Children's Home run by Therapeutic Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2739580 1 Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection. The home and manager have been registered with Ofsted since September 2023.

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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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2739580 2

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improvement to be good

Children are cared for by nurturing staff. Staff promote a positive and supportive environment and work hard to form positive relationships with children. However, the progress children make is inconsistent and their progress is not sustained effectively.

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improvement to be good

The manager’s pre-admission assessment for two children was not robust enough and failed to identify the levels of their complexities and vulnerabilities. This led to both children leaving the home prematurely, as staff could not meet their specific needs to ensure their long-term safety. This also has had an effect on the child living in the home and they now have started regressing in the progress they initially made. As a result, the outcomes achieved by children have not been consistently positive.

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improvement to be good

Staff have successfully supported the child who currently lives in the home to attend school more often than they did before moving in. However, the child’s engagement is not yet consistent, and staff do not provide the child with a routine that includes both formal and informal learning opportunities on the days that they do not attend. As a result, staff are missing opportunities to help the child understand the importance of education.

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improvement to be good

Staff are active in supporting the child’s health needs. The child struggles with engaging with other health professionals. Staff are speaking regularly with the child about the importance of good health. Through this support, the child is now able to attend most routine health checks. Staff are continuing to support the child around their phobia of the dentist. The staff are regularly educating the child on health issues, such as the dangers of smoking and drug use, and healthy eating and exercise.

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improvement to be good

The child is supported to have regular and positive time with people who are important to them. This includes taking the child to see family on a regular basis. Staff understand the importance of family time.

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improvement to be good

Staff regularly provide the child with positive activities to develop their interests and hobbies. This includes go-karting, gym and swimming. The manager has recently bought the child fishing equipment, which the child has shown an interest in. This is also helping to support the child’s health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

The child is encouraged regularly by staff to express their wishes and feelings. This is achieved through daily conversations and weekly meetings. They support the child to be involved in their day-to-day care, including activities and menu choice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739580 3

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

The child’s safety and well-being are consistently at the centre of staff’s practice. The child said that they feel safe in the home and know who to go to if they have any worries or concerns. There have been no complaints.

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

Staff understand the child’s vulnerabilities and respond appropriately to incidents and take action to protect the child. There are detailed risk assessments in place. These are robust documents that are frequently updated and give clear guidance to staff to ensure that there is a consistent response to the child’s behaviours. The child is involved in their risk assessments and staff regularly talk to the child about how to keep safe.

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

Staff respond appropriately to any missing-from-home incidents. There are clear and comprehensive plans in place that staff follow to ensure the safe return of the child. Staff continually take steps to locate the child and work with other professionals, such as the local police and missing-from-home team. The manager ensures that the child has access to an independent person on their return.

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

Positive behaviour is encouraged by staff. Staff use proactive techniques to help the child to manage their frustrations and anxieties. The child responds to this approach. There has only been one incident of physical intervention, and this was only used to keep the child safe. The manager ensured that the child was spoken to after the incident, so they understood why the hold was necessary.

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

Staff carry out a room search when there is a recognised immediate risk. However, the manager does not ensure that the child is informed of the reason why their room was searched.

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

The child enjoys a comfortable, clean, tidy and physically safe living environment. The manager ensures that any damage is quickly repaired. All health and safety checks have been completed and any shortfalls have been rectified. This ensures that the home is a safe place for children.

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good

The manager is experienced, enthusiastic and child-centred and has good oversight of the day-to-day running of the home. There is a core group of staff in place who provide consistency and stability for the child. They are committed and work well together. Staff said they feel supported by the manager.

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good

Staff are caring professionals, who want to make a positive difference to the lives of children. However, staff are not yet meeting the aims and objectives as set out in the statement of purpose effectively. This means that the desired outcomes for children have not been successful. Despite the manager’s best intentions, two of the Inspection report for children’s home: 2739580 4 three children who have moved in since the home was registered have left prematurely.

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good

The manager is working with the responsible individual to look at a more robust assessment process so they can improve on identifying children’s needs before they move into the home. This is to ensure that the staff are equipped to meet children’s specific needs and improve the outcomes for children.

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good

There is a comprehensive induction and training programme in place and all staff have completed their mandatory training. The manager ensures that there is specific training completed to meet the child’s needs. The manager has a good overview of the staff’s skills and knowledge. When she identifies a learning opportunity to help improve the quality of care, she ensures that an additional team training session takes place. This enables staff to continue to develop their knowledge and skills to meet the child’s needs.

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good

Supervision sessions are taking place regularly and give an opportunity for staff to reflect on their practice and identify any additional learning needs. New staff receive additional supervision sessions as part of their induction to help them develop their knowledge.

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good

Team meetings are taking place regularly and give the opportunity for staff to share knowledge and experience. Staff reflect in the meetings and play an active part in the development of the home. This gives staff a shared ownership of continually improving practice.

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good

Recruitment records are clear. The manager ensures that all necessary checks are completed before staff start working in the home. This helps to ensure that adults working with children are safe to do so. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739580 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 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 that—

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Requirement Due date

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)) 19 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

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 that—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; 19 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2739580 6 help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that that when children are refusing to attend education, there is clear structure and routine in place at the home to support the child’s learning.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when a room search is undertaken the child is informed of the reason why the search was necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.20)

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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: 2739580 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Errigal House, Avroe Crescent, Blackpool FY4 2DP

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Inspector

Simon Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2739580 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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