Children's home run by Inspire Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 1 Registered provider: Inspire Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company and provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022.

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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

Date of last inspection: 16 December 2021

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/12/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, there were two children living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children attend school regularly. There is frequent communication between the staff and education providers.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the children to maintain good physical health. Children are encouraged to eat healthily and engage in outdoor activities.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to see their family. This is helping the children to develop their sense of identity and self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a range of activities. One child goes to football training each week and another child goes trampolining. This is helping the children to learn new skills and enjoy different experiences.

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improvement to be good

Individual sessions are carried out with children on important issues such as peer relationships, self-injury and school. However, the records do not always include the children’s understanding of the topics and how the sessions will help them.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not have the current copy of all the children’s relevant plans, including the placing authority’s care plan, the health assessment and the education, health and care plan. Therefore, staff do not have access to up-to-date information about the children. This limits the staff’s ability to support the children and their development and to measure the children’s progress accurately from when they moved in.

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improvement to be good

The home environment needs to be improved. The downstairs bathroom sealant is mouldy and needs replacing. The hall and stair walls require repainting in some areas.

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improvement to be good

Children living in the home say that they feel safe. They said that they can talk to staff about any worries they have.

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improvement to be good

Staff are clear about what to do when a child goes missing. However, the records do not always detail how a child is located and the outcome. This makes it difficult for managers to fully understand what happened and put effective measures in place to reduce the likelihood of the child going missing again. Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 4 Risk assessments are in place. However, these are not always reviewed and updated following serious incidents. This does not demonstrate safe caring practices for children living in the home.

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improvement to be good

The supervision levels of the children are not clear in the risk assessments and plans. One social worker said that a child needs one-to-one supervision. However, the manager said that this was not his understanding. This discrepancy means that care planning lacks clear strategies to manage any potential risks and meet the individual needs of the children so that they can live safely together.

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improvement to be good

Restraint is only used in accordance with the legislative framework to protect the child and those around them. All incidents are reviewed, recorded and monitored, and the child’s views are sought. However, the child is not always provided with an opportunity to talk about what happened with someone who was not involved in the incident.

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improvement to be good

Pre-admission planning is not always robust. Information was lacking prior to a child moving into the home. This meant that the manager admitted a child without fully understanding how the staff needed to keep the child safe. This also affected other children who were placed in unsafe situations.

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good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified manager. However, the manager is not always there as he divides his time with another home. The rota showed that some weeks the manager works from 10am to 4pm when he is at the home. There is currently no deputy manager in place. This means that the management oversight of all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home is insufficient.

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good

Effective monitoring and review systems are not yet in place. Management oversight of safeguarding concerns, difficult situations and children’s views, wishes and feelings is not always evident. This means that the manager and staff do not always identify and act on shortfalls to improve the quality of care that children receive.

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good

There has been a high turnover of staff since the last inspection, and there remain two full-time vacancies. Staff work hard to cover the gaps in the rotas. Staff from other homes have been used to cover the shortfalls, but this does not ensure that children receive continuity of care.

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good

Staff say that they are supported well and have regular supervision. Team meetings take place most months.

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good

All staff have completed training in the use of physical intervention and de- escalation techniques. Some staff have completed training specific to the children’s needs. Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that children’s relevant plans are obtained from the placing local authority to inform care planning to meet the children’s needs. 28 December

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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 that staff—

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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; and

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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)(a)(i)(b)) 28 December Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 6 This relates to the registered person ensuring that there are robust assessments of risk and risk management plans in place which are updated following serious incidents.

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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; and

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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)(e)(f)(g)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager needing to have robust systems in place to monitor and review the children’s plans and their progress in accordance with their relevant plans. 28 December

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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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and 28 December Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 7 ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager ensuring that there is a full staff team in place that can provide a consistency of care for the children which meets their needs and keeps them safe.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure-

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager ensuring that pre-admission planning robustly considers the needs of any new child and those of all children already living in the home and how any risks can be minimised. 28 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s record of the event includes a clear description of the action taken and the outcome of the incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14)  The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable. It is good practice for the child to have an opportunity to discuss what happened with someone who was not directly involved with the incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children and is a homely, domestic environment. In particular, the provider needs to ensure that the walls Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 8 in the hallways are maintained to a good standard and the downstairs bathroom sealant is replaced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including 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: 2594033 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 3 Craig Court, Standish Street, St Helens, Merseyside WA10 1GJ

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Inspector

Dawn Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2594033 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 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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