Children's Home run by Continuum Support - Care Services Limited in Warrington

Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 1 Registered provider: Continuum Support - Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

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

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 23 August 2023.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 27 September 2022

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/03/2022 Full Good 27/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have strong relationships with the staff team. Staff know the children well and speak about them with love and affection. Staff spend quality time with children doing things that the children like to do. Children are encouraged to have their friends over to play in the garden and they recently enjoyed a barbecue with their friends.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children regularly seeing those people who are important to them and work with children to develop and sustain these relationships. This provides children with a sense of belonging and stability. Staff support the relationships between the children and ensure that they have opportunities to spend time together and on their own. This allows children to develop relationships with the children they live with.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint should they need to. They are listened to and encouraged to share their feelings in a variety of ways. They can use the home’s tablet and laptop to read information about themselves and record their views. This allows the staff team to understand and respond to children’s individual needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the routines in place in the home. There is a clear expectation that children attend education. Children who are not yet attending school full time are encouraged by staff to take part in educational activities, such as trips to the library and swimming. Staff advocate for children, to support a return to full-time education. Barriers to learning are understood and staff regularly review what needs to happen for children, so they can support their continued learning.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff respond to children’s individual health needs; they support them to attend regular health appointments such as the dentist and opticians. Following one child’s diagnoses of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, specialist advice and support was sought.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children become upset, staff listen and support them. Over time, this has supported a child to make progress in managing their feelings. A professional involved with one child said, ‘[Name of child] has made progress. There are clear boundaries in place, with a consistent routine, and you can see this has made a significant difference. This is down to the staff team, their commitment, passion and hard work.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children new to the home are welcomed sensitively. Their move into the home is planned and assessments carried out to understand if staff have the skills to meet their needs. However, these assessments do not consider the needs of other children living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 4

p.3

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

There are clear plans in place to reduce risk. These are individualised and drawn up in consultation with children. The plans set out clear guidance and ways of working with children for staff to follow. However, when one child went on holiday with staff, the registered manager failed to ensure that a risk assessment was completed for the holiday.

p.4

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

Staff understand the needs of the individual children. When required, staff have carried out room searches, which are then recorded, including the reason for the search. Children are supported to understand why this has happened and plans are updated so staff can keep children safe.

p.4

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

Staff support children to understand risks. They take time to help children to understand how to keep themselves safe in relation to issues such as vaping, self- harm and emotional health. These discussions are planned but also happen when incidents and concerns arise.

p.4

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

When allegations have been made by children, staff have listened and taken their concerns seriously. Leaders and managers have responded swiftly and put arrangements in place so that children feel safe and protected. Children are supported to discuss how they feel and any concerns they have. Children are kept updated so they can understand what action has been taken.

p.4

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

Serious incidents are reviewed by managers. However, staff are not always provided with an opportunity for a debrief following an incident. This is a missed opportunity for staff to reflect on the incident and learn from it.

p.4

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

When children need to be held, this is done as a last resort. Restraints have been proportionate and necessary to keep children safe. Children are provided with the opportunity discuss the intervention afterwards, to understand why this has happened.

p.4

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

Safer recruitment procedures are in place to help to keep children safe in the home.

p.4

good

There have been recent changes in the management of the home. The registered manager recently left his position very suddenly. An experienced registered manager has been brought in by the responsible individual to have oversight of the home. She is suitably qualified and experienced. Recruitment processes are in place to appoint a new registered manager and to fill the vacant staff positions.

p.4

good

Staff said during the inspection that they had not felt supported for a short period of time. However, the interim manager is enthusiastic, ambitious and available to Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 5 support staff. Staff said this has started to improve the stability of the staff team and that they feel more supported.

p.4

good

Staff do not routinely receive regular and reflective supervision. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that staff can reflect and identify any areas for their development to improve their practice and skills. Staff receive mandatory training and have access to additional training. However, they have not received specific training, such as in autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to understand children’s individual needs.

p.5

good

Leaders and managers have undertaken a review which has identified some shortfalls in the monitoring and review of the home. However, not all actions are reflected in the home’s development plan.

p.5

good

Leaders and managers have good relationships with family members and the professionals involved in the children’s lives. This has supported children to experience positive outcomes. One child has been supported to return to education on a part-time basis, with a plan to progress to full time.

p.5

good

The home is a homely place for children to live in. Since the last inspection, improvements have been made to the decor and furnishings in the house. However, some carpets need to be repaired or replaced and damage to walls repaired.

p.5

good

The requirements and recommendations made at the assurance visit in March 2023 have been addressed. However, a recommendation made to ensure that the pre- admission assessments are more comprehensive, considering the impact on other children, has been raised to a requirement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

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. (Regulation 12 (1)(a) (2)(a)(i))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, that risk assessments are completed for activities outside of the home. 6 October 2023

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 6 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 7 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff receive training in autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and e-safety. Also, that the development plan is updated and followed.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.7

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1) (4)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive regular practice-related supervision from individuals who are trained and experienced in the supervision of staff. 6 October 2023

p.7

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.7

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.7

Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(vii))

p.7

Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the home is maintained to an appropriate standard for the children to live in, including redecoration, repairing or replacing carpets and ensuring that damage to walls is repaired in a timely manner. 6 October 2023

p.7

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.7

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.7

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 6 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 8 that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, assessments for children moving into the home need to consider the impact of this on other children already living at the home.

p.8

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: 2509800 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Continuum Support - Care Services Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

p.9

Inspector

Nicola Forrester, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2509800 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10