Children's home run by Care 4 Every Child Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2679026 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 provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. The home is owned and operated by a private organisation.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2679026 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2679026 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. They have many opportunities to take part in activities, some of which are major achievements. Children have walked up Snowdon. This was extremely well thought through, with meticulous planning to ensure that it was successful. Planning has already begun for the next activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy going to school. This provides structure and stability, as well as learning and socialisation. When children are temporarily out of school, staff encourage their return to full attendance. Staff use a nurturing approach, which is successful. For some children, significant challenges with their mental health have meant formal education is not yet an option. However, staff provide daily learning opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers have ensured that when children need specialist healthcare and when staff need advice, these are provided. Some children are helped to manage their physical and emotional health by a child and adolescent mental health service. This intervention has meant that some children now sleep better and can be more independent with their personal care. When specialist advice is to make changes to a child’s bedroom environment, managers have ensured that this is implemented.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are well supported by a therapist. They speak with confidence about the models of care they implement, together with the wide range of skills used to avert children going into a crisis. This has meant staff can focus their care where it is most needed, meaning a reduction in anxious behaviours for some children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children regularly meet to share their views about living at this home. They also have several opportunities to speak up. Some children have an independent advocate. However, when children make a complaint, this is not always actioned quickly enough to ensure that a robust response by a manager is completed.

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

Children have been physically restrained. Clear behaviour support plans detail what holds are permitted and what measures are needed to be tried beforehand. Staff try several less restrictive measures before holding children. Managers have oversight of physical interventions and try to find the reasons for children’s behaviours. Children are offered the opportunity to speak to someone after any incident, and staff are always offered a debrief.

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

Staff understand the process they must follow if they have concerns about a child in their care. They know how to escalate concerns. Detailed risk assessments are regularly updated. This means that the staff know the areas of risk for children and the measures that should be taken to minimise the risk. Inspection report for children's home: 2679026 4 Only staff that have been through a robust, safer recruitment process get to work with children who are vulnerable due to adverse life experiences. Managers have ensured that this process has improved since the last inspection.

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

This home is set in a rural location. This has meant that children have quick access to the countryside. For some children, this has had a positive impact on their health and well-being. However, managers have not ensured that the location risk assessment accurately reflects all the potential risks.

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

Managers have not always ensured that there are sufficient staff on duty. This has meant that for a short period of time, the assessed needs of children with complex care needs were not being met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post for a short time. They have applied to be registered with Ofsted. They have more recently been joined by an assistant manager. Together, they have already made improvements and are in the process of further developing the home and the staff team. All requirements have been met from the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they like working at this home. They speak positively and with confidence about the children. Staff have improved their caregiving skills by accessing several different training courses. Knowledge of the children, and their overall competence, is tested by a manager at regular intervals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have ensured that staff have access to effective and regular supervision and team meetings. Managers check their staff’s safeguarding knowledge and competence. The children are spoken about in detail. Staff are supported to develop professionally through training courses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers say that the manager has been effective at meeting children’s complex educational, social and health care needs and that staff have realistic expectations for the children. They say communication with the home is good and that the home shares any concerns they have about the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have now developed more effective processes for the auditing of records. In several areas, this has meant an improvement. However, there are still minor errors in the recording of medication administration and of fire safety checks. Inspection report for children's home: 2679026 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there are sufficient staff at the home to meet the assessed care needs of all children. 16 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that staff encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and without fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Regulation 39 sets out the requirements for the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person must ensure that, under Regulation 46, they review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and the strategies for managing them. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’,

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Recommendations

page 64, paragraph 15.1) Inspection report for children's home: 2679026 6  The registered person must ensure that they actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under Regulation 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person must ensure that care is taken to administer prescribed medicines only to the individual for whom they are prescribed. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. Records must be kept of the administration of all medication, which includes occasions when prescribed medication is refused. Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that

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Recommendations

they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. These are fundamentally the same arrangements as a good parent would make but are subject to additional safeguards. Where the home has questions or concerns about a child’s medication, they should approach an expert, such as a general medical practitioner, community pharmacist or designated nurse for looked after children. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: 2679026 7

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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

Simon Hunter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2679026 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 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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