Children's Home run by Considerate Care Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 1 SC059261 Registered provider: Considerate 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 owned and operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with learning disabilities and/or who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2016.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were 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: 20 September 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/03/2022 Full Good 22/10/2019 Full Good 13/12/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a spacious and homely environment in which children make good progress. The home has a calm and relaxed atmosphere, which helps children to feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are cared for by staff who know them well and speak warmly and knowledgeably about them. The staff build good and meaningful relationships with the children. External professionals said that the staff embrace the children’s individualities. One professional described how their child is ‘flourishing’ and has ‘fantastic’ relationships with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are engaging in education. Staff work closely with schools, and there are open lines of communication. This is helping the children to create more opportunities for their lives. One external professional said that their child was doing ‘brilliantly’ at school, and they are now above age-related expectations in reading.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to maintain good physical health. The children are encouraged to eat healthily and attend all their health appointments. This helps children access specialist support to improve their physical health and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a range of activities, including going to a puppy centre, skateboarding and to the cinema. One child goes to the gym and another child goes to a youth group. This provides the children with opportunities to develop their social skills and resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to see their family and friends. This is a real strength of the staff. Family and friends are welcome in the home, and one child’s sibling has stayed overnight. This helps the children to maintain their identity and continue to spend quality time with the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individual work is carried out with children on important issues, such as healthy relationships, online safety and school. This work is focused and specific to the children’s needs and daily experiences. Staff find out the children’s views, wishes and feelings. However, the records do not always evidence how these are acted on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to carry out daily tasks, such as cooking, managing their personal care and shopping independently, in line with their individual needs. This is helping the children prepare for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s therapist visits regularly. The therapist supports the staff in delivering child-centred care. This is helping to ensure that children are cared for by resilient and well-informed staff who can meet children’s individual needs and keep them safe. Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 4 Children who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively and with the best possible planning. When children are preparing to leave the home, staff support them to experience a smooth transition and positive ending.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have a memory book of their time in the home. This supports them to reflect on their experiences and progress.

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

The children living in the home say that they feel safe. They say that they can talk to staff about any worries they have. The children know how to make a complaint.

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

Staff are clear about what to do when responding to concerns about the safety of a child or if a child goes missing. For example, staff make every effort to contact and locate the child, working closely with the police and the placing authority. Return home interviews are carried out.

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

Risk assessments and support plans are in place. These are reviewed regularly; however, it is not always clear what has been updated. In addition, the children’s risk assessments and plans do not always include the individual approaches identified by the therapist.

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

The children receive help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. Staff understand the children’s experiences and respond by putting in place appropriate boundaries around what is safe and acceptable. The police community support officer has carried out group work with the children on knife crime, county lines and first aid.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted. However, on occasion, the consequences put in place for one child have impacted on other children living in the home.

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

Staff use effective de-escalation techniques, and there have not been any physical interventions for six months. This helps to create a positive environment where the children can flourish.

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

Searches of bedrooms are carried out sensitively by staff. All searches are recorded appropriately, and children’s views about the search are evident in the records. The reasons for the searches are clear.

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

Fire drills are not always taking place regularly or when new staff start working in the home. This means that not all staff know what to do if there is a fire and how to get to a place of safety. Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. The manager knows the children well and is a positive role model for staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is adequately staffed to care for the children currently living there. There is a stable core staff team in place. When additional staff are required, agency staff who have worked in the home before are used, which helps to ensure consistency for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective monitoring and review systems are not fully in place. Management oversight of incidents and difficult situations is not always evident or robust. This means that staff do not always act on shortfalls to improve the quality of care that children receive. In addition, some records do not capture the child’s perspective and others are not dated. This is not helpful in telling the story of the child’s time in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that the manager is supportive and that they enjoy working in the home. Staff receive regular supervision and records show that staff have an opportunity to reflect on their practice. This helps the manager to clearly understand staff’s strengths and areas for development. Team meetings take place, allowing for feedback and discussion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to understand and meet the children’s individual needs. For example, staff have received training in topics such as online safety, protecting children from sexual exploitation and county lines. They have also received training in positive behaviour management. This ensures that staff have good knowledge and skills to safeguard and support children. Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 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 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 promotes their welfare.

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(e)(f)(g)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager having robust systems in place to monitor and review children’s plans and their progress against their relevant plans. 13 December

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as 13 December Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 7 reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager ensuring that fire drills take place for new staff in a timely way and regular fire drills are held at all other times.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager ensuring that all 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. 13 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s views, wishes and feelings, and the results of these being listened to and acted on, are detailed in their records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that the individual strategies identified by the home’s therapist for each child are incorporated into their assessments and plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.15)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences put in place for a child do not impact negatively on other children living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 8

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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: SC059261 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Considerate Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Keys PCE Limited, Maybrook House, Second Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Dawn Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC059261 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 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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