Children's Home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 1 SC432741 Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider operates this children’s home. It is registered to provide care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in September 2011 and the manager registered in September 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: 23 November 2022

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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: SC432741 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/11/2022 Full Good 29/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 3

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff have developed individualised children’s plans; however, they are not kept up to date. The manager and staff have limited access to local authority care-planning documents, such as placement plans, looked after child review minutes and care plans. This means that the manager and staff are unsure whether they are following the correct plans and expectations of the placing local authority to meet each child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has had a positive move on from the home and one child has had a positive move into the home. One parent said, ‘I feel like they are safe and well looked after. I’m grateful as they are taking care of my child; it’s reassuring, and a weight has been lifted off my shoulders that they are in a good place.’

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improvement to be good

Children’s engagement in education and learning is good. All children attend formal education and are making good progress from their starting points. However, the manager and staff do not have access to all relevant plans for the children, such as personal education plans and education, health and care plans. This means that there are missed opportunities for staff to further support the children’s educational needs.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are understood and promoted by the staff team. Children attend regular health appointments and are supported by the staff. This ensures that children’s health needs are met and their welfare is promoted.

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improvement to be good

Children have variable experiences at the home. At times, one child is the target of another child, who deliberately makes unkind comments to the child. This upsets the child. The child affected requested that the staff team has further training to better understand and support the child and manage any unkind comments effectively. The manager has received this training; however, the staff team has still not received the training six months after the request. Staff are not consistent in challenging the unkind comments. Consequently, the child affected feels let down and unheard.

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improvement to be good

One child has mixed feelings about living in the home and the care they receive. The child said that they do not often get on well with some members of staff and one other child living in the home. At times, this has caused tensions in the home.

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improvement to be good

The home is well presented, with the ground floor having been recently redecorated and a new kitchen fitted. Children’s bedrooms are individualised to the taste of each child. However, the shared bathroom needs to be freshened up. This would make it more inviting for the children to use. Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 4

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments provide some detail and include steps for staff to take in response to children’s behaviour, as well as preventative measures. However, not all risks are included, and some identified risks are historic and no longer relevant.

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improvement to be good

The system used for storing the risk assessments proved difficult for the management team to navigate during the inspection. This demonstrates that the management team is unclear as to which risk assessments are the most up to date. Additionally, staff do not have sufficient oversight of the current risks for children. Therefore, they do not have up-to-date information and consistent strategies to follow to safeguard children effectively.

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improvement to be good

Children said that they feel safe. They can identify trusted adults who they can talk to about any worries or concerns they have. Positive relationships were observed between the staff and the children. One child said, ‘I do like living here; sometimes it is hard because you don’t always get along with all the children, but I feel safe.’

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improvement to be good

Staff can identify risk-taking behaviours and understand and follow safeguarding procedures to keep the children safe. One child has been missing from the home on a number of occasions. Staff follow the child’s missing-from-care protocol. However, the child does not receive an independent return home interview following missing- from-care incidents. This is a missed opportunity to identify any triggers to the incidents and risks to the child. Furthermore, this compromises the manager and staff’s ability to identify strategies to reduce the risks to the child and prevent further missing-from-care incidents.

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improvement to be good

Written records relating to the children vary in quality and some are difficult to understand, such as daily logs and records of key-work sessions. Children are spoken to in key-work sessions about issues that are relevant to them, but not all risk-taking behaviours are discussed with the children. This is a missed opportunity to informally educate children about minimising risk.

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improvement to be good

Children receive consequences for negative behaviour. These are recorded appropriately but consequences are not always proportionate. The manager does not have effective oversight of consequences to review their effectiveness. As a result, some consequences have been in place for prolonged periods of time or repeated with little or no effect.

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improvement to be good

Medication administration and recording are managed well. However, home remedies that are no longer required are disposed of in an unsafe way. This is not good or safe practice.

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improvement to be good

External professionals spoken to feel that the staff communicate well and keep them informed about any issues arising and progress made, and they advocate for the children well. A social worker said that they do not have any concerns with the way the home is managed or the care provided to their child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 5

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good

The manager holds a suitable childcare qualification and is working towards completing his management qualification. The manager is the only qualified member of staff on the team. Two members of staff have not completed their qualification within the required time frame. Staff are either working through their qualification or are awaiting enrolment after they have completed their probation.

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good

Staffing is consistent. There is a core staff team in place that is suitably trained in mandatory topics. However, not all staff have completed training that is tailored to the specific individual needs of the children in their care, such as around sexually harmful behaviour, going missing from care and LGBTQ+. The home’s statement of purpose is not up to date with all staff’s current experience and qualifications.

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good

The manager has not received regular supervision since becoming the manager of the home. Therefore, the shortfalls identified during the inspection have not been identified or addressed to drive improvement.

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good

Staff reported that they receive regular supervision and value this. Team meetings occur monthly; however, not all staff attend these regularly. Some staff have not received an annual review of their performance. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to review staff performance to be assured that staff continue to meet the needs of the children.

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good

There are gaps in respect of the manager’s monitoring and review systems. This does not support the manager to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided to children. For example, the manager has not reviewed children’s plans to ensure that these are up to date and include all relevant information.

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good

The quality-of-care review report has not been sent to the regulator within timescales. This means that the manager and the regulator do not have oversight of the quality of care provided or the action leaders and managers will take to address the areas that need to improve.

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good

The manager and staff do not use research and developments around ways in which the needs of children are best met to enhance care-planning for the children.

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good

Not all the requirements raised at the last inspection have been addressed by the provider. Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s personal education plans and education, health and care plans are available for the manager and staff to follow. 24 December

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s risk- management plans are current, up to date, regularly reviewed and easily accessible to managers and staff. Staff must also educate children about bullying and challenge children’s behaviours that could be perceived as bullying. 24 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 7 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; 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)(c)(f)(g)(i)(h)) 24 December

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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.

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s local authority placement plans are available for the manager and staff to follow. 24 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 24 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 8 This specifically relates to ensuring that home remedies are disposed of safely.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 24 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all staff have their performance appraised once per year and are adequately trained in children’s individual needs and risks, and the manager receives regular supervision. 24 December

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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; 24 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 9 are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all children’s records are thorough, complete and up to date.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 24 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 10

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Recommendations

 The registered person should keep under review a ‘statement of purpose’ (regulation 16 and schedule 1). The home’s statement of purpose should provide the staffing structure and describe staff’s experience and qualifications. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative and proportionate in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for

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Recommendations

them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: SC432741 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited

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Inspector

Julie Elder, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC432741 12 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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