Children's home run by Searchlight Care Services Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 1 SC411074 Registered provider: Searchlight 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 company and provides care for one child who experiences social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was no manager in post. The responsible individual and a cover manager are in day-to-day charge of the home.

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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: 1 November 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/10/2021 Full Good 16/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home and three have left. All three children moved on earlier than planned because the home could not meet their needs. Managers say that full information was not shared for one child before they moved into the home, which compromised how staff could meet their needs. As a result, the child moved on after two weeks. The manager did not escalate concerns appropriately and failed to challenge the local authority.

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improvement to be good

Another child had a poorly planned move. Managers admitted the child before full information was obtained from the local authority. As a result, the child’s risks were not fully understood. Managers ended the placement within one day of the child arriving. More positively, staff supported a third child to have a planned move to a new home which met the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, the child living in the home had lived there for eight weeks. The child moved in at short notice and the manager consulted with professionals to ensure that the child’s needs were fully understood. Therefore, the child has settled well and is building positive relationships. The inspector observed warm and good-humoured interactions between staff and the child. These relationships provide the child with the stability and security they need to make progress in important areas of their life.

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improvement to be good

The child attends a school that meets their needs. Staff ensure that the child attends regularly and on time. The child enjoys school. Staff recently supported the child to attend his education review. A teacher said that the child is now more settled in school and can better manage his emotions. This has led to more positive behaviour in the classroom.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to express their views in planned meetings and day-to-day discussions. They educate the child about their personal care and talk with the child about healthy eating. However, staff have not helped the child to understand the content of the children’s guide. This means that the child is without important information, such as how they will be kept safe and how to raise concerns about their care.

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improvement to be good

Managers do not ensure that risk management plans give staff clear guidance to manage a child’s high-risk behaviours. Staff are not guided to supervise children effectively and keep them safe. As a result, on two occasions, children were able to go missing from the home without staff knowledge. This was despite children being supervised by two members of staff. Additionally, risk assessments do not give staff guidance about a child’s known risks. For instance, staff lack guidance on how to Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 4 consistently manage the risks of a busy main road to the current child. Additionally, staff have not educated the child about these risks.

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improvement to be good

When a child goes missing from the home, staff follow the child’s missing-from-care protocol. They contact the police and social workers and actively search for the child. When the child returns, staff comfort the child and offer nurture and food. However, managers and staff do not then ensure that children are offered a return home interview with an independent person. This is a missed opportunity to better understand a child’s behaviours and reduce their risks.

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improvement to be good

When a child’s risks increase, managers are proactive in escalating concerns with safeguarding agencies, such as the police and the youth offending service. They participate in multi-agency meetings and implement agreed strategies.

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improvement to be good

Since living at the home, the child has become increasingly settled. Strong routines and boundaries enable the child to feel safe and secure. Open and honest communication enables the child to identify their feelings and manage their emotions. As a result, the use of restraint to manage the child’s complex behaviours is reducing.

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improvement to be good

Managers ensure that effective vetting procedures are in place for the safe recruitment of staff. Additionally, managers have assessed the risks in the local area and ensured that the home is safely located.

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good

The home has not had a manager in post since December 2023. A registered manager was last in post in June 2023. The responsible individual and a cover manager, from another home in the company, are currently supporting staff. The responsible individual is actively recruiting and hopes to appoint a new manager soon.

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good

The child’s social worker is very positive about the care their child receives. They describe communication from managers and staff as ‘excellent’ and say that staff have been amazing at building relationships. The social worker says that the child is making good progress and that staff could not do anything better.

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good

The home is fully staffed by a team of six core members of staff. Three members of staff have the required qualification and three are enrolled. Staff are committed to ensuring that the child receives consistent care. Shortfalls in staffing are generally covered by core staff and occasionally cover staff from other homes. This means that the child is cared for by consistent adults who know them well.

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good

Staff are being supported through regular supervision sessions and an annual appraisal. New members of staff receive a well-planned induction. Regular team meetings and good-quality handovers ensure that staff are individually supported Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 5 and work well together as a team. Staff say that the responsible individual is available and very approachable, and they say that they feel supported. Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that staff have guidance on how to manage the risks to the child of crossing a busy main road. The manager should ensure that the child is educated about the risks and guided about how to stay safe near the road. 25 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring effective challenge to the local authority regarding withholding information. Children must be spoken to following an allegation and concerns relating to children’s education must be escalated. 25 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 7 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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that they have all relevant and available information about a child’s needs before the child is admitted to the home. 25 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is an organisation or a partnership. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)) 25 February 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide is made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed (or on arrival at the home if the placement is made in an emergency). The children’s guide must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and be explained to each child to make sure that they understand it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  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. The home should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including

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Recommendations

the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 8

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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: SC411074 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Marcus House, Parkhall Road, Longton, Stoke on Trent ST3 5XA

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC411074 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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