Children's home run by Embrace Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 1 Registered provider: Embrace Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider operates this home. The provider’s statement of purpose states that the home provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties. One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has been appointed but is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 23 February 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child lives in this home and continues to settle and build positive relationships with staff. The child said that staff listen, support them and help them with any challenges.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child benefits from good-quality care provided by the skilled staff team. Staff provide a caring and nurturing home. They ensure the child’s needs are well managed and monitored. High-quality care ensures that the child is making good progress in all areas of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to attend and make progress at school. Before living in this home, the child had missed a lot of school. Staff supported the child to attend part- time education. The child has now progressed to full-time education. When the child does not attend education, staff provide education in the home. Educational progress improves the child’s opportunities for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to become more independent, in line with their age and ability, for example, managing money, food preparation and tidying their bedroom. As a result, the child is becoming more confident and prepared for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the child’s time with family and friends. The child’s family say they are happy with the care that their child receives. One family member said, ‘I always get a good feeling when I am at the home, and staff make me feel welcome.’

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

Missing-from-home procedures are safe and effective. Staff follow missing-from- home protocols and contact the police to report concerns if a child is missing. They search for and maintain contact with the child and encourage them to return. This ensures the child is located and safely returned.

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

Complaints are well managed. Managers ensure that the child’s views are sought, and they take action to protect the child. Managers work well with external agencies. They seek advice and information. Managers will escalate concerns if they are unhappy with the response of stakeholders. This means staff promote children’s safety and well-being.

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

Physical restraints are rarely used. They are only used as a last resort to stop children from hurting themselves or others. Staff have good skills to spot the indicators of an incident and use de-escalation techniques to prevent incidents.

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

Leaders and managers follow safe recruitment procedures. This means all staff are safe to work with children. New staff benefit from a good induction programme. All Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 4 new staff have completed mandatory training, which includes safeguarding courses. These measures help to safeguard children.

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

The home environment is warm and welcoming. Staff carry out regular health and safety checks to ensure that the home is safe. However, during this inspection, fire doors were propped open. This would fail to prevent the spread of fire in an emergency.

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

The home has a location risk assessment but this lacks information from other agencies. This is a missed opportunity to gain a complete picture of the home’s location.

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good

The manager has been in post since February 2023 but is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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good

Feedback from external professionals is positive. One social worker stated: ‘This is a good place for this child. He has made lots of progress since being at the home. This is because they are a caring team. That makes the child feel valued and wanted, a bit like a member of the family.’

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good

All staff have completed their mandatory training. They receive training linked to the specific needs of the child. This equips staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their practice. This means children enjoy care from staff who are confident in their care practice.

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good

The child’s records are not up to date and do not include all relevant information. The records do not include the child’s local authority documents. This fails to provide a clear understanding of local authority plans for the child.

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good

The quality of individual supervision that staff receive is variable. Staff told the inspector that they feel supported. However, supervision sessions do not take place as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. The manager has not addressed this shortfall from the last inspection.

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good

The manager has not completed a quality of care review. This is a missed opportunity to consider the experiences of any child who lives in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 5

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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, The 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.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality-of-care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality-of- care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality-of-care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality-of-care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality-of-care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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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) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 30 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 6 In particular, the quality of care review report must consider the impact of the care provided on the lives of the children and their outcomes. The report must relate to one children’s home only and should be produced on a six-monthly basis.

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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

includes the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 (19)(20) in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the actions taken by staff to safeguard children are supported by the relevant local authority statutory plans and documents, including health information. 30 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. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that supervision is held at the intervals set out in the company policy. 31 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure the correct name is recorded and relevant parties are consulted. 31 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff do not wedge open designated fire doors. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2686253 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Embrace Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 116 Duke Street, Liverpool, Lancashire L1 5JW

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Inspectors

Sally Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Paul Scott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2686253 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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