Children's home run by Social Care Services Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 1 SC400355 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 children’s home is run by a private organisation. It provides 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 has been registered with Ofsted since November 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: 9 and 10 August 2022

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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: SC400355 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/03/2022 Full Good 16/01/2020 Full Good 19/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care from a stable and committed staff team. They are supported to build trusting relationships with staff, who care about them. This helps children to develop a sense of belonging and underpins the progress they make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has left the home since the last inspection. The staff were unable to keep the child safe and give them the level of support required to meet their needs. The registered manager worked closely with the child’s social worker to maintain the child’s placement until it was no longer in the child’s best interests to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Pre-admission assessments to inform decision-making about children coming to live at the home do not evidence how the needs of children already living at the home are considered alongside the needs of children who are new to the home. This has not impacted on the two children currently living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some internal and external areas of the home appear tired and untidy. Children’s bedrooms are cluttered and there is insufficient space for them to store all their personal belongings. The living room is in need of redecoration and personalisation. Old furniture in the back garden needs removing. A requirement was made in relation to the environment of the home at the last inspection and this has been restated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are sought regularly. Their feedback is used to inform staff practice and contributes to the care they receive. This enables children to feel listened to and ensures that their voices are heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to understand and address their physical and emotional health through frequent one-to-one discussions with staff. Health plans are thorough and updated regularly. Children are supported to lead healthy lives.

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

Internal placement plans are thorough and child-centred. They provide children with a good understanding of the expectations of their care while living at the home and what staff will do to support them to make progress.

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

Children’s risk plans are individualised and give staff clear directions to follow to safeguard children. Staff are involved in regular multi-agency information-sharing and planning to reduce risks to children. When children go missing from the home, staff ensure that they are supported to return home safely. However, there are no systems in place to receive feedback from children’s independent return home interviews. This is a missed opportunity to gain further information to inform children’s care and reduce their risks in the community. Inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 4 There is clear and timely management oversight and evaluation of significant incidents for children. The oversight of incidents is used to provide a detailed reflective analysis and identify any learning to support staff in their care of children. The registered manager ensures that all serious incidents are notified to Ofsted in

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

Room searches and consequences for negative behaviours are used appropriately and proportionately. The rationale for actions and decision-making is clearly recorded and there is good management oversight. However, staff involved in these incidents are not routinely signing their account of the actions taken, and there is no evidence of input from children on these records. As a result, it is unclear whether children are aware of their records, and there is a lack of written accountability from staff for their practice.

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

The home’s daily logs are not always legible. This means that there is a lack of transparency for some records. This does not help children to access their records or to understand their care.

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

Safer recruitment practices are followed when recruiting new staff. There has been one complaint against a member of staff since the last inspection. This was dealt with swiftly and information was shared with the child’s placing authority and all relevant parties. These practices help to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified. He has been at the home for a number of years and is well established in his role. He is supported by an experienced and long-standing responsible individual. There is strong oversight and evaluation of practice from leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they work in a supportive environment. Staff receive good-quality supervision, which is focused on the children’s needs as well as their own development. New starters receive more frequent supervision in line with the provider’s supervision policy. Supervision records are comprehensive but are not always signed by managers or staff. As a result, there is a lack of formal agreement that issues discussed in these meetings are accurate and agreed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly. They are well structured and are well attended by the staff team. Team meetings encourage staff to reflect on their practice and the work undertaken with children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have undertaken a range of training to ensure that they can meet the needs of the children in their care. Staff hold the relevant qualifications and new staff are enrolled following the end of their probationary period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoke positively of both the face-to-face training and the online training that are available to support them in their roles and how they implement the training in Inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 5 practice. An example of this is how staff are using training from the child and adolescent mental health service to inform their care of a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works well with external professionals. He is able to challenge and escalate any concerns appropriately to avoid drift and delay for children and to ensure that their needs are met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(i) (2)(a)(i) (3)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that: - children’s bedrooms have sufficient storage for clothes and personal items - communal areas of the home are well maintained - old furniture is removed from the back garden and disposed of.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that pre-admission assessments provide a clear rationale for the matching of children new to the home with children already living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, handwritten records should be legible and staff should sign documents they have written. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 7 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to understand and regularly contribute to their care records in a way that reflects their voice. If children do not want to read or sign records, their views should be recorded by

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Recommendations

staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  The registered person should ensure that arrangements are in place with each placing local authority to receive information provided by return home interviews to assess risks and put arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that supervision records are signed by both the person giving the supervision and the staff member. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: SC400355 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: Social Care Services Group, 31 Shaw Road, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Annabella Foulkes

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Inspectors

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Helen Fee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC400355 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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