Children's Home run by Care 4 Every Child Limited in Tameside

Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 1 Registered provider: Care 4 Every Child Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private organisation and is registered to care for four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2021.

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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: 2641768 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/04/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 3

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improvement to be good

There are four children living in the home. Since the last inspection, two children have moved out. Although there was a plan for one of the children to move back to their family, this return home was brought forward to reduce the risk of harm to the child. Another child moved out because of the manager’s view that the home was not meeting the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Children make good progress in education from their starting points. Staff are ambitious for children and encourage them to attend school or other educational provisions. One child’s school attendance was low when they first moved to the home. They have recently completed their GCSE exams.

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improvement to be good

The religious and cultural beliefs of children are respected by staff. Children have access to relevant material that enables them to practice their faith. In addition, children are supported to access food in line with their culture.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to remain connected to their family where it is safe to do so. Staff value familial relationships and understand the significance of partnership working with family members.

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improvement to be good

Children are registered with essential health services, such as the dentist, GP and opticians. They are encouraged to attend health appointments, and follow-up appointments are well documented to ensure that children maintain good health. The home’s therapist regularly informs the practice of staff to help them to meet the emotional needs of children.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to build positive relationships with the adults who are caring for them. When children are reluctant to build these relationships, staff invest time getting to know them and allow the relationship to develop at the child’s pace. Staff consider alternative and effective communication methods for children whose first language is not English.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to complain, and there are different forums, such as children’s meetings, for them to raise any concerns and worries that they have. However, when complaints are raised, they are not consistently and effectively responded to by leaders. During the inspection, one child told the inspector that they are unaware of the outcome of a complaint that they had previously raised. When this was discussed with the manager, she was unable to demonstrate that the child’s complaint had been investigated and the outcome shared with them.

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improvement to be good

The communal areas of the home are personalised with pictures of the children, and the ground floor is decorated to a good standard. However, children’s bedrooms are not well maintained. On inspection, light fittings were not working and some walls Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 4 were damaged. Furthermore, old and worn bedroom furniture is left in children’s rooms, despite not being suitable for use.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing, the response from leaders and staff to return them home safely is not always well coordinated. One child was away from the home for 36 hours. Although staff were aware of the child’s whereabouts, they did not travel to where the child was to encourage their return to the home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders’ and managers’ responses to allegations are not robust. During the inspection period, one child made an allegation about another child. However, the manager was unable to demonstrate that an investigation had taken place. This means that the potential risk of harm to other children living in the home had not been fully considered.

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improvement to be good

Despite several incidents of physical restraint, all staff have not completed the home’s physical intervention training. This means that not all staff have learned the agreed de-escalation techniques and how to safely hold children, when required. Incidents of restraints are not consistently reviewed by leaders and managers to ensure that staff practice is in line with statutory guidance.

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improvement to be good

Children’s individual risk management plans do not consistently and effectively consider their current vulnerabilities. In addition, staff are unable to demonstrate that they are aware of children’s changing needs. Children have door alarms on their bedroom doors even though the need for these is not reflected in their individual risk management plans.

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improvement to be good

Staff at the home have established effective links with the children’s placing authority and, generally, communication about safeguarding issues is good. However, the social worker of one of the children said that they had not been provided with details of when a child was reported as missing from the home. Another social worker said they do not always receive reports about the child following incidents of physical restraint.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to build positive relationships with staff that result in them feeling protected from harm. Children said that they feel safe in the home and can identify a trusted adult who they can turn to and share any worries that they have.

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good

Staff have confidence in the registered manager and say that they feel supported. There is a consistent team of staff, including bank staff who know the children well. This contributes to children feeling safe and secure at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 5 Leaders and staff work positively with partners, such as social workers, virtual schools and independent reviewing officers, to help them to meet the needs of the children in their care.

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good

The systems in place to support leaders and managers to monitor the quality of care provided to children are not effective. Leaders and managers have transitioned from paper to electronic systems of recording information. Despite this change taking place over 12 months ago, this is not fully embedded into practice. Consequently, shortfalls are not always identified as part of the current monitoring systems.

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good

Mandatory training is either out of date or has not been completed by all staff. This means that children are being cared for by staff who are not suitably trained to meet their needs.

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good

Supervision is not always delivered by suitably trained staff. A senior staff member who has not completed supervision training is responsible for supervising a newly recruited member of staff. Furthermore, supervision is not reflective and consistently used as an opportunity to identify areas for staff development.

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good

Leaders and managers do not consistently encourage the use of language that is positive and empowering when referring to children. Leaders and managers do not ensure that children’s local authority plans are up to date and stored on the children’s files. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that the lights in children’s bedrooms are working, bedroom furniture in the bedrooms is repaired and in good working order, and old furniture is removed from children’s bedrooms when not being used. Furthermore, leaders and managers must ensure that damage to the walls in the children’s bedrooms and communal areas is repaired. 26 October 2023

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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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)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Managers are to ensure that those who care for children are trained to safely care for children. 26 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 7 Leaders and managers must ensure that there are relevant and up-to-date plans in place for children, and that those who care for children are aware of relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that they take a proactive approach to return children to the home when their whereabouts is known.

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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

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;

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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)(b) (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that mandatory training for staff is up to date and kept under review. Leaders and managers must ensure that the staff team use language that is positive and empowering when referring to children. Leaders and managers should update all relevant plans and ensure that these plans are read, understood, and followed by those who care for children. 26 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d)) 26 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; 26 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 8 are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that children’s local authority records are up to date and stored on the children’s files.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) 26 October 2023

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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: 2641768 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Every Child Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Library Chambers, 48 Union Street, Hyde SK14 1ND

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela Hodgkinson

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Inspector

Chibuzo Otache, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 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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