Children's Home run by Pelican Care Group Limited in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 1 Registered provider: Pelican Care Group 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 and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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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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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has not been in work since February 2023. The acting manager is applying to register 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 requires improvement to be 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: 2686658 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with well-planned, highly personalised care that promotes their needs effectively. This has contributed to improved stability and outcomes for one of the children. The child’s social worker informed the inspectors that they were happy with the child’s progress and had no complaints about their care or experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a diverse range of positive activities, and their interests and hobbies are promoted by staff. Children enjoy good relationships with adults who support them effectively. A child said, ‘It’s fun. Everything puts a smile on my face. It’s cool, funny and active.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children living at the home are currently home tutored. The educational engagement of children is generally positive. Staff are in the process of securing a suitable educational provision to promote children’s learning and educational achievement. In the meantime, staff are supporting one child to engage positively with home tutoring. However, one child’s education, health and care plan (EHC plan) was not available to staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children make good progress in relation to their individual starting points. However, despite initially making good progress, a child has recently become increasingly unsettled, despite the staff’s best efforts to keep them safe. Consequently, the manager has informed the child’s placing authority that they can no longer meet the child’s emerging needs safely. This decision was not taken lightly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to the health services that they need. This includes therapeutic support to promote their psychological and emotional well-being. Staff ensure that children attend their routine health appointments and have their annual health needs assessments completed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to spend time with family to ensure that children sustain their close relationships with the people that are most important to them. Staff take steps to identify and increase the time that children can spend with family when this is appropriate.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 4 Staff promote the safety of children and have a good understanding of their specific needs and vulnerabilities. Safe working practices are supported by clear risk management plans, which promote the safety of children.

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improvement to be good

Staff are trained to support children with any difficulties they may have safely and effectively. There have not been any restraints since the last inspection. The use of consequences to address negative behaviour is fair and proportionate.

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improvement to be good

There have not been any formal complaints recorded since the last inspection. However, there have been occasions when a child has expressed dissatisfaction with staff practice. However, the child’s concerns were not addressed through the home’s complaints process to resolve their issues. No complaints were raised by children during this inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff employed are recruited and vetted carefully. Staff are trained in child protection, so they know how to report allegations and protect children from abuse. However, there was an isolated incident when an allegation was not reported promptly. The acting manager did, however, notify the appropriate authorities a few days later once he had established what was being alleged. Nevertheless, this delay has the potential to impact on subsequent investigations.

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improvement to be good

The arrangements for health and safety are effective. Children benefit from a physically safe, appropriately secure, homely and comfortable living environment. Children’s bedrooms are individually tailored in accordance with their wants, feelings and wishes.

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improvement to be good

Children have been missing from home several times since the last inspection. On each occasion, staff followed procedures effectively to secure the safety and well- being of children, including actively searching for children when they are missing from the home and working closely with the police to secure their safe return.

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improvement to be good

The manager advised the inspectors that return home interviews had been completed when children had been missing. However, at the time of this inspection, there was insufficient evidence to show when an independent return home interview had been completed. This is a missed opportunity to understand why children went missing from home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not been working in the home since February 2023 for personal reasons. Ofsted was notified of their absence in February 2023. The deputy manager has been acting as the manager since this time and was in the process of applying to register with Ofsted; the application was received in full shortly after the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is visited each month by an independent person who reports on the quality of the care staff provides to children. These visits help the manager to Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 5 understand the strengths and weaknesses of the staff’s practice. The manager uses the reports to address any identified shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The deputy manager has completed a six-monthly quality of care review to assess the progress and experiences of children. The report has been shared with Ofsted as required by regulation and is made available to placing authorities on request. The plan includes considerations of the views of stakeholders and actions to secure continuing improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the training and developmental needs of staff are identified and met effectively. Staff benefit from relevant training that enables them to meet the specific needs of children. However, staff have not received training in the agreed therapeutic model of care, which limits their understanding.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular, practice-related supervision. However, the recording of supervision does not provide staff with clear direction through the use of measurable objectives that the manager can monitor. As a result, there is a need for improvement in the quality of supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has addressed and met the requirements from the last inspection. Staff meet the aims and objectives as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. However, Ofsted has not been sent a copy of the home’s revised statement of purpose since its registration in accordance with regulation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that any allegations are notified to the appropriate authorities promptly. 17 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 7 The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request to—

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Requirement Due date

a child, or a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

a parent of a child, or a parent of a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

a child’s placing authority. (Regulation 16 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 17 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (2) (3)) 17 July 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff take account of the information provided in return interviews when a child has been missing from home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children of compulsory school age are encouraged to attend full-time education whenever possible. Additionally, the registered person must ensure that each child has an EHC plan in place. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14) Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 8  The registered person should ensure that staff are trained in the home’s therapeutic approach and that the quality of supervision records is improved. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2686658 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pelican Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O Holden Associates, V12 Suite, Merlin Park, Ringtail Road, Burscough, Lancashire L40 8JY

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Inspectors

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Steve James, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2686658 10 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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