Children's home run by Care Assist Children’s Services Limited in West Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 1 SC061678 Registered provider: Care Assist Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post who registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/04/2022 Full Good 07/12/2021 Full Inadequate 24/08/2021 Full Inadequate 12/12/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress in all aspects of their lives because of the highly individualised care and support that they receive from staff. Managers and staff know the children well; they are sensitive to each child’s individual needs and strive to deliver consistently good care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between children and staff are a strength in this home. Staff understand the importance of building relationships that are based on trust and respect for one another. Each child is treated with dignity by staff who respect their individuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to understand the importance of education and are encouraged to improve their attendance. When children are struggling to engage with their education, staff listen to them and help them to overcome any barriers to their learning. The manager and staff work in partnership with a range of external agencies to ensure that children’s educational needs are being met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop their independence skills. One child told the inspector, ‘I would not know how to do anything for myself if it wasn’t for the staff.’ The manager and staff have high aspirations for children and work with agencies to provide a range of learning and job opportunities for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well understood by the staff team. Children are encouraged to attend their routine appointments. When required, referrals to specialist services are made swiftly, to ensure that children have access to the right help and support in relation to their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of children having regular and positive time with their families. The manager and staff have built good relationships with parents. One parent said, ‘The manager goes above and beyond for the children and for us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities, such as boxing, trips out and going to youth clubs. These positive experiences support them to lead healthy lifestyles and provide opportunities for them to spend time with peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have not raised any complaints since moving to the home. They are provided with a children’s guide which includes the process for making complaints. However, the children’s guide has not been reviewed with children. The format of the guide is not child-friendly and the complaints procedure is not clear. Furthermore, children are not provided with sufficient information about advocacy support or how to access this. Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 4

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

Managers and staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe and take swift and effective action to minimise the risks to children.

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

Staff respond effectively and work collaboratively with partner agencies when children are missing from the home. Staff understand the risks to children when they are missing. There are clear and individualised plans to support children and to reduce these risks. Managers and staff recognise the individual risk factors which may indicate a child is at increasing risk of harm and take swift action to escalate concerns.

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

Staff help children understand how to keep safe. They educate children about risks so that children can make positive choices in relation to their health and well-being.

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

There have not been any incidents of restraint since the last inspection. This indicates that staff are able to de-escalate challenging behaviour effectively. Children are supported to develop appropriate coping strategies to manage their behaviour and feelings safely.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted by staff. Children are supported to understand the boundaries and expectations around safe and acceptable behaviour. Staff respond to children individually and implement rewards that are specific to them.

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

One consequence has been imposed since the last visit. The records of this measure do not contain the detail that is required by regulation. A requirement has been made to support improvements in recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced manager who demonstrates strong values and high ambition. The manager drives improvements in the quality of the care provided to children, by implementing thorough development plans and maximising opportunities to learn from practice and feedback.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager regularly reviews the quality of the care provided to children. Records of significant events are monitored effectively to ensure that staff are using these as learning opportunities and continually developing their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professional relationships are strong because the manager and staff work proactively with external agencies. These effective working relationships are ensuring high standards of care and promoting positive outcomes for the children who live in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager does not use agency staff in the home, which means that children are always cared for by staff who know them well. Staff are provided with a range of training that means they have the skills and knowledge to meet children’s needs. Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 5 Supervision practice is a strength. Supervision is regular and carried out in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Staff are encouraged to be reflective and this supports the development of good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has carried out a review of the quality of care provided by the home. A detailed report was submitted to Ofsted within timescales; however, it lacked consultation with children and stakeholders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are recruited in line with safer recruitment processes. However, one staff file did not contain relevant information about a staff member’s employment history. Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

how to make a complaint or representations in relation to the home or the care the child receives and how any such complaint or representations will be dealt with; and

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(b)(iii)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(iii)) 21 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 7 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the children’s guide is reviewed with children so that it contains information about the complaints procedure and advocacy support. Further to this, the registered person must ensure that this information is child-friendly.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the registered person obtains a full employment history for each staff member and a written explanation of any gaps and that they have a copy of relevant training certificates for each staff member. 21 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 21 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 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

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they speak to the staff member who has given the consequence and the child who has received the consequence, within the necessary timescale, to capture their views about the consequence.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and 21 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 9 any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. Specifically, the registered person should ensure that children’s views are regularly sought by the independent person. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC061678 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Assist Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 42 Crosby Road North, Liverpool L22 4QQ

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Inspector

Emma Thornton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC061678 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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