Children's Home run by Exceptional Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 1227335 1 Registered provider: Exceptional Care 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 provider to provide care for up to three children who may have social or emotional difficulties. Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

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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: 29 November 2022

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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: 1227335 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Outstanding 30/07/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1227335 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home are happy and have a strong sense of belonging. They receive good-quality care that has brought about stability that is making a difference to their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are helping children to make progress in their emotional well-being, education, self-esteem, social skills and independence. A child said, ‘Staff always point me in the right direction. I am making different choices now and I am doing much better.’ Staff have the skills and confidence to communicate and engage with children positively. As a result, children enjoy warm and trusting relationships with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff make sure that children get the support they need to express their views, wishes and feelings about their care and life. Children are involved in every aspect of their care. As a result, children understand their rights and entitlements. Children know what to do if they are unhappy or wish to complain. They have several adults independent of the home they can talk to if they have any concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have all the local authority documents to help them plan and care for children well. However, several of these plans are not signed by the allocated social worker, the local authority manager, parents, or the manager of the home. This does not ensure that all parties agree with the plans. Furthermore, this means that there is no signed consent for emergency medical treatment. This could delay emergency treatment given to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have encouraged and supported children to return to education and improve their outcomes significantly. Consequently, children sat their GCSEs and attended further educational placements. When some of these placements broke down, the manager liaised with numerous educational providers to secure new placements. As a result, children are looking forward to trying different options, in the hope of securing a career path.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and monitor children’s health and emotional well-being. They encourage and support children to have a healthy lifestyle, including eating nutritious food and being physically active. Staff make sure that children get the advice, support and treatment that they need to be healthy.

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

Children have a strong sense of safety and well-being. Staff’s safeguarding practice means that the children are protected from harm. Since coming to live at the home, children are significantly safer. They make positive choices to stay away from negative influences. Consequently, children have reduced their episodes of being reported missing from home. Staff are not complacent and understand children’s Inspection report for children's home: 1227335 4 vulnerabilities and risks. They know what they must do when they are concerned about children’s safety at home or out in the community.

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

Staff actively assess potential safety issues with children. They follow up-to-date plans to support them in keeping children safe. Staff take reasonable precautions, based on each child’s needs, age and understanding, to support them to take risks as part of their development. This includes children taking part in leisure activities and spending time with their friends independently.

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

The manager and staff have created a safe and positive environment that helps children to be emotionally secure and to thrive. Staff build constructive and warm relationships with children. They help children to make sense of the world around them and to develop understanding and empathy towards other people.

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

Staff understand the impact of children’s previous experiences on their development and relationships. Staff have the expertise to help children to understand and manage their feelings.

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

Children and staff benefit from support and advice from a mental health practitioner. As a result, children are developing a better understanding of their feelings. They recognise when they are starting to struggle to cope and find things that help them to manage the situation safely, including having time and space or listening to music. Staff understand the children’s coping strategies and know what they need to do to help them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy managers are an effective leadership team. They place the welfare of children at the centre of everything they and the staff do. Everyone has the shared ambition for children to be happy and to be able to reach their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staffing arrangements provide children with a high level of care and continuity. Children are supported by staff who know them well and understand their needs and plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have strong relationships with partner agencies. They work together effectively to identify and meet children’s needs consistently. When services have been slow or poor, the manager has challenged stakeholders and has continued to escalate concerns to the senior managers of the local authority. This shows that the manager is a strong advocate for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers make sure that staff are well supported and have the right skills, knowledge and training to meet children’s assessed needs. However, on occasions, staff have supported children when they have been at a police station. They have undertaken the role of an appropriate adult, but they have had no training to do this. This does not ensure that staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities in this area. Inspection report for children's home: 1227335 5 Staff get the opportunity in their one-to-one supervision meetings to reflect critically on their work with children, or discuss how their learning and training is improving the quality of their practice. They use monthly team meetings effectively to reflect on children’s progress and as opportunities for training and sharing skills, research and good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses monitoring and review systems to have a detailed understanding of the effect that the quality of care is having on children’s progress and experiences. The manager uses this understanding to inform practice and find new and better ways to support children. The manager uses the children’s views and the people in their lives to help them understand what is working well and what needs to improve. Inspection report for children's home: 1227335 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

This regulation applies to a child who is looked after by a local authority.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must co-operate with the child’s placing authority in agreeing and signing the child’s placement plan. (Regulation 17 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that children’s local authority care plans are signed by all parties. 30 December

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff have training in representing a child, when required to act as an appropriate adult. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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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: 1227335 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Exceptional Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Exceptional Care Limited, Malthouse Business Centre, Southport Road, Ormskirk L39 1QR

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Inspectors

Pam Nuckley, Social Care Regulatory Inspector James Meeks, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1227335 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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