Children's Home run by Teen-Works Care Limited in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 1 SC423460 Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2010.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 2 February 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/02/2022 Full Good 29/10/2019 Full Outstanding 04/09/2018 Full Outstanding 19/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 3

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improvement to be good

The home is warm and comfortable. There is plenty of space for the children to relax. The home reflects the interests of the children who live there. Children are encouraged to have input into the decorating of the home and their bedrooms. Their artwork is displayed on the walls.

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress. They are supported to develop trusting relationships with the staff team. All the children living in the home say that they enjoy living there. One child described the home as ‘chill and comforting’ and said, ‘I love living here. Staff are always very respectful and loving.’ Another child said that staff know how to support them and always listen when they have worries.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to access their education, despite this being a struggle for some children. When children are no longer of mandatory school age, they are supported to explore their options for further education, with consideration given to the child’s strengths and interests. As a result, children’s academic abilities are improving.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to take care of their health and hygiene. When needed, staff take children to health appointments and ensure that children take their medication. The staff team advocates for children to receive support for their emotional health. Children are helped to access varied and creative mental health services. This enables children to explore difficult emotions in a safe and relaxed environment.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to rebuild and develop relationships with people who are important to them. This helps children to build new relationships with family members and supports them to understand their family identity. Children enjoy spending time with their friends in the home and in the community. This enables children to maintain positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to develop basic skills in preparation for adulthood. Older children are helped to further improve a variety of skills that will be useful for them. This helps children to prepare for adult life.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and advocate for these needs to be met. One external professional said, ‘I love that this child is living there, they support them so well.’ Children say they feel safe living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 4 Risks for children are understood and staff know how each child prefers to be supported. Despite knowing their preferences, staff do not always adhere to children’s plans. This has, on occasion, resulted in an escalation of children’s behaviour and subsequent injuries to staff. Children’s plans are regularly updated to reflect their individual needs. However, these do not have clear strategies for staff to follow should an incident occur.

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improvement to be good

Children are settled in this home and have lived here for a long time. Staff have developed trusting relationships with children and provide consistent routines and boundaries. There has been a reduction in serious incidents. Staff have not had to hold children to keep them safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff work with children to help them understand how to keep themselves and others safe. However, when there have been incidents of bullying in the home, these have not always been robustly addressed to help the child understand how other children should be treated.

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improvement to be good

The management of allegations is not robust. Appropriate procedures were not followed after an allegation of harm and records lacked detail. Information has not been shared with relevant professionals and notifications have not been submitted to the regulator as required by regulation. This limits external oversight of safeguarding practices in the home.

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improvement to be good

Fire drills are held regularly to ensure children and staff know how to safely leave the home in the event of a fire. However, one casual member of staff has not been involved in fire drills at suitable intervals. This reduces their awareness of how to respond should a fire occur.

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good

The manager is suitably experienced. She is passionate about her role and genuinely cares about children. She understands the backgrounds of the children and the effect on their behaviour and emotional well-being. The manager is well liked and respected by the staff team and the children.

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good

Staff working with the children are experienced. Safer recruitment practices are followed. Staff are provided with appropriate training opportunities which are specific to the needs of the children living in the home. This ensures that all staff have suitable knowledge to safely work with vulnerable children.

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good

The staff team feels well supported and valued. Staff are provided with the opportunity to contribute to the development of practice in the home. They have regular supervision and attend monthly team meetings which they find helpful. One staff member said, ‘The support is amazing. The manager genuinely wants to help us.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 5 The manager has a number of systems in place to help maintain oversight of what is happening in the home. However, potential safeguarding issues have not been evaluated with sufficient scrutiny and impartiality. This limits oversight of safeguarding incidents and reduces opportunities for the manager to improve the quality of care provided to children.

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good

Children’s case records lack detail and do not always clearly reflect incidents or actions taken by the staff team. This prevents children from having a full and clear understanding of their journey in care. It also limits key information being shared with staff.

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good

The staff team works effectively with external agencies, communicating consistently with key professionals to meet the best interests of the children. When necessary, the manager challenges professionals and advocates for the children’s needs, wishes and feelings. One professional said of the staff team, ‘They’re nothing but supportive. They’re always there to help us meet the needs of these children.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 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 socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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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

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with 10 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 7 them; and

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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)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all incidents of bullying are taken seriously, and that follow-up work is undertaken regularly to teach children what is expected of them.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they have oversight of practice in the home. In addition, that patterns and trends and areas of learning are identified to enable continuous improvements in the home. 10 June 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)) 10 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 8 Specifically, that the registered person must ensure that staff follow each child’s agreed strategies, in line with their care plans.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff, including casual staff, take part in regular fire drills with the children living in the home. 10 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for liaison and co-operation with any local authority which are, or may be, making a child protection enquiry in relation to a child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about past abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the alleged abuse or neglect occurred;

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Requirement Due date

provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that all allegations are appropriately referred and recorded in line 10 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 9 with the allegation policy. Records must be clear and must fully detail the actions taken in response.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that all key events are fully recorded and include actions that staff have taken subsequently. 10 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 10 June 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are provided with clear guidance to respond to each child’s individual behaviours. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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: SC423460 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lonsdale & Marsh Ltd, Cotton House, Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9TX

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Inspector

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC423460 11 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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