Children's home run by Oaktree Childcare Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 1 Registered provider: Oaktree Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to two children who may have social or emotional difficulties. It is owned and operated by a private company. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is currently without a registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/04/2022 Full Good 18/11/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved out of the home. Most of the children’s progress has been limited due to living in the home for short periods of time. This means that not all children have had a positive experience.

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in the continuity of care provided to the child living in the home. There have been significant changes in the staffing team due to staff struggling to support the child effectively. This has led to the child receiving inconsistent care.

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improvement to be good

External professionals have been positive about the level of care given to the child by the staff team. However, one social worker was concerned about the lack of progress made by the child, following a number of incidents in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff try to support the child with key conversations and have regular discussions to try to promote the child’s progress in education. Staff have supported the child to register with a new school, following a significant period out of education.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to engage in positive activities. One child has been supported to volunteer for a local charity. This has helped to improve the daily experiences of the child.

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improvement to be good

There have been numerous incidents in the home, with staff struggling to manage behaviours that challenge them. This has led to staff requesting that the child moves to another home. One social work team manager said, ‘Our expectation of the team’s resilience was different. We would expect more resilience given that this is advertised as a high intensity, highly therapeutic placement.’

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improvement to be good

Staff are trained to meet the needs of children. However, staff have struggled to use the training effectively to support the child. This has resulted in the police being called to the home to support staff. This increases the risk of the child being criminalised.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, there is a coordinated response from the staff to try to support the safe return of children. Staff work with local authorities and police to help to find children and prevent them from going missing in the future. This has resulted in a recent reduction in one child going missing from home.

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improvement to be good

When staff have concerns for children, they inform the local authority and engage in multi-agency discissions to try to reduce risks to children. For one child, this has Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 4 helped to reduce risks in relation to the use of the internet and their time in the community.

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improvement to be good

Staff search children’s bedroom when safeguarding concerns arise. However, some of the recordings lack detail, making it unclear if a thorough search was completed to keep everyone safe.

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improvement to be good

When concerns have been raised about staff practice, there has been a prompt response from senior managers. Senior managers have undertaken thorough investigations to ensure the safety of the child.

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good

The home has not had a registered manager since May 2023. The manager currently in post has submitted a full application to register with Ofsted. They were not present at the inspection.

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good

Some staff say that they feel supported by the manager. However, some staff have left the home following incidents. This means that some staff have not been fully supported by managers to be able to remain working in the home.

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good

Senior leaders have made improvements to the way in which quality assurance is completed in the home. There is a development plan to improve this further. However, management oversight of some incidents in the home has not clearly detailed what is needed to be done to improve the quality of care for the child.

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good

There is an agreement in place with the child’s placing authority to keep them updated with weekly reports. These reports lack detail and have been of poor quality. Despite this being brought to the attention of the manager, the quality of these records has not improved.

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good

The manager has updated the statement of purpose. However, this has not been shared with Ofsted as required by regulation. This limits Ofsted’s oversight of the home.

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good

Staff are provided with an induction and training to care for the child. However, staff say that they have struggled to manage some incidents. Senior managers report that the home will be closed for a period, when the child living in the home has moved out, to undertake additional training of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 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 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(a)(b)(c)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that management oversight details the next steps and learning for staff.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that staff have the skills to support children through times of crisis.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should provide support to staff following incidents to reflect and improve staff retention. 1 September 2023

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 1 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 6 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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children should have planned arrangements in place when they move in to and out of the home.

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Requirement Due date

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. The registered person must— notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(b) 1 September 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 7  The registered person should ensure that staff record when a child’s room has been entered and searched. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, 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: 2550082 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oaktree Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ground Floor, Seneca House, Links Point, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 2FF

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Inspector

Rob Neild, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2550082 9 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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