Children's Home run by Phoenix Care & Education Limited in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a small privately owned company which operates three children’s homes. This home is registered to provide care for up to four children between the ages of eight and 17. Children are likely to have social and emotional needs due to trauma that they may have experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in September 2021. The registered manager post is vacant.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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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

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2023

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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: 2651807 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2023 Full Good 07/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved on from the home. These moves have been due to placement breakdowns. The manager does not take effective action to review placement breakdowns. As a result of this, opportunities to reflect, learn and develop practice are not taken.

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improvement to be good

Staff are warm, nurturing and caring towards children. Staff spend time with children and know them well. Children can identify a trusted adult they can talk to if they have any worries or concerns.

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improvement to be good

Education is promoted and children’s attendance is good. All children are in education and staff support them to work towards their educational targets. When there are barriers to learning, staff support children to overcome these.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is clean, tidy and welcoming. Children have their own bedrooms and have the freedom to personalise them. However, when bedroom furniture is damaged, it is not always replaced or repaired in a timely manner.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to understand their individual health needs. Children are up to date with all health appointments and are in good health. The manager ensures that children have access to external therapeutic services. This means that children are receiving specialist help individualised to their needs.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between children and family members are promoted. Children are supported to see their families, in line with their individual plans. One child’s parent said, ‘Staff are very supportive of our family time. They are very caring towards [name of child], they have a lot of time for her.’

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improvement to be good

Children’s files do not always include the most up-to-date care plans from the local authority. This means that staff are not always fully informed about what the children’s plans are.

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improvement to be good

There have been occasions when children have gone missing from the home. When these incidents occur, staff try to locate children before following reporting procedures. However, staff are not consistent in their approach to locating missing children. They do not always continue to search for children once they have been reported missing. Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 4 There are individual and up-to-date risk management plans in place for children. They do not all contain clear and directive strategies to guide staff to manage and mitigate risk. As a result of this, the staff’s response to risk is inconsistent.

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improvement to be good

Holding a child to keep them safe is done as a last resort. Staff use physical holds in line with the home’s policies and procedures. Records contain the relevant information, and staff carry out reflective debriefs with children. However, the manager does not review all records of restraint effectively and they lack sufficient scrutiny. This means opportunities to learn and develop staff practice are missed.

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improvement to be good

Staff use consequences and rewards systems to help them to manage unwanted behaviours. However, the manager does not review the measures used, for their effectiveness or to ensure they are used fairly.

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improvement to be good

Safe recruitment and health and safety practices at the home mean that only the most suitable staff work at the home and that it is a safe place to live. Children and staff regularly practise evacuating the building in case of a fire. Therefore, everyone knows how to respond in an emergency.

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improvement to be good

When staff are concerned that children may have harmful items in their bedrooms, room searches take place. These are effective and harmful items are removed. Children are consulted and staff complete follow-up work with children.

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good

Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes to the senior management team in the home. The registered manager resigned with immediate effect on 10 October 2023. The provider has been proactive in their response and has appointed a new manager and responsible individual.

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good

The monitoring systems in the home are not always effective. Records of significant events are not subject to regular scrutiny. As a result, risks and concerns are not always identified through the manager’s checks.

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good

On most occasions, investigations into allegations are shared with the appropriate agencies and are handled fairly, quickly and in line with statutory guidance. However, on one occasion, children made allegations about a staff member and the response was ineffective.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision from a manager or an experienced team leader. Supervisions are supportive and reflective; they focus on staff development and practice. Staff training is regular and up to date. All staff have completed mandatory training and other training that helps them to meet the needs of children.

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good

Rotas are planned in advance and there is sufficient staffing in the home. This means that children receive stable and consistent care from a staff team who know them well. Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 5 There is a review of premises report in place. This has recently been updated to take into consideration the new children living in the home. However, the manager has not consulted with external agencies. Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 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

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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

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

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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)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the children’s individual risk missing-from-home support plans contain relevant information and strategies that are clear and directive.

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Requirement Due date

Also, that when children have been reported missing from home, staff continue to make attempts to locate them. 24 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 7 Also, that when children make allegations about staff, these are taken seriously and shared with local safeguarding partners.

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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

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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

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(g)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when children's placements end in an unplanned, a reflective review of the placement is completed, to identify possible learning outcomes.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, that all significant incidents are evaluated with scrutiny, taking into consideration any possible learning outcomes that can be implemented in children’s risk management plans, or to support the development of staff. 24 November

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 24 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 8 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vi)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that incidents of restraint are reviewed and evaluated by the manager effectively.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, that when consequences are used, they are subject to scrutiny to ensure that the effectiveness of the measures has been considered, their use is fair and that they are restorative in nature and not punitive.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with appropriate furniture in their bedrooms. Specifically, they should ensure that when children’s bedroom furniture is damaged, that it is replaced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  The registered person should ensure that they have up-to-date copies of children’s care and education plans when they have been reviewed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 11.1)  The registered person should ensure that, when conducting a review of the premises, they consult and consider the views of relevant people. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that rotas include the actual hours staff and managers have worked. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including

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Recommendations

the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 9

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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: 2651807 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Phoenix Care & Education Ltd, 22-24 Balfour Road, Bootle L20 4NZ

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Inspector

Kimmy Feeley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2651807 11 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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