Children's home run by Teen-Works Care Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 1 SC472480 Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company and provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2014.

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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 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: 29 November 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: SC472480 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good 02/07/2019 Full Outstanding 21/06/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a happy, welcoming and nurturing environment. They are thriving in their home and making good progress in all aspects of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A social worker said that their child has not only improved emotionally but that the consistent care and nurturing approach of staff have helped the child to grow and develop physically.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are promoted through regular medical appointments in line with the children’s individual health needs and by eating healthy, balanced meals. Children enjoy shopping for groceries with staff who use the opportunity to help children develop their independence skills in line with their age and understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Arrangements for contact between children and their families are a strength of this home, as are relationships between staff and children. Staff are working hard to help one young child to rebuild their relationship with a parent. Direct-work sessions have helped the child to explore their feelings around this matter and helped the child to think of ways to manage the upcoming meeting. However, generally, there is a lack of direct-work sessions being carried out with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities with staff and children in the home and local community, but also independently with their friends and family. These activities are considered carefully to ensure that children can take age-appropriate risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff at the home acknowledge the importance of education for children and work with professionals to ensure that the children attend school regularly. One educational professional said that, as a result of living at this home, the children now have a chance of having a good education, and if they had not gone to live there, their school placement would have broken down by now.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are considering in-house tutoring for one child who has missed a great deal of their early education but who is now thriving at school.

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

The manager and staff have created a welcoming and safe environment where children are protected from harm. Children feel safer and have a strong sense of belonging. Children say that they can talk to staff about their worries and that the staff will help them.

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

Staff rarely use sanctions and prefer to use positive reinforcements to support children’s behavioural development. When sanctions have been used, such as the loss of a mobile phone or a games console, staff have recorded these in line with Inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 4 regulations. Sanctions are reviewed for effectiveness and to ensure that they are restorative and proportionate.

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

Staff are trained in safeguarding. They are able to demonstrate that they understand the known risks to the children and have the skills and knowledge to observe and identify potential concerns and take action to protect them.

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

Allegations against staff are dealt with swiftly and involve the relevant authorities. Clear audit trails show that the manager has dealt with matters appropriately to protect all parties involved.

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

Risk management plans for children are detailed and accurate, containing clear directions for staff to follow in order to reduce risk. Risks to children are lower level, and incidents at the home are minimal, as are incidents of physical intervention. When these do occur, staff take swift action to ensure the safety of the children in their care. However, risk management plans are not always updated following the identification of new risks or actions by children. This prevents staff from fully safeguarding the children in their care.

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

Safeguarding records and incident reports would benefit from management oversight to ensure that any areas of learning are identified to improve future care and safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a qualified and experienced manager. She has a clear ethos for the home and instils a culture of care and nurturing for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the home has experienced a number of changes to the staff team. As a result, the manager has had to cover shifts at the home to provide consistency for children. The staff team is now more stable, enabling a more consistent approach for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of the support that they are offered by the manager, formally and informally. Although staff report that they feel supported, they have not always received formal supervision as outlined in the home’s supervision policy. This does not ensure that staff have an opportunity to discuss any concerns that they may have, nor does it provide the manager with an opportunity to discuss any concerns that they may have around staff practice. Similarly, the recent pressures on the manager and staff, as a result of staff vacancies, have had a negative effect on the opportunities for regular staff team meetings. Regular team meetings would improve the opportunities to promote and maintain consistency further through regular communication as a team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recent recruitment will now allow the manager to resume her managerial tasks and resolve these shortfalls. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 5 The home has an electronic recording system in place. Records are of mixed quality and, at times, are not always updated to ensure that they are current. The additional stresses and responsibilities of the manager have hindered opportunities for management oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The lack of direct-work sessions with children fails to reflect the voice of the child in records, in terms of how they feel about living at the home, their thoughts on how things can be improved and any opinions about the staff who care for them. This does not reflect the good-quality relationships observed between staff and children during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 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—

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, written records must be kept that demonstrate learning identified and undertaken following incidents at the home. 30 September

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 30 June 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)) 30 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 7 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;

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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. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that meaningful direct-work sessions take place with all children. 30 September

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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: SC472480 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lonsdale & Marsh Limited, Cotton House, Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9TX

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Inspector

Julia Toller, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 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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