Children's home run by Social Care Services Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC021684 1 SC021684 Registered provider: Social Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider and is registered to provide care for up to six children who may have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home. All children spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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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: 14 December 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: SC021684 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/12/2022 Full Good 15/09/2021 Full Good 10/03/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC021684 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children living in the home are happy and settled. They are helped to develop positive, trusting relationships with staff, who care about them. Staff support children to use their preferred method of communication as some children are non- verbal.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved in to the home and one child has had a planned move out. Transitions in to and out of the home are managed well and completed in a child-centred way to help children to settle quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time with staff. They are encouraged to go for walks in local parks and other leisure activities, which have widened their experiences. Staff effectively assess the risks in relation to these trips to ensure that children can participate in activities that build their confidence in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s education and proactively support them to access appropriate education to meet their needs. Three children are in full-time education and their attendance is good. Staff communicate regularly with education providers and parents to share how children are progressing. One child’s education is being supported by the team as he is not currently in school due to concerns that his needs cannot be met. This has been escalated to the child’s placing authority by the manager but is yet to be resolved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and well maintained. Parts of the home, such as the shower room, have recently been refurbished to a good standard. The manager has an ongoing maintenance programme to ensure that areas of the home accessed by children are well maintained. The annex at the back of the building is in need of major refurbishment and is out of use. The manager has plans to redevelop this into a family room where children can further their independence skills.

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

Through their individual communication methods, children express that they feel safe living in the home. Staff use a variety of techniques to communicate clear and consistent boundaries and routines to children. This helps children to feel safe and cared for.

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

Children’s complex needs and vulnerabilities are understood well by staff. Children do not go missing from this home due to the high level of supervision. However, staff know how to respond should an incident occur.

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

Staff use the home’s sensory room to help children with social stories and to complete key-work sessions. Through key-work sessions, children are helped to understand issues such as stranger danger and healthy eating. When appropriate, Inspection report for children’s home: SC021684 4 children are supported to prepare for adult life. This is completed sensitively and carefully to ensure that children experience smooth transitions to adult care services.

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

Children are cared for by skilled staff who understand their vulnerabilities well. Children’s plans identify strategies for staff to use to help children to self-regulate. However, when children need to be held to keep them safe, the staff involved are not always spoken to about the measure, as required by the regulations.

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

When restriction of liberty is required, this is appropriately outlined and reviewed. The fire safety risk assessment indicates a rationale to allow the front door to be locked and bedroom door alarms to be used to keep the children safe. However, this is not reflected in all children’s plans. This has the potential to limit children’s privacy.

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

Safe recruitment practices are adhered to, ensuring that staff are suitable to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a dedicated and leads the home well. She speaks warmly about the children and demonstrates how their specific needs are being met. The manager is supported by the home’s responsible individual and senior staff. They are proactive in ensuring that the team provides high-quality care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable. Staff feel valued and well supported by the manager. All staff have completed training that is relevant to the needs of the children in their care. Staff receive regular supervision that helps them to remain skilled and reflect on their performance. However, staff have not had an opportunity to have an appraisal for the last year. This limits opportunities for staff to develop their practice and limits the manager’s insight into staff performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular staff meetings provide staff with opportunities to further develop their practice and to embed consistency for the children. The manager uses team meetings to develop the team and reflect on any learning from incidents. On one occasion when a child complained about the care they had received, the manager took immediate action to ensure that the child’s concerns were addressed and that all staff were aware of the issue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has implemented systems to monitor the service. However, the system to capture the views of children, parents, staff and professionals into the quality of care review is not robust. This limits opportunities to use feedback to continually develop practice in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC021684 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, 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii) 15 February 2023

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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))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff have an appraisal of their practice at least once every year. 15 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25(1)(d)) 15 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC021684 6 In particular, plans for children who are subject to a deprivation of liberty order must evidence agreements from the placing authority for restricting exits from the building.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any limits to children’s privacy and access in the home, such as the use of bedroom door alarms, are for safeguarding purposes only. Any limits should be subject to a rigorous assessment of each child’s needs and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: SC021684 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Shaw Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK4 4AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Annabella Foulkes

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Inspector

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC021684 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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