Children's Home run by Social Care Services Limited in Stockport

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 1 SC400355

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Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children with social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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The care of children

The two children living at the home at the time of the inspection have lived there for over 12 months.

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The care of children

The staff are managing very complicated and difficult family relationships, which are affecting children’s behaviours. Staff have tried many different interventions and engaged with other agencies over the last few months. For one child, this has not been successful. The situation for this child has declined, resulting in difficult and violent incidents.

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The care of children

There is much greater success with another child and, although family relationships are fragile, staff support, actions and the work of other agencies have brought about some stability and trusting relationships. One child said, ‘I am very happy here. The staff are great, they listen and help me where they can.’

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The care of children

Through constant support from staff and advocating on their behalf, both children have a school place and are attending. One child attends very regularly and is making good progress.

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The care of children

The home looks tired and some areas, particularly the hallway, require redecoration and minor maintenance. One child has asked the manager for their bedroom to be decorated and for additional storage for clothes and personal items. Although agreed, progress on this is slow and the child is frustrated by the wait.

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The safety of children

Staff take appropriate action to keep children as safe as they can. When children go missing, staff go out to look for them, including travelling frequently to the placing authority, which is 30 miles away and, on occasion, other parts of the country to look for children and encourage them to come home. One child has not been missing from the home for many weeks and has become more responsive to staff and their support, following a series of unfortunate and unforeseen incidents.

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The safety of children

No child has made a complaint since the last inspection.

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The safety of children

There have been several violent incidents at the home, and the staff have called for help from the police as they have been the subject of planned attacks. The manager recognises that this situation is getting worse, but understands why the incidents occur, and he and staff remain committed to safely care for the child concerned while there is ongoing discussion with social workers. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 3 Each child has a lengthy and very detailed written risk assessment and risk management plan. It is not clear how staff can identify quickly what action they should take to protect children, or how easy it is to update risk assessments with new strategies when the existing ones are no longer effective, given the frequent violent incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has met all the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

As a result of one recommendation, the manager has created a new form to ascertain children’s views about their placement plans. One child has engaged with this, and some changes have been made to their plans and care arrangements. The manager has also introduced different tools and activity sheets to vary the conversation and activities carried out in direct work sessions, which has led to more engagement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The home does not have enough staff, due to experienced staff leaving in the past few months. However, the vacancies are being covered by staff undertaking overtime and by staff from other homes within the organisation. This creates consistency for children, and the impact of this is limited as the children know the staff members. Two appointments have been made and the manager is hopeful that the new staff can start work soon.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The staff team is experienced, qualified and resilient. Staff reported that they are supported well by the manager, who holds regular staff meetings, briefings and reflective supervision sessions. The team has undertaken some training courses since the last inspection, and found the learning from one course on trauma and attachment has led to a greater insight into children’s’ needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

An independent person visits the home every month and completes a report, which the manager finds helpful in improving the quality of care. However, the reports are not submitted on time, which limits Ofsted’s ability to monitor the home effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has carried out a review of the quality of care, but this was submitted to Ofsted outside required timescales. The report does not include the views of children, their families or other professionals, or clear recommendations and actions the manager intends to take to improve the quality of care in the home. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/03/2022 Full Good 16/01/2020 Full Good 19/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 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 independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(a)) 28 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality-of-care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

Supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b) (3)(4)(a)) 31 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— 15 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 6 provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(i) (2)(a)(i) (3)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children’s bedrooms are decorated and that they have sufficient storage for clothes and personal items, and ensure that all areas of the home are decorated and well maintained.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should revise the risk assessments to ensure that the staff can easily and quickly read the details of the steps they will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Shaw Rd, Heaton Moor, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Annabella Foulkes

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Inspector

Helen Humphreys, His Majesty’s Inspector of Social Care Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 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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