Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in May 2019. There is a registered manager in post.

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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: 1 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: 2511662 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2022 Full Good 03/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and always place their well-being at the centre of their practice. The children say that if they have a problem, they can talk to the staff as they will listen.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a wide range of community-based activities, such as sports teams and scouts. They can also spend time with their friends. This means that children have age-appropriate social interactions and can build skills and strategies to form and maintain relationships and develop a sense of their own identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being needs are met, and they have access to health professionals when needed. When necessary, specialist external help is sourced in areas of care such as substance misuse, self-harm and mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is supported in line with relevant plans so that it meets children’s individual needs and they can maintain relationships which are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are always welcomed sensitively and with the best possible planning. There is a robust referral process which is used to assess the needs of children who already live in the home and the impact for children who may be new to the home. This ensures that there is a child-centred approach when making decisions about whether children live in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress with their education. When one child faced difficulties with their education provider, the manager and staff advocated on their behalf and ensured that the child’s educational needs are being met. The manager has taken swift action to ensure that a child who is new to the home has access to education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported and encouraged to explore their heritage and culture. They are provided with information and opportunities to experience different traditions to be able to make informed choices about their religious preferences.

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

Children’s individual risks are detailed in their risk assessments. These are robust documents which are frequently updated and give clear guidance to staff to ensure consistent responses to children’s behaviours. Staff understand the content in these documents and put it into practice.

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

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs and work collaboratively with the company’s therapist. As a result, one child’s self- harm behaviours have significantly reduced. Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 4 When children go missing from care, there are clear and comprehensive plans in place for staff to follow. The manager and staff work collaboratively with external professionals, such as the local police and missing-from-home team, to ensure well- coordinated responses. However, there was one occasion when a staff member did not follow these plans, which resulted in a delay in reporting the child missing from care.

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

Restraints are reasonable and proportionate. They are recorded appropriately, and all relevant professionals are notified. The manager has evaluated each incident, and children are given the opportunity for a debrief following an incident. However, these focus on the child’s behaviour and do not ensure that the child understands the reason why a hold was necessary.

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

The manager enlists the support from external agencies when needed to educate the children in topics such as exploitation, knife crime and substance misuse. This helps the children to learn how to keep themselves safe. Direct-work sessions are proactive but are also delivered in response to new risks that arise.

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

There are some shortfalls in recruitment processes. There is not sufficient information in regard to staff employment history. This does not adhere to safer recruitment processes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced manager in post, who shows an ambitious vision and has high expectations for what all children can achieve. The staff are positive about the manager and describe a supportive environment. Staff spoken to describe the manager as readily available to provide advice and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses internal and external monitoring of the home effectively and has a good vision for how he wants the home to develop. Leaders and the manager have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses, which enables them to take effective action when required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing is consistent. There is a core team of staff who are suitably trained in mandatory subjects and to meet the children’s individual needs. However, there are some training sessions which not all staff have completed, such as self-harm and domestic abuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. However, this is not always practice related and is a missed opportunity to review staff practice following significant events. It would also help staff to understand how their feelings affect their responses to children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that plans for children comprehensively identify their needs. However, they have not considered the local authority care plan for the child as they have not had access to up-to-date plans. Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 5 When children are having difficulties, the manager ensures that children’s plans are reviewed promptly with the placing authority and has considered the best next steps to take. When a child left the home, the manager and staff promoted a positive move and ensured that the welfare and well-being of the child remained a priority. Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 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, 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff supporting the children report children missing from care in line with agreed plans. 3 March 2023

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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.

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that current placing authority care plans are available. 3 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. 3 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 7 The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that a full employment history is on file for each staff member, including start and end dates of previous employment.

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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

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff practice is reviewed following significant events. 3 March 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

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)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that following a restraint, the child is spoken to about the reason the restraint has been necessary and that the staff involved have been spoken to about the use of the measure. 3 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 8

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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: 2511662 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool FY3 9DG

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Inspector

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2511662 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 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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