Children's home run by New Start in Sefton

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 1 SC409738

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home is registered to care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 21 September 2022

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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 these inspections, 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: SC409738 2

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The care of children

Children are cared for by a committed, consistent and nurturing staff team. Children enjoy warm, trusting relationships and have fun with the staff. They are starting to thrive, enjoying new experiences and making positive progress.

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The care of children

Staff work with other professionals to meet children’s holistic needs, including highly specialised healthcare and communication needs. This means that one child’s well- being and development are improving significantly.

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The care of children

Staff help children to understand changes that happen in their lives. They help children to enjoy new ways of spending time with members of their families.

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The care of children

Children share their wishes and feelings via a range of communication methods. The manager responds to their requests so that they feel valued and listened to.

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The care of children

Although staff understand children well, some plans would benefit from more clearly identifying children’s needs. The language used in some records is not always helpful for children to understand if they access their records in the future as it is outdated or uses jargon. However, the staff help children to understand how they are supporting them to achieve.

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The safety of children

Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities and follow individualised plans to keep them safe. Clear and consistent boundaries are in place to help children develop a sense of security.

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The safety of children

Appropriately high levels of supervision, taking into account children’s ages, mean that children do not go missing from the home. Staff know the procedures that they need to follow if such circumstances arise.

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The safety of children

Consequences used in response to negative behaviour are often natural ones to keep children safe. For example, an activity may be postponed until children are calmer. Staff help children to understand why consequences are used and how to behave better.

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The safety of children

Children are sometimes held to keep themselves or others from being hurt. However, on occasion, staff involved are debriefed together, which limits opportunities to reflect individually on practice or raise any concerns in confidence.

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The safety of children

Staff use alarms on bedroom doors at night when it is assessed they are needed to safeguard individual children after an incident. However, records do not clearly reflect how frequently this measure is reviewed to ensure that it remains justified. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 3

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has recently registered with Ofsted. He has made improvements to meet the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection. He has demonstrated learning to ensure that he and the staff know when to make referrals to external agencies in relation to safeguarding children. Systems have improved so that the staff receive any training relevant to children’s needs. In addition, care plans are kept up to date, the use of consequences is more restorative and any use of holds is appropriate and recorded in line with the regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The staff team brings a broad range of experience and skills to their practice. They access training to meet the individual and emerging needs of children effectively. Staff identify the skills that they need to develop through consultation with other professionals or via team meetings and supervision. However, not all supervision records capture reflective discussions well. One member of staff is not enrolled on the correct qualification for their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Management monitoring and oversight is more effective in identifying shortfalls and how to drive improvement. This helps to promote better outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Improved external monitoring would assist the manager’s understanding further. The independent person does not consistently seek the views of stakeholders. Behaviour management, including the effectiveness of consequences, is not always evaluated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

New recommendations are made at this inspection to continue to understand and drive improvements to practice. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/10/2021 Full Inadequate 14/07/2021 Full Inadequate 10/10/2019 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff supervision records clearly capture discussions of reflection on practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that children’s needs are clearly recorded in their plans and that the language used in records is helpful to the child so that they can understand what they mean if they read them at a later date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that records in relation to any limits on a child’s privacy, including the use of bedroom door alarms at night that are assessed as necessary as a safeguarding measure, include clear indication of the regular review of such measures to justify their continued use. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15,

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Recommendations

paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff are enrolled on a qualification that is relevant to their current role. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes a rigorous assessment of the practice in the home that consistently seeks the views of stakeholders and assesses all relevant information, including the use of consequences in managing children’s behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff consistently have the opportunity to review their practice on an individual basis following any use of holds to manage children’s behaviour, to identify any practice improvements or concerns. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’,

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Recommendations

page 49, paragraph 9.59) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 179 Townsend Lane, Clubmoor, Liverpool L13 9DY

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Inspector

Karen Willson, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 7 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 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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