Children's Home run by Choices 4 Children Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 1 SC400880 Registered provider: Choices 4 Children Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. The home is registered to provide care for up to six children with learning disabilities and social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there were six children living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by an experienced manager who has been registered with Ofsted since 2014.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 22 February 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2023 Full Good 11/01/2022 Full Good 19/06/2019 Full Good 20/06/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in their communication skills, understanding and how they manage day-to-day tasks and situations. Most children communicate non- verbally, and staff are trained in the use of Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS) and Makaton. Each child using these systems has their own book, which has been developed to include the specific words and pictures they use.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with staff. Children receive individualised care from a key staff member who implements structured routines for them. Children travel to the same school by different means, eat their meals at different times and do different activities to other children in the home to meet their individual needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in activities both in and outside the home. One child likes to listen to music on their tablet. Another child, who likes trains, is helped to plan their trips to see their family by train. There is a separate sensory room, where parents can spend time with their children during visits.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend specialist education on a full-time basis. There is good communication between staff and children’s schools to ensure that information about the children, their presentation and any concerns are shared and acted on in a consistent way. This also includes sharing new pictures the children may be using to communicate.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met, with staff communicating with health professionals to consider children’s individual needs. This has led to changes in how medication is given and with the aids to support children’s well-being and development.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to share their views in key-work sessions. Most recordings of sessions are of good quality and include children’s voices and feedback. However, records of the sessions completed by agency staff are not as consistent in their quality. The children take part in individual teatime chats rather than group meetings to ensure that their differing needs are met. The recordings of these chats are brief and lack detail and context to make them more meaningful.

p.3

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

Staff understand the risks to children. Children have thorough up-to-date risk assessments with clear strategies for staff to use to keep children safe. Children do not go missing from the home due to the high levels of supervision and oversight provided.

p.3

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

Physical interventions have been used as a last resort to support children during times of distress to prevent them from harming themselves or others. All incidents Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 4 are reviewed by the manager with staff and children to ensure that they are appropriate and proportionate.

p.3

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

One parent reported that they feel their child is safe in the home, but raised a concern about an incident when a new member of staff did not provide adequate supervision of the child. The parent was confident this was a one-off incident and that the manager would address it with the staff member.

p.4

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

Children are helped to understand what to do during a fire drill and are given support with the use of ear defenders. One child was helped to carry out the role of fire warden, encouraging everyone to leave the building and checking the numbers and names of those involved.

p.4

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

There is a diverse staff team which reflects the diverse needs of the children in its care. Children are supported in the practice of their individual faiths through visits to ‘messy church’ and to celebrate special religious occasions. However, the care plan for one child does not outline the child’s cultural needs and the support available to meet their heritage needs. Furthermore, staff have not considered how they could try to understand the child’s cultural needs better.

p.4

good

The manager talks passionately about the children in his care and the progress they are making. There is a stable team of staff who feel supported in their roles and see the manager and his deputy manager as approachable. As a result, the home has a family atmosphere, where staff work well together and recognise each other’s strengths.

p.4

good

The ownership of the home changed some time ago and there are directors who are involved in the day-to-day running of the home. Ofsted was not notified of the changes as required. Two directors are currently employed as residential support workers and it is not clear what shifts they work. The manager is responsible for their supervision, which puts him in a difficult position in relation to challenging their practice.

p.4

good

The manager uses detailed templates to support discussion with staff during supervision. This supervision considers staff’s well-being and reflects on their practice. This helps staff to consider what training or support they may need to carry out their role more effectively. However, the supervision records for the two directors who are residential support workers do not include reflective discussions.

p.4

good

There is no set agenda used for staff meetings, with recent meetings focusing on tasks relating to the children in a briefing format. Meetings do not focus on the care provided to children, give no opportunities for staff reflection on their practice and do not record any comments made by staff members. There are missed opportunities for staff to discuss the children in their care, meaning they rely on daily communication and handovers to share important information. Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 5 Recruitment processes for new members of staff are robust. However, there is a conflict of interest with one director providing an employment reference from a previous employment for another director, despite them being related. This compromises the reliability of the reference.

p.4

good

The manager’s oversight of the home is not thorough, with some tasks being carried out by directors and a reliance on alerts being generated by the case management system. The manager has reviewed individual incidents of physical restraint, but there is no regular monitoring or analysis used to consider shortfalls, good practice, themes, or trends to ensure continuous improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place —

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the registered provider is an organisation—

p.6

Requirement Due date

any change of director, manager, secretary, or other similar officer of the organisation. (Regulation 49 (e)(ii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to any changes in the ownership of the organisation to be notified to Ofsted. 1 December 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.6

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)(iii)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that staff are aware of the risks to children and provide appropriate supervision and support to children in line with their care plans. 30 November Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager having a robust system in place to carry out monitoring and evaluation of the care provided to children. 31 January 2024

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff record discussions with children in a way which is careful, objective, clear and in a way that will be helpful to the child. This relates specifically to how children’s views are captured and recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff have opportunities to reflect on their practice, to provide a culture of learning. This relates specifically to staff team meetings being child focused and giving staff opportunities for group reflection on the care they provide to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. This relates specifically to consideration being given as to how any

p.7

Recommendations

directors of the company in carrying out day-to-day roles within the home are recruited, supervised and performance managed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the care provided to children takes into account the child’s gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences, and any relevant plans. This relates specifically to ensuring that staff work with children’s families to understand their diversity and look at ways in which this can be supported within the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2) Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 8

p.7

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: SC400880 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Choices 4 Children Ltd

p.9

Inspectors

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Stacey Ilaboya, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC400880 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10