Children's Home run by Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited in Salford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 1 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

The home is operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since the home registered in December 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 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: 2608484 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/08/2022 Full Good 23/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved into the home. The manager ensured that these moves happened in a planned way. Both children had the opportunity to visit the home and meet staff before they moved in. This helped to ease any worries they may have had about moving into the home. When children move on from the home, staff celebrate their time living in the home and try to maintain relationships with them if they wish to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised to reflect their likes and interests. They have opportunities to choose the decor and furnishings. Both children have an en-suite bathroom. However, staff do not routinely check that their bathrooms are clean.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home are happy. They have built trusting and secure relationships with the staff who look after them. Staff invest time in children; they listen to them and protect them. One child said, ‘If I could move the home closer to my family, I would stay forever.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend full-time education. They are learning and making good progress. The manager and staff have high aspirations for children’s futures and are proud of their achievements. Children engage in learning and their attitude to school is positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy family time; this is supported by staff. Where children’s relationships with family members have broken down, staff work with children’s social workers to re-establish them. This ensures that children’s links to their family are maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individual needs are valued and respected. Children are supported to maintain their faith and religious practices. Staff have supported one child to participate in Ramadan and everyone in the home celebrated Eid, where they exchanged presents and decorated the home.

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

Children say that they feel safe living in the home. They can identify trusted adults in the home who they can talk to if they have any concerns. Children know how to make a complaint. When they do so, the manager responds to these swiftly. Children receive the outcome of their complaints in writing.

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

The manager and staff know the children’s identified risks. There are individual risk management plans in place for both children. Children are aware of their plans and contribute to them. The manager and staff recognise and respond to identified risks. They ensure that the relevant external agencies are alerted to any incidents. However, the manager does not always notify Ofsted of serious incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 4 Children have individual plans to help staff understand the action they need to take should children go missing from home. When children have been missing, they have an opportunity to talk to an independent person and speak to the staff team. The manager uses the detailed records to identify any action that could prevent further incidents occurring.

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

Children are supported to understand and manage their feelings and behaviours safely. Holding a child to keep them safe is used as a last resort in conjunction with the home’s policies and procedures. When children need to be held, incidents are safely managed by staff and recorded clearly. The manager ensures that children and staff have the opportunity to debrief following any incident. The manager uses the discussion to identify any learning or required updates to children’s individual plans.

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

The manager works closely with local authorities. They share updates about children’s progress and any safeguarding issues. One social worker said, ‘The staff team are really good at communicating and providing updates.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious for children and staff and has high expectations for the home’s development. The manager works alongside staff and children. As a result, he develops good relationships with children and has full oversight of how care is delivered by the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable and consistent. Staff receive supervision that is supportive. The manager provides staff with opportunities to reflect on their practice and the care they provide to children. The manager has not ensured that the senior member of staff, who supervises staff members, has undertaken appropriate supervision training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are several ways children are consulted, which means that their voice is heard. However, the manager is not yet using this information to inform supervision sessions and appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the staff complete all mandatory training. Staff are supported to enrol on the diploma course, to enable them to achieve the relevant qualification. However, some staff have not completed this within the time frame specified in regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good oversight of the home and there are effective systems in place to monitor the children’s care. The manager uses a range of opportunities, including the monthly reports from the independent person, to identify improvements. The independent person does not always consider all aspects of the home’s work with external professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 5 There is a detailed and up-to-date safe area report in place. It takes into account local risks and hazards. The manager has consulted with relevant agencies in the community, such as the local police, to obtain their views. This information is considered when children are moving into the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 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 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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation (40)(a)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that Ofsted is notified without delay of all incidents that are deemed to be serious. 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff have access to regular training that relates to the needs of the children. 31 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. 31 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 7 The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff who work in the home in a care role have obtained their relevant qualification within the required time frame. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff members are routinely ensuring that children’s bedrooms are cleaned regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person who visits the home assesses all relevant information on a regular basis. This includes contacting professionals working with the children who live in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.8)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals consider, where reasonable and practical, the views of children and other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2608484 9

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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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Inspector

Sarah Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2608484 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 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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