a restraint, and their views are obtained following incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified manager. He is committed to providing the best possible care to children. He knows the children well and is involved and engaged in the daily care provided to them. The manager has a good understanding of children’s progress and is prompt in identifying areas of unmet need. He challenges professionals when decisions are made that are not in the children’s best interests. He acts as an advocate for children when they do not feel listened to by professionals involved in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children provide regular feedback about their care. Questionnaires are regularly completed on all aspects of their experiences in the home. When issues are identified, the manager takes action to rectify these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works hard to create a warm and homely environment for the children. However, areas of the home appear tired and could benefit from some refurbishment. Furthermore, one child’s bedroom has not been redecorated following damage to the walls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are cared for by an established and stable staff team. Staff feel supported in their roles. The introduction of ‘employee of the month’ helps staff feel valued in their roles and motivated to provide the best possible care to the children. The Inspection report for children’s home: 2510201 5 manager is proactive and efficient in managing staff practice issues. He addresses difficulties in staff relationships well. Practice issues are discussed in team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager promotes the staff team to work collaboratively and consistently with the children at all times. There is a strong ethos in the home of shared ownership and responsibility among the staff. This provides children with a sense of stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with good training opportunities. Training was promptly sourced to meet the health needs of a child new to the home. However, not all staff have accessed additional training relevant to the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Quizzes during staff meetings support the manager to monitor staff’s knowledge and understanding on issues pertinent to the children in the home. When shortfalls in staff’s knowledge are identified, these are addressed using single-subject supervision sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is good internal and external monitoring of the home and care provided to the children. The manager has a good relationship with the independent visitor. He responds positively to feedback to support the development of the home moving forward. Inspection report for children’s home: 2510201 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children’s risk assessment documents include all relevant risks and that missing-from- home records include sufficient detail regarding incidents. In addition, ensure that swift action is taken to address the mould and the lack of heating in the bathroom and that the child’s bedroom is refurbished to rectify the damage to walls. 1 March 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all staff, including bank staff, can access appropriate training opportunities relevant to children’s needs (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report for children’s home: 2510201 7

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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: 2510201 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Outbound Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Metropolitan Business Park, Preston New Road, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 9LT

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Inspector

Claire Hobbs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2510201 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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