Children's home run by Independent Living Services (North West) Limited in St. Helens

Inspection report for children's home: SC431192 1 SC431192 Registered provider: Independent Living Services (North West) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for four children. This may include children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in September 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living in 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

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: SC431192 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/08/2021 Full Good 26/02/2020 Full Outstanding 06/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC431192 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. The child was involved in the planning for her move, which meant she felt supported and was involved in decisions about her own care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are happy living in the home and that they receive support from those who care for them. The staff nurture children’s relationships with friends and family members, including inviting family members to the home for meals. This enables children to maintain relationships with friends and family, which supports their identity. One child’s mother said, ‘[The staff] have given me a role back in my daughter’s life.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are healthy. Staff support children to attend health appointments and understand their own health needs. All the children engage in education, except for one who is above compulsory education age. The home’s staff work closely with education staff to understand and overcome any barriers to children’s learning. Staff celebrate children’s achievements and help children to understand the progress they have made. Staff support children to pursue a range of hobbies and interests. This is developing their confidence and friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take part in their care reviews and planning meetings. Children feel listened to by those who care for them. Although children do not currently have any complaints or concerns, one child did not know how to make a complaint should they need to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff complete good-quality direct work with children, which supports children to understand their own experiences and feelings. Staff support children to learn independence skills in line with their age and care plan, which helps them to prepare for adulthood.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting children. Children’s plans give staff clear guidance on how to keep children safe. Children’s plans are written to them and include their comments. This supports children to understand why decisions are made about their care. An education safeguarding lead described staff as proactive in meeting the needs of the children, and that one child had told her that her home is where she feels safe.

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

Staff are successful at promoting children’s positive behaviour. For example, each child agrees with the manager what rewards and consequences should be used. This is reviewed on a monthly basis and helps children to understand what is expected of them. As a result, children’s behaviour in the home is generally settled. There has been no use of physical intervention since the last inspection. Inspection report for children's home: SC431192 4 Children say that they feel the rules in the home are fair. Staff support children to take age-appropriate risks. This includes children spending time in the community, travelling independently and playing sports. However, one child has an alarm on their bedroom door and the manager has not kept under review why this monitoring is needed to keep the child safe.

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

Despite children presenting as being happy in the home, they do sometimes go missing. When children go missing, staff take prompt action to locate them. When they return, children can speak to an independent person. Staff have a good understanding of why children go missing and are working hard to reduce these incidents.

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

Staff have put in place appropriate support for one child who has expressed thoughts of hurting herself. This included challenging health colleagues and the placing local authority, to put in place the necessary services to help the child.

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

Managers and staff search children’s bedrooms when there is a concern about children’s safety. However, staff do not always record the reason room searches are carried out. This means that the effectiveness of these room searches is not fully understood.

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

Staff do not understand what action to take if children refuse to take prescribed medications. The manager accepts that the medication policy should be updated to provide staff with a guide of what to do when medication is refused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced registered manager manages the home. She promotes a culture in which there are high expectations for the children. The manager has a clear understanding of the quality of care the children receive. She has effective monitoring systems in place and acts when shortfalls are identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works in partnership with external agencies to ensure that children are supported to reach their potential. This has included collaborating with the police to support one child to understand risks in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the manager. They take part in regular supervision sessions and team meetings. Staff have access to a range of training and learning opportunities. This ensures that they have the knowledge and skills to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that children’s plans identify their individual needs. She records actions for staff to take to meet the needs of children. However, records do not always include a clear timescale or name who is responsible for completing the set actions. Inspection report for children's home: SC431192 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 children’s views, wishes and feeling standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

has access to the children’s guide, and the home’s complaints procedure, when the child’s placement in the home is agreed and throughout the child’s stay in the home. (Regulation 7 (2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children being reminded of the complaints process while they are living in the home. 31 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medications received into the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

Medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and no other child. (Regulation 23 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to having arrangements in place to seek medical advice when a children refuses to take prescribed medication. 31 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children. (Regulation 24 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to using bedroom door alarms only for the purpose of safeguarding children. 31 July 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC431192 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of actions for staff to complete include clear timescales and name the person responsible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)  The registered person should ensure that records of all room searches include a clear reason why the room search was carried out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)

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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: SC431192 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Independent Living Services (North West) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lakeside, Prescot Road, St Helens, Lancashire WA10 3TP

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Inspector

Sally Griffiths, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC431192 8 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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