Children's Home run by Future Focused Ltd in Halton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 1 Registered provider: Future Focused 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 company. The home provides care and support for two children who may experience social or emotional difficulties. There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/06/2022 Full Good 13/04/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A passionate and committed staff team cares for and nurtures the children who live at this home. Children have strong relationships with the staff who care for them. One child said, ‘The staff have worked hard to make it like a family home instead of a children’s home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s physical and emotional health needs. They use a therapeutic model of care to consider the underlying causes of children’s behaviours. This helps children to manage their emotions. It also enables staff to sensitively support children who have experienced traumatic events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a wide range of activities inside and outside of the home. For example, they enjoy horse-riding, mountain walks and going to funfairs. This promotes children’s social skills and their health and well-being. A social worker said, ‘I am really pleased with the placement and [name of child] is thriving there.’ children’s social skills and their health and well-being. A social worker said, ‘I am really pleased with the placement and [name of child] is thriving there.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s health needs, and they manage children’s individual health needs well. This means that children make significant progress with health issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are thriving in their education settings. Staff help children to overcome any barriers to education to help them achieve their goals. As a result, children have increased self-confidence and aspiration for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to complete accredited qualifications outside of formal education. This means that children develop independent living skills. This helps children to focus on their long-term targets and develop good foundations for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children create individualised scrapbooks and photo albums. Staff also encourage children to understand the nature of their records and to attend their review meetings. This helps children to understand their history and to keep a record of their positive experiences at the home.

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

Children feel safe in the home and the local community. They can identify a trusted adult in the home. One child said, ‘I can talk to any of the staff and tell them about my feelings. It really helps me out.’ Children also know how to raise their concerns by using the home’s complaints process.

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

Staff build positive relationships with children. This helps them to de-escalate any negative behaviours at an early stage and prevent incidents from occurring. As a Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 4 result, there have not been any missing-from-home incidents or physical interventions.

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

Leaders and staff have a good understanding of children’s risks. Staff update risk management plans for each child on a regular basis. However, staff do not record all children’s vulnerabilities. This does not help staff to quickly identify concerns or help them in practice.

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

Staff develop close working relationships with external agencies. This helps children to access tailored support programmes related to their specific needs. As a result, children make great strides in achieving their targets.

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

The manager follows safer recruitment processes and completes all relevant safety checks. This helps the manager to reduce the risks to children from unsuitable adults working at the home.

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

Managers do not consistently report serious incidents to Ofsted as per regulation. This means the regulator has no initial oversight of what action staff take to keep children safe.

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

Many areas of the home are welcoming, bright and homely. Children said that they like their home and that they feel safe living at the home. However, staff do not regularly help one child to keep their bedroom clean and tidy. In addition, there are damaged fence panels in the garden which may present a risk to children.

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

Staff encourage children to take age-appropriate risks. This helps to develop children’s confidence in the community, while also developing their independence.

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good

The manager registered at the home in 2020 and is suitably experienced. The manager is passionate about their staff team and the children they look after. A senior management team supports them in their role.

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good

Leaders’ monitoring and evaluation of the quality of care are inconsistent. This means that they do not always identify shortfalls in practice. Leaders are currently developing systems to help them to improve their management oversight.

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good

Staff feel supported in their roles. However, they do not receive regular supervision in line with the company’s policy. Therefore, staff do not have the opportunity to consistently reflect on their performance with their manager and to improve the quality of their work.

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good

Managers follow up and escalate concerns if responses from agencies are not satisfactory. This helps to ensure that children receive the right support to meet their needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 5 The manager completes a regular quality of care report to review children’s experiences. However, children do not contribute to the review, and leaders do not include children’s opinions in the report. In addition, an independent person provides a monthly report which does not include children’s views. This limits the ability of leaders to learn from children’s experiences.

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good

Staff receive a full induction when they start working for the company. This helps them to gain the necessary skills and knowledge for their role. Staff also attend regular training. This ensures that they can provide care and support for children with specific needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 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

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

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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children receive support to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. In addition, ensure that damaged fence panels are made safe. 31 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in 31 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 7 the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff report all serious incidents to HMCI without delay. 31 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that staff receive regular supervision in line with the company’s policy, and that supervision is reflective. 31 July 2023

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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 30 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 8 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

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) (5))

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Requirement Due date

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

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to keep them safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home, including under regulation 44. Specifically, internal and external monitoring should include consultation with children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2563164 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Future Focused Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Future Focused Ltd, Crows Nest Business Park, Ashton Road, Wigan, Lancashire WN5 7XX

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Inspectors

Mark Woodbridge, Social Care Inspector Simon Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2563164 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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