Children's home run by Bright Futures Care Limited in Bolton

Inspection report children's home: SC456537 1 SC456537 Registered provider: Bright Futures 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 one of a number owned and managed by a private organisation. This home provides cares for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties, special educational needs and/or disabilities and/or sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement

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requires improvement

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Good 12/02/2020 Full Good 14/11/2018 Full Outstanding 08/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 3

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improvement

Staff are passionate about helping and supporting children in the home when they have experienced multiple placement breakdowns. However, one child’s complex and challenging needs could not be met by the staff team. An escalation in challenging behaviour resulted in the child and staff being unsafe in the home. Difficulties in finding an alternative placement resulted in the child moving out of the home to the hospital until an alternative placement could be sought. This did not support a positive ending for the child.

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improvement

The matching process for new children moving into the home is not always robust. Records do not demonstrate that the manager had completed a holistic review and considered the needs of the child coming to stay in the home alongside the other children already living in the home. In addition, the records used by the manager to consider the children’s suitability for the home had personal information relating to another child.

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improvement

Staff liaise with professionals and children’s families to develop a clear understanding of children’s needs. Staff visit children before they move into the home. This helps reduce any anxieties children may have about the move.

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improvement

Staff have built positive relationships with the children living in the home. Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities and, when children have communication difficulties, staff implement appropriate strategies to ensure that children are provided with opportunities to express themselves. As a result, children present as settled in the home.

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improvement

Staff support children to access appropriate educational placements. Staff understand the needs of most of the children and provide support as required. For one child, he is now able to attend school without the support of staff. However, education plans for children new to the home have not been received from the local authority. This means that staff do not have a full understanding of the children’s education targets and the required levels of support.

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improvement

The manager has developed health passports and health plans for children. However, statutory health assessments have not yet been obtained from children’s placing authorities for children who are new to the home. This does not ensure that all relevant information is known.

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improvement

Staff develop positive relationships with families. They involve families in the daily care planning for their children. Staff support children, as appropriate, to spend regular time with their families. They are flexible and responsive in their approach and facilitate requests by family members. This maintains important relationships for children. Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 4

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improvement

Risks for the children living in the home have been reduced. The positive relationships between staff and children have led to children being supported to express their emotions. Children have become increasingly settled living in the home. One social work professional commented, ‘There has been a significant decrease in extreme and complex behaviours for [name of child] since living in the home.’

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improvement

The number of incidents of staff physically holding children since the last inspection is high. Records reflect that staff have used physical interventions to safeguard the child from harming themselves and others. However, records do not provide a detailed rationale for the high level of intervention being used. Furthermore, debriefs with staff are not consistent after each incident of a child being physically held.

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improvement

Staff receive training to use physical intervention holds for children. However, some children have been held using advanced physical intervention techniques. Not all staff have had up-to-date training to this advanced level, including the manager. This means that staff have used holds with children that they have not been specifically trained to do.

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improvement

Children’s risk management plans and behaviour support plans include guidance for staff to follow. However, staff have used techniques to physically hold children that are not identified in their behaviour support plans. Furthermore, not all staff have signed to confirm that they have read and understand these plans. This means that staff may not have the knowledge and understanding of the children’s complex support needs.

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improvement

Staff practice is underpinned by the positive behaviour support model of care. Staff are trained in this when they start working in the home. Staff are provided with techniques and strategies to manage children’s behaviour. Regular consultations take place with the provider’s lead coaches. They support managers and staff to review children’s behaviour management plans and make any necessary changes based on children’s emerging behaviour.

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improvement

The registered manager employs staff by using safer recruitment processes that help prevent unsuitable adults from working in the home.

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improvement

The home has plenty of space for children to spend time with each other or alone, in line with their individual wishes and feelings. However, areas of the home require repair. Additionally, at the time of the inspection, one child’s bedroom had not been cleaned adequately following an incident of the child regurgitating food. Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is managed by a suitably experienced and qualified manager. She knows the children well. Staff comment that the manager is approachable and understands the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been several changes to the staff team since the last inspection. However, children are now supported by a full and established staff team. This means that children benefit from a consistent staff team supporting them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not ensured that new and existing staff are supported with regular supervision. Team meetings are undertaken; however, staff attendance at these is low. This prevents staff from having the opportunity to reflect on and consider their practice in the home and the progress of children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When issues with individual staff practice arise, the manager addresses them promptly. However, for one area of practice, there was a significant delay in the manager requesting additional training for staff in the use of physical interventions. This means that staff have been holding children without the level of training and knowledge required for a prolonged period of time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Professional development for staff is promoted, and staff are supported to progress. However, not all staff are up to date with training that is relevant to the children’s needs, specifically advanced behaviour management training and the use of physical interventions. This means that staff have been holding children without the level of training and knowledge required, including the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has oversight of the quality of care provided to children. She has developed health passports and pre-statutory review forms. Regular feedback is sought from children, parents and professionals. However, she has not escalated her concerns when children’s local authority plans and documentation are not received. In addition to this, despite monitoring the numbers of physical interventions in the home, the manager has not addressed this in a timely manner and ensured that staff, including herself, have received suitable training in advanced holds to safely care for a number of children in the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 I)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that all local authority documentation is in the children’s files and that concerns are escalated if requests to obtain these are not responded to. 13 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.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and 13 March 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 7 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)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children are not held by staff using unrecognised techniques, that staff have the appropriate training to physically hold children safely and that the manager ensures that all staff have read and understand children’s risk assessment and behaviour management records.

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that immediate action is taken to address unsafe staff practice and that staff have access to the appropriate training to meet the needs of children. 13 March 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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that plans are in place for children moving into and out of the home to ensure that the child’s needs can be met. 13 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 13 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 8 within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the registered manager evaluates the use of physical interventions to include the rationale for the intervention and that all staff are debriefed following incidents.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4) (b)) 13 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

* This requirement is subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any damage to the home is rectified promptly and that the children’s bedrooms are cleaned appropriately. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their needs. Specifically, ensure that team meetings take place on a regular basis and that all staff have the opportunity to attend. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC456537 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bright Futures Care Limited, Asher House, Barsbank Lane, Lymm WA13 0ED

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Inspector

Claire Hobbs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC456537 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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