Children's home run by ABC Care and Education Ltd in Lancaster

Inspection report for children’s home: SC443765 1 SC443765 Registered provider: ABC Care and Education Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately operated children’s home. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2018 and is appropriately qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there were three children 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

Date of last inspection: 18 January 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: SC443765 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2023 Full Good 01/12/2021 Full Good 16/10/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC443765 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled in the home. The environment is warm, welcoming, and personalised for the children who live there. Care is individualised to meet children’s needs with attention to understanding their behaviours and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care provided to children is nurturing and is strengthened with the input of child-led therapeutic support. Staff come up with creative ways for children to express themselves, which supports their emotional and physical well-being. There are numerous ways for children to share their views and feelings, which demonstrates that their opinions are valued and acted on by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress, but particularly with their educational and health needs. There is a strong relationship with school staff, with effective daily communication. This means children receive consistent care and support at home and at school, and any areas of concern are addressed quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to try out activities, both individually and as a group, to develop their social skills and confidence. Children experienced a summer holiday together with staff, giving them shared memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to understand their longer-term plans. Staff maintain effective communication with children’s families to ensure that they spend time with them and build positive relationships with the people who are important to them. This helps children to build support networks, which will benefit them as they become more independent.

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

Children feel safe in the home. The use of physical intervention is rare, and children rarely go missing from the home. This is reflective of the positive and trusting relationships between children and staff.

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

The risks for an older child previously living in the home were well managed. However, an isolated incident escalated, which led to the child’s placement ending. Staff provided support to the child in a caring and respectful way. The manager’s decision to end the placement was made with a clear rationale and judgement to safeguard the child, other children in the home and staff.

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

The child’s experience of leaving the home was compromised due to safeguarding concerns with no opportunities for them to say goodbye to the other children and staff. The children remaining in the home received age-appropriate explanations and support to minimise the impact of the incident and the child’s unplanned move from the home on them. Inspection report for children’s home: SC443765 4 Staff are consistent in their approach to supporting children with their behaviours and use creative incentives to encourage children to make progress in relation to their behaviour. There are clear and consistent rules and boundaries in place for children that staff and children understand. Staff work with children to help them to reflect on their behaviours, meaning that consequences are rarely used.

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

Sensors are used in some areas of the home, including the hallways and landings, without a clear rationale for their use that is linked to safeguarding children. Children’s plans do not set out the need for these measures, and their use is not subject to ongoing review or consultation. Children’s understanding from the explanations given by staff, about the use of and need for the sensors, is not appropriate and could lead them to become dependent on the measure.

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

Consideration is given to the potential risks new children may pose to the children already living in the home. However, consideration is not given to the impact of any known risks to new children from those already living there. This does not demonstrate that assessments for children moving into the home are robust and ensure that all risks are considered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about the care provided to children and leads her team by example. There is a stable team of staff who are supportive of each other and feel supported in their roles. Professionals and family members are complimentary about the work of the manager and the team in terms of how responsive they are and how well they advocate for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear understanding of the progress children are making and how the staff contribute towards reaching the best outcomes for children. There is effective and proactive work with professionals, particularly with schools and therapists, to ensure consistency and certainty for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision and team meetings are held regularly. The content of sessions is child-focused and reflective, with the aim of maintaining consistent practice across the team. The staff team is well trained. The manager has sought additional online training through a specialist agency to ensure that one child’s health needs are met effectively. This training has been shared with the child’s school, which demonstrates effective partnership working that is in the child’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home and is keen to ensure that any new staff appointments are a good fit for the team and for the children. The manager works with the independent person to consider potential improvements to the home. However, the independent persons monthly reports often lack valuable feedback from children, staff and family members, which is not robustly challenged by the manager. There have been missed opportunities for the manager to carry out more in-depth reviews of significant incidents in the home to improve practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC443765 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 registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, sensors should only be used in the home where there is an identified safeguarding concern for children. The use of sensors should be reviewed and children should be informed of the reason for their use. 31 March 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that impact risk assessments completed when considering a new placement for the home take into account the potential impact of risks for the children already living in the home and not just the known risks for the child being considered. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they carry out reviews of significant incidents to understand opportunities to improve practice and outcomes for children. Children and staff should also be given feedback about the outcome of manager reviews, where appropriate, to show how their experiences have been Inspection report for children’s home: SC443765 6 taken into consideration. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that visits to the home by the independent person are robust, with opportunities to talk with children, their parents, their relatives and people working at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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: SC443765 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: ABC Care and Education Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: International House, 61 Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3HZ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Kennedy

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Inspector

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC443765 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 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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