Children's Home run by Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 1 Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated home provides care for up to three children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (social and emotional difficulties).

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since July 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/06/2021 Full Good 04/11/2019 Full Good 05/03/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 3

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improvement to be good

There are two children currently living in the home. They said they feel happy and safe in the home. Children are supported to develop positive relationships with staff and with each other. One child told the inspector that staff help them a lot and that they have enjoyed their time at the home.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they can talk to staff and that they are listened to. Their views are considered, and they can share any concerns about improvements to the home, for example having a more varied choice of foods.

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improvement to be good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised and decorated to meet their individual needs. Children can receive incentives to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. However, expectations can be variable. This gives children mixed messages and undermines the boundaries in place to support them.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported by staff to have regular family time with people who are important to them. This is particularly helpful as one child has a plan to return to live with their parent. Staff encourage family members to visit the home. During the inspection, a parent visited and spoke to the inspector about the positive things staff are doing to help their child.

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improvement to be good

Children move into the home in a positive way. Their plans are individualised and include information in relation to goals and actions for staff to follow to support them. However, children have moved out of the home in a negative manner as sometimes the staff are not skilled to meet their needs. The manager has taken action to ensure that before children move into the home, their needs are now fully considered alongside the needs of children already living in the home and the skills of staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote children’s education. One child is due to sit their GCSEs and has plans to attend college. However, when children refuse to attend school, the planning is not robust enough, and they are allowed to stay in bed. When children are on a reduced timetable, there are no plans to create a routine that reflects a regular school day. This limits children’s educational opportunities.

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improvement to be good

There are risk and behaviour management plans in place that address children’s vulnerabilities. However, the manager does not evaluate the plans to ensure that strategies are understood by all staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 4 When children go missing from care, staff follow clear protocols. The relevant agencies are informed, and return interviews are undertaken to understand patterns. Children’s individual plans are clear and include contact details of family and friends. Staff are rigorous in their efforts to find children when they go missing. This helps children to be located sooner and reduces the chance of children being exposed to risks outside of the home.

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improvement to be good

Children are referred to specialist services quickly so that preventative work can be started. This demonstrates that the manager and staff can be proactive to ensure children receive the right service.

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improvement to be good

Staff engage children in direct work and key-work sessions to help them to manage their feelings. This includes discussions on things that are important to them. However, the impact of these discussions is unclear, and records do not help staff to understand children’s progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff activate door alarms on children’s bedrooms at night. Risk management plans demonstrate how children’s individual needs are considered, but these are not reviewed regularly to ensure that they reflect children’s current vulnerabilities and risks. This limits children’s privacy and has the potential to place children under unnecessary levels of surveillance.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have effective recruitment processes in place. This prevents unsuitable people from working with children.

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good

The manager has not submitted his application to register with Ofsted. He was previously the deputy manager in the home and knows the home and the children well.

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good

Staff describe the manager as approachable and supportive. Although he is relatively new to the role, the staff have seen improvements in the running of the home and enjoy working there. The responsible individual is aware that the manager requires structured support as he develops in his role.

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good

Staff are offered a comprehensive training package with a mixture of online and face-to-face training. Staff have recently completed child-specific training to enable them to develop their understanding of one child’s needs. The manager has a plan in place to address gaps in training to ensure that all staff are equipped with a range of skills. However, the workforce development plan does not include all the required information and needs to be updated.

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good

Staff supervision is not consistently held for all staff, and some staff have not had their performance reviewed annually. The manager has begun to make some improvements, but supervision is not reflective and is not recorded in a way that is helpful or reflective to staff, as progression cannot be determined. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 5 Team meetings now take place on a regular basis. The records demonstrate that these meetings are generally well attended, and children’s progress is noted. However, the records are not helpful as they are too brief to provide a clear understanding of how decisions are made.

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good

The quality of care and independent visitor reports have not been submitted to Ofsted in line with regulation. This prevents the regulator from having sufficient oversight of practice in the home.

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good

Shortfalls in management oversight were identified. Incidents have not been fully evaluated. This limits opportunities for managers to develop practice in the home. The manager has recently implemented monitoring systems to improve management oversight. However, these are not yet fully embedded, and their effectiveness is currently limited. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 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 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

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 27 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children are supported to make measurable progress towards achieving their education potential and are helped to do so.

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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 staff help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support through the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (2)(a)(viii) 27 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and 27 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 7 have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)).

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any limits to children’s privacy and access in the home, such as the use of bedroom door alarms, are for safeguarding purposes only. Any limits should be subject to a rigorous assessment of each child’s needs and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should have a workforce plan that can fulfil the requirements of regulation 1, schedule 1. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and be used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 1263425 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Shaw Rd, Heaton Moor, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Inspector

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1263425 9 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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