Children's Home run by Family Care Associates Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 1 SC020595 Registered provider: Family Care Associates 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 by a private company, and it is registered to care for four children who have had adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager in post, who took up position in September 2022. Ofsted is currently processing her application for registration.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/04/2021 Full Outstanding 20/11/2019 Full Good 13/11/2018 Full Good 08/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. The children are progressing in their emotional and behavioural development. Staff work hard to form positive relationships with the children and build trust. The staff talk to the children with positive regard and appropriate warmth. This individualised care enables children to thrive. As a result of these positive relationships, children are open with the staff and seek support when they are anxious and upset.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s emotional and physical health needs are supported by staff who work with multi-agency specialists. Staff and the clinical team work collaboratively to produce detailed and insightful care plans. The work they do both supports and celebrates children’s achievements and sets new targets to ensure that children continue to make good progress. This joined-up approach is key to helping children to cope with adverse experiences. Children are helped to develop strategies to manage and regulate their emotions. Staff know the children well and are sensitive to their previous trauma and experiences. The routines and support offered by staff have helped children establish better sleep routines and eating patterns. Children’s health is improved as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make children’s education a high priority. Children regularly access educational provision. One child is working towards achieving their GCSEs. Additional educational support is provided for this child to achieve their goal. One child, who had been out of school before moving to the home, is now accessing education. The managers and leaders of the home have strongly challenged education professionals to ensure that the child has access to education. In addition, staff have supported the child to establish a new daily routine that has resulted in excellent attendance and engagement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see and spend time with people who are important to them. This includes making suitable arrangements to meet family members who live a considerable distance from the home. Staff are flexible in supporting such arrangements by providing activities and transport. This ensures that important relationships are maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s social and community interests are encouraged and supported. Children attend individual clubs and participate in competitions. Children have received awards and recognition at their clubs for their wonderful achievements and talents. Children’s successes are celebrated in the home by the staff, who demonstrate their immense pride.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager generally ensures that the home is well maintained. Some areas of the home, however, require improvement. This detracts from the homely, welcoming environment for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 4

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and procedures. They understand the individual needs of the children and their risk management plans. The risks for children have reduced while living at this home. However, following an incident involving a child’s threat to harm himself, there was a lack of immediate safety planning. Staff were unaware of and did not follow the written guidance or additional measures referred to in the child’s risk assessment. While this did not result in the child experiencing any harm, it can lead to inconsistencies in practice.

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

Staff undertake regular direct work with the children. This enables children to better understand issues of tolerance and differences between themselves and others. When there are conflicts between children, staff support positive relationships. The staff encourage this by undertaking individual key-work sessions with the children. This could have been strengthened through specific restorative work.

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

Children benefit from clear boundaries and consistent care that helps them to maintain their progress. However, consequences for poor behaviour have not always had management oversight to review them and ensure that they are effective.

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

Staff respond effectively to incidents when children are missing from home. Strong partnership working helps to ensure that children return safely. Children have the opportunity to engage in independent return interviews. This enables children to discuss their reasons for going missing and allows the home to capture any learning. Missing-from-home episodes are therefore becoming less frequent.

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

The manager responds quickly to children’s complaints and ensures that children are satisfied with the outcome. However, on one occasion, the home’s safeguarding procedure was not followed after a child made a complaint, which resulted in other partners not having full transparency and oversight.

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

The manager’s approach to safer recruitment processes is strong. This helps to protect children from exposure to adults who may pose a risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is highly motivated and committed to ensuring that children receive excellent care. She is supported by the responsible individual, and together they drive a highly professional, caring and nurturing ethos. The manager is ambitious for the children’s futures, has excellent relationships with the children and understands their individual needs. She shares her knowledge with the staff team and leads with high standards and expectations. Her enthusiasm influences the staff team, who share her drive for achieving good outcomes for the children. This is confirmed by other professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 5 There has been a high turnover of staff, which has been challenging. The manager has been proactive in covering shift patterns with new staff and a role model of care practices, to promote consistency for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training to help them care for children. This includes bespoke training by the internal therapy team, who meet regularly with the staff and deliver specific training that helps staff understand children’s specific needs and early childhood experiences. The staff report that the training helps them to understand children’s behaviour and how best to support them. Regular team meetings help to promote consistency, reflective practice, and supportive relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality supervision, which supports them in undertaking their roles effectively. The praise and thanks they receive from the manager make staff feel appreciated. Staff thrive on this good support and feel confident in their roles. Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iv)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to promoting children’s positive relationships and managing conflict appropriately within the home. 6 April 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.

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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; 6 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 7 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; 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)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that risk assessments identify all known risks for each child, provide thorough guidance to staff on how to manage the risks and that staff follow these plans.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that any safeguarding concerns are raised with the relevant professionals.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is maintained to a high standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that any sanctions have good oversight to ensure that they help children recognise the impact of their behaviour. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 46, paragraph 9.38).

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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: SC020595 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Family Care Associates Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Business Centre, 60 School Lane, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire PR5 6QE

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Inspectors

Glenis Staiger-Grant, Social Care Inspector Jessica Forshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC020595 9 inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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