Children's Home run by Choices Home for Children Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 1 SC2724171 Registered provider: Choices Home for Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager’s post has been vacant since September 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 requires improvement to be 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in this home. They are helped to develop trusting relationships with staff who care about them. These relationships underpin the progress that children make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three of the children have been in the care of the provider for a number of years. These children and the staff team moved to this home from another home owned by the provider in June 2023. Children were consulted about the move and encouraged to develop a sense of belonging in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A fourth child has recently move into the home in a planned way. Their needs were fully considered alongside the needs of children already living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s emotional and physical health needs and support them to attend regular health appointments. The staff have worked innovatively with a variety of professionals to support children who are extremely reluctant to attend medical appointments, enabling them to attend. This ensures that children are accessing the services they require and that their health needs are being met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are positive about the progress children make and the care provided by the team. Children are helped to develop life skills and older children are encouraged to take part in plans to become more independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in their education. They are supported to attend school and college and to apply for part-time employment. Staff are ambitious for children and encourage them to aspire for their futures. Older children have plans to attend university.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to develop social skills, maintain friendships and spend time with people who are important to them. This supports children in developing a positive support network that they can continue to benefit from into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in a range of activities and have enjoyed going horse riding, camping trips and Halloween celebrations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are regularly sought. However, it is not always clear whether their feedback contributes to the care they receive or is used to inform staff practice. This does not ensure that children always feel listened to, or that their voices are heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a modern and well-maintained home. Their bedrooms are personalised and pictures reminding them of special memories are on display around the home. However, repairs are not always carried out in a timely manner. The drawers in one child’s bedroom are broken, and a replacement had not been Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 3 prioritised. This detracts from the homely feel and does not help children to feel valued.

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

There is a strong safeguarding culture in the home and staff are aware of their responsibilities in keeping children safe. When significant incidents have occurred, staff have responded appropriately and ensured that all relevant professionals have been made aware. This has resulted in a strong multi-agency working partnership in the home.

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

Staff provide children with caring and consistent responses that encourage positive, behaviours. Consequently, there have been only two incidents of staff needing to hold children to keep them safe. The manager has evaluated the effectiveness of these measures and both children and staff have been given the opportunity to reflect.

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

There have been incidents of children going missing from the home. When incidents have occurred, staff have responded appropriately and have been proactive in searching for children and following children’s individual plans. Children have had the opportunity of return home interviews to help safeguard them and identify potential concerns.

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

Children have positive relationships with staff and feel they can talk to staff about any worries or concerns they may have. Staff carry out direct-work sessions with children to help them to make safer choices. These are recorded in detail and include children’s views, but it is not always clear who has completed the recording.

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

Staff do not have signed, delegated authority from the children’s placing authorities. Consequently, they do not have the appropriate written authority to ensure that their decision-making is in line with their agreed responsibilities.

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good

There is an interim manager in post. She is passionate about her role and is committed to improving practice in the home to ensure that children receive high- quality care.

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good

Staff said that they enjoy working in the home and feel supported by the manager. They receive ongoing support and additional training to help them to care for the children. However, not all staff, including casual staff, have completed training specific to children’s individual needs. This does not ensure that children are supported by appropriately skilled staff.

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good

Team meetings are used to share detailed information about the children and to reflect on their progress. However, children’s meetings and their experiences, views and wishes are not always discussed during staff meetings. This is a missed Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 4 opportunity to ensure that children’s views and wishes are shared with staff and are used to inform practice in the home.

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good

The quality of formal supervision sessions for staff is varied. Not all staff have received supervision as detailed in the provider’s supervision policy. A number of supervision records do not reflect that staff are receiving appropriate challenge or support. This limits opportunities for staff to reflect, learn and improve their practice in the home.

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good

Each child’s bedroom door has an alarm that can be activated as a safeguarding measure. These are not currently in use, but agreements are in place from children’s placing authority social workers for them to be used if required to safeguard children. However, leaders and managers have not detailed the use of monitoring and surveillance in the home’s statement of purpose.

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good

Internal monitoring systems are not robust and do not support the manager to identify shortfalls in the home. Records do not always include the author and the manager had not identified errors in children’s records prior to these being identified by the inspectors. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 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 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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they have oversight of practice in the home to identify patterns and trends, and to ensure that any learning is identified and used to improve the quality of care provided to children. In addition, ensure that all staff, including casual staff, complete training specific to children’s individual needs. 5 January 2024

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Requirement Due Date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due Date

develop positive relationships with them; 5 January 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 6 engage with them; and

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Requirement Due Date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due Date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular, ensure that children’s views are sought to inform the care provided, and that there is evidence of how children’s views and wishes are considered and used to inform staff practice.

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Requirement Due Date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due Date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due Date

Nothing in paragraph (5) or regulation 46 (review of premises) requires or authorises the registered person to contravene or not comply with—

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Requirement Due Date

any other provision of these Regulations; or

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Requirement Due Date

any conditions in relation to the registration of the registered person under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000. (Regulation 16 (1) (5) (6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular, ensure that the use of any form of monitoring and surveillance is clearly detailed in the home’s statement of purpose. 5 January 2024

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Requirement Due Date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 5 January 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 7 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular, ensure that supervision is undertaken with the frequency detailed in the provider’s supervision policy; that the quality and duration of supervision support staff to undertake their role to a high standard; and that supervision records are well maintained.

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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;

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Requirement Due Date

and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is an up-to-date delegated authority agreement signed by a representative of the local authority with the authority to delegate these decisions. In addition, ensure that all records are signed and dated by the author. 5 January 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children live in a warm and welcoming environment that has a homely feel, and that repairs are carried out in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2724171 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Choices Home for Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Wellington Road, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 7ED

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Inspectors

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2724171 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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