Children's home run by Tab Care and Support Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1270731 1 Registered provider: Tab Care and Support Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and is registered to provide care for up to three children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At this inspection, there were two children living in the home.

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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: 24 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: 1270731 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2023 Full Good 05/05/2021 Full Good 09/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1270731 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home and one child has moved in. Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. They are making good progress. This is a nurturing and happy home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy nurturing and trusting relationships with those who care for them. These trusting relationships enable the children to tell the staff about aspects of their lives that they are unhappy about. One child said, ‘The staff know what I need if I get upset or angry, and they help me calm down. They stick up for us in our meetings.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff work closely with education providers and encourage the children to attend education. Children’s school attendance has improved since moving into the home. School attendance is now high, and children are engaging well. One child has just started the college course of his choice, which staff have supported and encouraged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have high expectations for the children. They are proud of the progress that the children make, and they celebrate their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are in good health. Staff support them to attend all health appointments. Children who need specific care access specialist health professionals, such as community and mental health teams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend regular house meetings and discuss a variety of topics. Staff use these meetings to obtain the children’s views, wishes and feelings. The manager responds to these and lets children know about any decisions that are made as a result. This helps children to feel that their views are important, listened to and acted on. Children have been involved in choosing new decor and equipment for the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to take part in activities. The children enjoy football, trampolining, bowling and wild camping. Such activities increase children’s social skills and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment in places is looking tired, and some aspects of the bathrooms are unclean. There is also some disrepair in one child’s bedroom and one bathroom. This detracts from the otherwise calm and homely environment. The interim manager and responsible individual acknowledged that repairs had not been carried out in a timely manner and have set out an action plan for the work to be carried out.

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

Staff have successfully developed good, trusting relationships with the children. The Inspection report for children’s home: 1270731 4 children benefit from good daily routines that provide structure to their lives. Children feel safe and have confidence in staff’s abilities.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been several safeguarding concerns. These have been managed well. The manager worked closely with the placing authority, the safeguarding team and the police to ensure that the appropriate procedures are followed and action is taken to safeguard children. A local authority designated officer said of the manager, ‘She has been incredible at providing all relevant information to all parties and has been the lynchpin in keeping the child at the forefront of the enquiry.’

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

The children receive support and guidance to help them understand the possible negative consequences of engaging in unsafe behaviours. For example, children who may place themselves at risk through their online activity receive focused key-work sessions on how they could potentially be groomed and exploited. Children are also educated on the consequences of becoming involved in criminal activities.

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

Staff know the children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. Children have comprehensive individual risk management and behaviour support plans. These are regularly reviewed and updated after an incident. Children understand their risks and triggers and work with staff to try and reduce these. A social worker said, ‘The managers and staff manage risk very well. However, they allow my child to take age-appropriate risks. This is an important part of his transition into adulthood.’

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

Staff use lots of praise and rewards to support children’s positive behaviour. This reinforcement helps children to see that staff celebrate their achievements. When consequences have been used, they are proportionate and discussed with the children.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff report this in line with local procedures. There is a strong and proactive response to ensure that children return to the home safely. Staff actively search for children when they go missing. When children return to the home, staff talk to them about where they have been and encourage them to engage in independent return home interviews. This provides support for children at times when they are vulnerable.

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

Staff recruitment procedures are robust. Staff are thoroughly checked before they work at the home. Safer recruitment procedures ensure that children are protected by preventing unsuitable people from working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager is currently going through the registration process with Ofsted. The responsible individual and previous registered manager have offered regular, additional support while awaiting the completion of this process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff are inspirational and motivated. They provide consistency of care, which enables children to thrive. The interim manager is aspirational and Inspection report for children’s home: 1270731 5 challenges services if they are not meeting the children’s needs. One professional described her as ‘tenacious’ and ‘child-centred’. The children can easily approach the manager with any requests that they may have, which are addressed appropriately. One child said, ‘She [the manager] listens to us and lets us have a say.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality supervision that prioritises the children’s needs and the staff’s professional development. Staff say that they feel well supported by the managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality and clarity of written records are of a good standard. However, in some records, the language used and the way they are written are not useful for a child to read now or in the future. The manager acknowledged this shortfall during the inspection, and training is now in place for all staff. A recommendation is raised to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has strong partnership working with other professionals. This provides a consistent approach when caring for the children. One social worker said, ‘I get regular updates about my child, and what is nice is that these include positives.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager informs Ofsted of serious safeguarding incidents promptly. Social workers said that they are kept up to date with any concerns and communication is exceptionally good. The manager carries out regular monitoring checks. She uses the independent person’s reports to identify patterns and trends and to evaluate the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are audit and monitoring tools in place to track and review the quality of care for children and risks to children. The manager has good oversight of the progress the children are making. The manager ensures that there is independent scrutiny of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team completes a range of training and development opportunities that are focused on meeting children’s individual needs. Training records are kept up to date and are monitored. However, training and development are not extended to agency workers who work on a regular basis in the home. Furthermore, on one occasion, more than half of the staff team on duty was made up of agency workers. This did not have a negative effect on the care of children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270731 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

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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that hazards are removed, such as loose-fitting carpets, and repairs should be carried out in a timely manner. 23 October 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any external agency staff meet the requirements in regulation 32(4), regarding mandatory qualifications, and consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.16)  The registered person should ensure that no more than half the staff on duty at any one time, by day or night, at the home should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.17)  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,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 1270731 7

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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: 1270731 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tab Care and Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fischer Crowne, 34 Castle Street, Liverpool L2 0NR

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anthony Willmore

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Inspector

Elaine Allison, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1270731 9 regulates and inspects 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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