Children's home run by Care Assist Children’s Services Limited in West Lancashire

Inspection report children's home: SC061678 1 SC061678 Registered provider: Care Assist Children’s Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post who registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC061678 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/04/2023 Full Good 01/04/2022 Full Good 07/12/2021 Full Inadequate 24/08/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report children's home: SC061678 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff who know them well. Managers and staff spoke fondly and passionately about the children. Children have plenty of opportunities to express their views, wishes and feelings in a way that meets their individual needs. Children said that they like the staff and can talk to them if they have any worries or concerns and staff will listen.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to wide range of activities; however, staff also respect that the children are at an age where they often prefer to spend time with their friends and family. This is supported in line with agreed plans and makes sure that children can maintain relationships that are meaningful and important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational needs are met. One child has made significant improvements to their levels of attendance. This has meant that they are able to sit their GCSEs. Another child is supported to seek out training which will allow them to gain employment. There have been some challenges to this, however staff have worked alongside the child, family members and the placing authority to ensure that the child has access to suitable opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend routine medical appointments such as the dentist, GP and opticians and they are also supported to attend specialist appointments when necessary. There are suitable arrangements for the safe storage and administration of medication. Any errors in medication have been acted upon and processes put in place to prevent re-occurrence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to gain independence skills which prepare them for adulthood. One child has moved on from the home successfully into their own flat. Staff supported them to ensure that they had access to the resources and funds available to them when they moved out. One social worker said, ‘Staff went above and beyond to give [name of child] the skills they needed to live independently’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child who moved out did not have a positive end to their time at the home. The decision to end their placement was not child-centred and the child was not notified in a timely manner. This meant that the child could not prepare themselves for their move.

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

There have been no safeguarding concerns or issues since the last inspection. Staff have completed safeguarding training and staff spoken to were able to detail the action they would take should they be made aware of a concern. Inspection report children's home: SC061678 4 When children have been missing from the home, staff are not following children’s plans and are not taking suitable action to search and locate the children. There is no managers reflection or evaluation on reports to identify lessons learnt to prevent re-occurrence or to improve staff practice and review strategies within plans.

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

Each child’s individual risks are detailed in their risk assessments and linked support plans. These are robust documents which are frequently updated and give clear guidance to staff to ensure that there is a consistent response to children’s behaviour.

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

Children move into the home in a planned way. The manager ensures that impact assessments identify possible risks and any impact on other children living in the home and identifies that staff have the skills and training to meet the child’s needs. This helps children to settle into their new home.

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

Direct work takes place with children around relevant topics, such as education, substance misuse and smoking cessation. These sessions are proactive but also delivered in response to emerging risks. The sessions are also used to give children the chance to explore their feelings and emotions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a registered manager in post who is supported by a deputy manager. Leaders and managers know the children well and have an ambitious vision for what the children can achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work collaboratively with external professionals such as social workers, family support workers and school to ensure that there is a team around each child to ensure that there are positive outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has suitable systems in place to ensure that he has oversight of the home and makes use of internal and external monitoring to identify strengths and areas for improvement. However, the quality-of-care review has not been sent to Ofsted in a timely manner, this affects external monitoring of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable and consistent workforce. This means that children are looked after by staff they know well. Staff are trained in mandatory subjects and in areas to meet the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly, are well attended. They are an opportunity for staff to share information about the home and updates about the children. Staff also receive regular, practice related supervision. However, staff have not had their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised in the past year.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the home environment is warm, welcoming and a nice place for children to spend time. The home has recently benefitted from a new kitchen and decoration throughout. Inspection report children's home: SC061678 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, 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—

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that when notice is served on a child’s placement that it is proportionate and in the best interest of the child.

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Requirement Due date

In addition to this, the registered provider must ensure that the child is informed of the move in a timely manner to help them understand the reasons and to be involved in the planning for their move when this is appropriate. 31 May 2024

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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; 31 May 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC061678 6 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 are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)(vii)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that when children are missing from the home, staff take appropriate action to locate then and return them home. Any action taken must be recorded and evaluated by the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 31 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (3) (4)(a)) 31 May 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC061678 7

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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 children's home: SC061678 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Assist Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 42 Crosby Road North, Liverpool L22 4QQ

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Inspector

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC061678 9 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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