Children's Home run by Brinscall Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2534436 1 Registered provider: Brinscall Care 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 owned and provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2022.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2534436 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/07/2021 Full Good 17/12/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2534436 3

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improvement to be good

Some children make positive progress from their starting points due to the care given to them by staff. However, one child has spent significant periods of time out of the home. The child has spent little quality time with staff, and consequently has made limited progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff spend time with most of the children to build relationships with them. When staff are able to engage children, the children are able to experience things that they may not have otherwise been able to do. Some children have been abroad, on fishing holidays and city breaks. This allows children to develop potentially lifelong positive memories of their childhood.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a warm, welcoming, and homely environment. Throughout the inspection, children were observed to have positive interactions with staff. When children come home, they are met by staff who are keen to hear about their day. This helps children feel a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with their family. This helps to maintain their family identity and to ensure that children have supportive relationships when they move on from the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children with their education and try to build positive relationships with them. One child’s social worker said, ‘When [name of child] moved in, there were risks of aggressive behaviour. However, [name of child] now has such a positive relationship with staff and there has been a reduction in the number of incidents.’

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, there is a prompt response from staff. However, one child has been spending significant amounts of time away from the home overnight at a friend’s address. Staff do not always speak to adults at this address to make sure that the child is there.

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improvement to be good

Children are allocated key workers to undertake direct work, get to know them and help them stay safe. At the inspection, one child’s key worker cited outdated information about risks posed to the child. This caused confusion as to whether or not the child was in harms way. This means that information about risk is not always thoroughly explored between staff.

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improvement to be good

Children say they feel safe living in this home and have some staff members who they can speak to if they are concerned. When children have required staff support, they have contacted staff for help and advice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534436 4 Staff use risk assessments to guide and support them in how to keep children safe. However, staff do not have clear plans for when a child is away from the home without authorisation or know what the potential risks may be. This means that not all staff are clear on what is expected of them to keep the child safe.

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good

The home is managed by a registered manager who genuinely cares for the children and the progress that they make. The manager is supported by a responsible individual and deputy team manager.

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good

Staff are positive about the support that they receive from their manager. Staff have regular supervision and training to support them to do their jobs. In relation to the support they receive from the manager, one staff member said, ‘She has been very supportive. She has helped me through challenging times.’

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good

When the manager has had concerns for children, she has contacted the child’s placing authority. However, when there has been a lack of response from a placing authority, concerns have not been escalated. This means that there have been delays in action being taken for one child.

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good

The manager has made improvements to the way staff record children’s experiences at the home. Staff now record information in a child-friendly way. This helps children better understand their records and the decisions that are made about them.

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good

The manager and responsible individual have introduced additional systems to improve management oversight. . Leaders and managers have plans to further develop both the quality of care provided to children and the support on offer for staff in the coming months. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534436 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 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

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;

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff have clear plans and are consistent in the checks that they carry out when a child is out of the home, and that they are aware of any emerging risks.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping all children in the home safe. 28 September 2023

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. 28 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2534436 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should contact the placing authority and request a review of the child’s care plan when there are concerns for the child being frequently missing or absent from the home. This should be escalated when there is no response.

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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: 2534436 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Brinscall Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 27, Barnfield House, Sandpits Lane, Accrington Road, Blackburn BB1 3NY

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Catherine Chrystal-Clarke

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Inspector

Rob Neild, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2534436 8 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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