Children's Home run by The Together Trust in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC008575 1 SC008575 Registered provider: The Together Trust Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by a charitable organisation and provides care for up to five children who may have physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities. The home provides short-term breaks, together with long-term placements for a small number of children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2016.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 13 October 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: SC008575 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/10/2021 Full Good 04/12/2019 Full Good 08/01/2019 Full Good 29/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC008575 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for children who access the short-breaks service is carefully considered in line with the children’s individual needs. In preparation for short breaks, assessments are completed and visits to the home are supported. Children have a minimum of three visits to the home before they come to stay. Parents speak highly about the process and one child’s parent said, ‘I can’t praise them enough. It is extraordinary the work they complete. It is so detailed, and every eventuality is covered.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build positive, trusting and secure relationships with the staff who care for them. Staff are nurturing in their approach and spend quality time with children and know them well. Staff understand the individual needs of each child and know how best to support them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s well-being is at the centre of their practice. Children are provided with opportunities to take part in a wide variety of experiences and activities that are individual to their needs. Children’s achievements are recognised, celebrated and appropriately rewarded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are passionate about their work. They ensure that all children have positive experiences and are particularly proud of the progress that they make. One child has been helped to lose a significant amount of weight. As a result, the child’s health and quality of life have significantly improved. Recently, the child’s parent told staff that the child had enjoyed a zipline adventure and that their ‘personality has returned’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have an excellent understanding of each child’s preferred communication method and any aids that they may use. Children are supported to develop their communication, and the staff regularly liaise with schoolteachers to ensure that their approach is consistent with school. As a result, children are progressing and developing with their communication. One child can now confidently order lunch at school independently, using a communication device. The child can also ask friends what they would also like to eat.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education in the home is promoted. All children who live in the home attend school and are making good progress from their starting points. Those who access the short-breaks service are also supported by staff to work towards their educational targets, and staff regularly attend meetings about the children’s education.

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

When children have displayed behaviours of concern, these are recorded in an incident report. The records are detailed and provide a clear insight into the events that occurred and how staff managed the incident. Incidents have been managed Inspection report for children’s home: SC008575 4 appropriately and have been reviewed by the manager. This ensures that the manager has full oversight and can identify any possible learning outcomes to support the development of staff.

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

Investigations into allegations or suspicions of abuse are shared with the appropriate agencies and are handled fairly, quickly and in line with statutory guidance. When investigations take place, these are completed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. Investigation reports are completed. They are thorough and provide clear outcomes, including any identified learning points.

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

Medication storage and recording systems are effective. Discrepancies around medication are appropriately managed. When alerted to a medication error, the manager responded proactively. The manager completed an internal investigation and was able to identify learning outcomes. A clear action plan was implemented to reduce the likelihood of further medication errors.

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

Staff ensure that a thorough, structured handover meeting takes place every day. The meetings are led by experienced, qualified and knowledgeable staff. The staff use the meetings to pass on information from the previous day. They also hand over medication and complete medication audits. The staff use the meetings as an opportunity to plan each day effectively and ensure that children’s needs are met.

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good

The registered manager is experienced, suitably qualified, passionate and child- centred. She leads a stable and consistent staff team and is supported by an experienced assistant manager and an experienced team of senior support workers. Those who are in leadership roles share the same vision and ethos as the manager.

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good

The manager ensures that supervisions take place regularly and in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Staff are provided with opportunities to reflect on their practice and the care that they provide to children. Appraisals take place annually. These are self-reflective and provide feedback on performance from the manager. However, appraisals do not contain feedback from children and professionals.

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good

During the previous inspection, the manager and staff were supporting one young person who had turned 18 to prepare for a move into an adult provision. However, a significant amount of time has passed, the plan is still ongoing and a suitable placement is yet to be identified. Although the manager has challenged the local authority, this has not been effective. As a result, this young person continues to live in the children’s home and their opportunities to live more independently are limited. The manager has not fully considered the risks or effects associated with a young adult living in a children’s home. It is unclear how this risk is managed or what strategies are in place to support the children and the young adult living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008575 5 An assessment that considers risks associated with the location of the home is in place and up to date. However, the manager has not consulted with relevant

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good

agencies, such as the police in the local community, to obtain their views. The manager did recognise this during the inspection and shared the report with the local policing team to seek their views.

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good

The manager ensures that children who live permanently in the home have up-to- date plans in place from the local authority. The plans are used to inform their internal care plans, which are detailed and child-friendly. However, not all children who access the short-breaks service have a local authority plan in place. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008575 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 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 in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care

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Requirement Due date

in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation (14)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when children are being supported to prepare to move into adult care, the planning for this is effective. If there are any delays in the transition process, this must be appropriately challenged and, where appropriate, the registered person must escalate concerns to the relevant agencies.

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Requirement Due date

Also, the registered person must ensure that when children access the short-breaks service, there are clear care plans in place from the child’s local authority. 16 March 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. 16 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC008575 7 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when a child turns 18 and continues to live in the home, there must be a clear and robust risk management plan in place which is regularly reviewed.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should include the views of the children and external professionals when carrying out appraisals with staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that when conducting a review of the premises, they must consult and consider the views of relevant people. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: SC008575 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Together Trust Centre, Schools Hill, Cheadle SK8 1JE

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Inspector

Kimmy Feeley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC008575 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 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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