Children's home run by Good Foundations Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 1 SC063318 Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and managed. The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager was absent at the time of the 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: 17 January 2023

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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: SC063318 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/01/2023 Full Good 03/11/2021 Full Good 29/10/2019 Full Good 19/12/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are four children currently living in the home. Since the last inspection, a new child has moved into the home. The child had the opportunity to visit the home and meet staff before moving in. This gradual transition helped the child to settle quickly. Feedback from parents and professionals indicates that the nurturing and supportive care provided by staff has enabled the child to settle and make progress in all areas of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they like living in the home, and that they have adults they can talk to and they feel listened to. One child said, ‘It is my home. I know I am safe here. Staff are always there for me and help me.’ Family members and professionals said that staff provide children with consistent, high-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to maintain relationships with their family and friends. Staff ensure that these arrangements are safe and arranged in line with the children’s care plans. However, not all children understand why they are unable to see specific people from their family. This means that some children have a gap in their personal history.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend school. Three children are engaging in appropriate education and are making progress. One education professional said, ‘Since [name of child] has been at [name of home], there has been a massive improvement in his behaviour, self-esteem and attendance; this links to the support from the staff in the home.’ Alternative provision for one child has been sourced. However, despite the manager implementing activity and education plans to support children’s learning and skills, one child spends extended periods in their bedroom during school hours. Staff do not actively encourage positive routines to promote a consistent and structured approach to learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote relationships between the children in the home through fun days out and holidays. The children enjoy these new experiences. Children are offered a variety of opportunities to engage in activities based on their individual interests. These include cadets, horse riding, bowling, baking and paddleboarding. Children’s confidence and social skills have increased through such activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming. Children’s bedrooms are personalised. This provides children with a sense of belonging. Staff support children to keep their personal space clean and tidy and develop their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for children and are proud of their achievements. Staff support children who are getting ready to move on to semi-independence to consider education and employment opportunities. However, clear plans for semi- independence are not in place for one child. This limits opportunities for staff to work alongside the child in preparation for the move from the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 4 Staff support children to attend appointments with external professionals to ensure that their health needs are met, including their emotional well-being. However, written plans and assessments relating to children’s health are not always available. This limits the ability of the manager to plan effectively to meet all children’s health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not challenge children who use e-cigarettes in the home. This is against the provider’s own policy and does not promote children to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

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

Staff talk to children about important aspects of their lives, including staying safe online, healthy relationships, risks from drug misuse and managing their emotional well-being. Staff use external resources, such as websites, to enhance children’s understanding of these topics. This work has helped one child to develop strategies to manage their emotional health and there has been a reduction in their self- injurious behaviours.

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

Staff understand the risks and vulnerabilities for children. Staff offer nurturing and supportive care that enhances relationships and minimises risks for children. Staff have created an environment where children feel safe to disclose abuse. Staff work with external professionals to ensure that information is shared and action is taken to safeguard children.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home have reduced. Written plans and procedures provide guidance for staff to follow when children go missing. However, staff are not clear about the action they should take when children are missing overnight. On one occasion, there was a period of seven hours, during the night, when staff did not take action to ensure the safety of a child.

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

Staff are trained in the safe administration of medication. Medication records are clear and staff detail when children have declined medication. However, staff do not record the reasons why children have declined medication. Staff consult with medical professionals to ensure that children’s medication is reviewed as necessary.

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

Children receive regular rewards. Staff work with children to create engaging reward systems to ensure that they are successful for children. Children understand expectations for behaviour and receive consistent care from staff. As a result, staff rarely use consequences. The manager reviews consequences to ensure that they are proportionate and effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A suitably experienced and qualified manager leads the home. An experienced deputy supports the manager. There is a dedicated and stable staff team in place, providing consistent care to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 5 The managers and staff have high aspirations for the children. Children said that staff and managers are always available and advocate for them. The managers and staff have positive relationships with external professionals and ensure that information is shared appropriately to meet the needs of the children. However, the manager does not challenge placing local authorities in a timely manner to ensure that children have relevant and up-to-date documents. This means that staff may not always know the most up-to-date plans for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the managers. Managers provide staff with opportunities to reflect on practice, talk about children’s needs and consider areas for learning and development through regular team meetings and supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training that is relevant to the needs of the children, including training around autism spectrum disorder, self-injurious behaviour and substance misuse. Managers encourage additional learning opportunities through monthly professional development sessions. Managers use external resources such as websites and presentations to share information with staff and to inform practice development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that children are regularly consulted about their home. Children feel able to share their thoughts and feelings and have been able to influence decisions, such as taking a longer summer holiday this year.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have systems in place to ensure that there is effective oversight of the home. The quality-of-care review has identified areas for improvement. However, the review does not always include the feedback of children, parents, staff and placing authorities to support practice improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that external monitoring takes place each month. However, the independent person does not routinely speak to the children to gain their views. This means that children do not have opportunities to share their opinions and influence the report or suggested actions to improve the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 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, 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff take effective action to safeguard children when they are missing from the home. The registered person must ensure that staff are aware of policies and procedures in place and that staff follow these to ensure the safety of children. 6 September 2023

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that— 6 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 7 the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff follow the home’s policy regarding children vaping in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational 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

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; 6 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 8 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 throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are provided with appropriate routines and structured activities that provide opportunities for them to learn and develop while they are not accessing formal education.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that relevant documents are received, in a timely way, from the placing authority to allow effective planning for individual children’s needs, including those who have a plan to move to semi- independence. 6 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that children are supported to understand decisions made in relation to family time. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.14)  The registered person should support the independent visitor to obtain feedback from children, their parents, relatives, key stakeholders and persons working at the home to enable them to assess all relevant information and form an impartial judgement about the quality of care the home provides. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.8)  The registered person should ensure that the quality-of-care review includes feedback from children, staff, parents and placing authorities. This will enhance reports and provide evidence regarding children’s experiences and the impact of these on their outcomes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including

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Recommendations

the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: SC063318 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspector

Jenni Gadsby, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC063318 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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