Children's Home run by Building Bridges Care Homes Ltd in St Helens

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 1 SC063284

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Registered provider: Building Bridges Care Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company and provides care for up to five children. The provider specialises in caring for children who may have social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 19 September 2023

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

When children move into the home, the manager works collaboratively with other professionals to ensure that the most appropriate planning takes place. Staff welcome children sensitively to the home and do all that they can to help to ease any anxieties children may have.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s views, wishes and feelings are held in high regard. The manager and staff complete regular direct work with children, where they are consulted on the care that they receive.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager advocates strongly for children to return to full-time education. When there are barriers, she identifies these and works closely with the local authority to identify solutions. When children do not engage with their planned education, there are clear plans in place at the home to provide children with structured activities throughout the day.

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Findings from the inspection

There have been occasions when children have been missing from the home. When these incidents occur, staff do all they can to try to locate missing children. When children cannot be found, staff report them as missing. However, missing-from-home risk assessments do not provide clear timescales for when children should be reported as missing. As a result of this, staff are not provided with clear direction, and there are some inconsistencies.

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Findings from the inspection

Records of missing-from-home incidents are handwritten, and they contain relevant information regarding the action taken. However, some records are difficult to read.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, the recruitment of staff has improved and there are several new staff. As a result of this, children have been able to build trusting and secure relationships with staff. This means that children benefit from stable and consistent care. As a result of this, incidents that occur in the home have significantly reduced.

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Findings from the inspection

When children are at risk in the community, the manager and staff respond appropriately. Staff complete regular direct work with children to help them understand how to keep themselves safe, and they encourage children to engage with external services. This means that children who are at risk are receiving a multi-agency approach.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager is experienced and suitably qualified. She is reflective and has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. She knows the children well and has high aspirations for them. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 3 The manager has a good level of oversight in the home and has addressed all requirements from the previous inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff receive supervision and appraisals regularly, in line with the home’s statement of purpose. They are well planned, reflective and focus on staff’s development. The manager has also made good use of a workforce development plan and has identified additional learning and development opportunities for staff.

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Findings from the inspection

The home is properly staffed and resourced to meet the needs of the children. All staff are up to date with their training, and half of the staff team are experienced and qualified. When new staff start, their training, development and induction activities are effective. This means that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to ensure that they can meet the specific needs of the children.

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Findings from the inspection

The physical environment for children is safe and secure and protects them from harm or the risk of harm. The home is undergoing some refurbishment, and the living area has recently been redecorated. This provides children with a homely and welcoming environment. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19 September 2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 20 September 2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 30 November 2021 Full Good 15 January 2020 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 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 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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that each child has a clear and directive missing-from-home support plan in place that clearly identifies the agreed timescales and strategies staff must follow when a child is missing from home. 19 April 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 6 In addition, the registered person must also ensure that individual risk assessments and support plans for children contain clear and directive strategies that clearly identify the action staff must take to mitigate risk.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Specifically, this is in relation to clearer recording when completing missing-from-home reports. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Building Bridges Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mill Farm, Bull Bridge Lane, Liverpool L10 6LZ

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Inspector

Kimmy Feeley, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC063284 8 regulates and inspects 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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