Children's Home run by My3 Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 2508601 1 Registered provider: My3 Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: 28 February 2023

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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: 2508601 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2023 Full Good 20/04/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2508601 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a warm, relaxed home with a stable and committed staff team. Staff have high aspirations for the children they care for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Clear risk management plans enable staff to minimise risks to the children in their care. Social workers spoke about the positive impact that living at this home has had on the children’s behaviours and of their improved attendance and achievements in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the importance of education to children. Unfortunately, one child has not been involved in education since October 2023. This has not been managed as proactively as it should have been because of management changes in the home. However, since the arrival of the new manager, new opportunities have been offered to the child. Other children enjoy good attendance. Staff make sure that children follow good bedtime routines so that they are ready for their time in education. Subsequently, children, on the whole, have good attendance levels.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s health by registering them with primary health providers, such as doctors, dentists and opticians. Children regularly attend health appointments, even when they have previously struggled to do so. Staff promote a healthy diet as well as a range of outdoor activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to attend and enjoy a range of activities with staff, with their families and with friends. Clear risk management plans are in place to ensure that children are able to take age-appropriate risks safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to promote and maintain the relationships between children and their families or those to whom they are close, demonstrating their understanding of the importance of these relationships. Similarly, if contact with families is not safe or productive for children, staff liaise with relevant professionals to share their concerns, promoting the safety and well-being of children in their care.

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

Risk management plans and behaviour management support plans are in place that contain strategies for staff to follow to minimise known risks to children. The plans in place are reviewed regularly so that staff are aware of how best to safeguard children. This consistent approach has helped to minimise risks to children by reducing their risk-taking behaviours.

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

There is a stable, consistent staff team, members of which know the children in their care very well. This means that there has been a minimal number of serious incidents, incidents requiring physically holding children or consequences at the home since the last inspection. Staff talk about a reluctance to use consequences, Inspection report for children's home: 2508601 4 preferring to concentrate on incentives for positive behaviours. The positive relationships between staff and children assist staff when carrying out regular direct work sessions with children. These sessions are planned or spontaneous in line with children’s needs and circumstances. The relationships between staff and children facilitate open and honest conversations that have helped to safeguard children.

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

Although records reflect the content of the conversations with children, they do not always reflect the approach taken by staff and are not reflective of these positive relationships. Direct work is also used to celebrate children’s achievements and successes.

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

Although the home is a pleasant environment for children to live in, some parts of the home are tired and worn. There is a plan in place for refurbishment, once the planned changes for children take place in the coming months. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and reflect the interests and personality of each child. Sleep-in arrangements are not ideal, as they are external to the main premises. To date, the current arrangement has not impacted on children as they are settled in the home.

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

Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and have taken steps to notify relevant professionals of all safeguarding concerns. Staff have managed an ongoing safeguarding concern for one child in conjunction with a range of other professionals and the legal system. They have handled this with sensitivity, offering the child support and honesty.

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good

Since the last inspection, the home has experienced a number of changes to the management of the home. Staff report that this has been a difficult time but that the recent changes have been positive and they feel supported.

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good

There is now an experienced and qualified manager at the home. They are already registered for another home in the organisation and have submitted an application to Ofsted to be the registered manager of this home, too. The new manager and deputy manager have already started to make improvements at the home and have a clear understanding of the improvements that are needed.

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good

The staff team remains stable, enabling a consistent approach to the children living at the home. Staff have found the changes, and, at times, absence of a manager at the home, to be a challenge. However, they have continued to promote the existing routines and standards of care for children. This has ensured that care for children has remained consistent.

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good

The home has an electronic recording system in place, but staff also maintain some paper records. This, at times, makes it difficult to locate records. In addition, the changes to management have resulted in some gaps in records. This, therefore, hinders management oversight. Inspection report for children's home: 2508601 5 Records do not yet provide a clear record of the children’s journey at the home or, sometimes, the action taken by staff to safeguard the children in their care. In addition, records do not always reflect the voice of the child in terms of how children feel about living at the home, their thoughts on how things could be improved and any opinions about the staff who care for them. Although staff arrange children’s meetings, they are reluctant to attend this type of formal meeting.

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good

Although staff report that they feel supported, they have not always received supervision as outlined in the home’s supervision policy. This does not ensure that staff have an opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have, nor does it provide the manager with an opportunity to discuss any concerns that they may have around staff’s practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2508601 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that ensures that—

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Requirement Due date

the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child.

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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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a) (2)(g)(ii)(h)) 31 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 31 May 2024

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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

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 31 May 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2508601 7 The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(1) (2)(a)(viii)) 31 May 2024

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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: 2508601 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair Accounting Co Ltd, 300 St. Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Julia Toller, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2508601 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 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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