Children's home run by Cherish Children’s Care Limited in Fylde

Inspection report children's home: SC476868 1 SC476868 Registered provider: Cherish Childrens Care 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 is a private children’s home registered for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children living in this home may have a range of social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left their role in March 2024. She is now in an operational role. The deputy manager has taken on the role of interim manager and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors spoke with two of the children.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC476868 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2023 Full Good 03/05/2022 Full Good 21/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/05/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report children's home: SC476868 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in the home on a long-term basis. The staff team has remained committed to supporting the children no matter the challenges they have faced. Children have developed some positive and trusting relationships with staff, who they feel at ease talking to about their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress while living in the home. They develop their confidence and learn how to develop healthy relationships with others, including when appropriate, rebuilding relationships with their families. Children’s social workers reported that the care children receive is ‘amazing’ and the staff team could do no more to promote positive well-being and outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well monitored. External agencies are accessed when children require additional support to meet their health needs. Children also access support and talking therapy from an in-house therapeutic practitioner. This is taken at children’s own pace, and it helps them to express themselves and manage their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a variety of educational opportunities. Staff support children to engage in their education and because of this their attendance has improved. When children have faced barriers to education, staff have helped them to access voluntary work, obtain qualifications to aid language development and encourage them to aspire and plan for their future careers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individuality and identities are respected and understood by the staff team. The children’s views, wishes and feelings are important and they are supported to voice these. Children know how to complain but they have not needed to. The manager has introduced more frequent house meetings and consultations for children to share their views in relation to their experiences of living in the home and areas that could be improved to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s interests, hobbies and achievements are promoted and celebrated by the staff team. This provides children with special experiences and memories of their time spent with staff and each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to prepare for their futures. They are actively supported to develop their independence skills such as cooking, using public transport and obtaining part time jobs. The staff team collaborate closely with placing authorities to enable children to explore and visit semi-independent provisions, should this be the plan for their futures. Inspection report children's home: SC476868 4 Some areas of the home require redecoration and new furnishings to make it feel more homely for all the children living there. Children also require support from staff to help them to keep their bedroom clean and maintaining this as part of their independence.

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

Children feel safe and secure in the home. For some children, they are the most settled they have been in residential care. When children move into the home, careful consideration is given to any risks for children living in the home and the child moving in. This is to ensure that children can live with one another safely and the staff are equipped with the skills to meet their needs.

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

Staff are proactive in their safeguarding practice. They respond consistently and promptly to high-risk incidents and safeguarding concerns. Staff understand when it is proportionate to use physical intervention to keep children safe. Children’s risk assessments include clear strategies to minimise risks. They are written from the child’s point of view, and they are directed by the therapy team. Consequently, staff have a good understanding of children’s behaviours and how they wish to be supported to manage their behaviour.

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

Staff take immediate action to try and prevent children from going missing from the home and to return them safely. Leaders and managers work effectively with multi- agencies, such as placing authorities, contextual safeguarding and child exploitation professionals. They communicate regularly to share information, agree plans to reduce risks for children and to review the stability of their placements. However, information obtained from professionals or children about risks in the local area is not captured in the review of premises. This is a missed opportunity to educate both children and staff about local areas that children should not be taken.

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

Discussions take place with children following incidents. Staff use these to educate children about how to keep themselves safe in relation to risks such as, exploitation, grooming and managing their independence time.

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

The staff team is provided with training and support so that they understand children’s mental health concerns and any signs that children may cause harm to themselves. Staff vigilantly monitor children’s changing emotions and work alongside the therapist to support children. Children have also agreed systems to let the staff know when they require support and because of this, incidents of self-harm have reduced for children.

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

When children are given consequences, the measures used are fair and balanced. However, a member of the senior leadership team does not oversee or review the records to determine if it is effective and if it should be used again for behaviour support. Inspection report children's home: SC476868 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not acted to regularly review an individualised management of allegations procedure for one child with their placing authority. Furthermore, they have not consulted with the local authority designated officer (LADO) about the threshold for informing them of frequent allegations made by the child. On one occasion following consultation with the child’s social worker, leaders and managers have failed to notify both Ofsted and LADO when an allegation was made by the child. This has been identified as a concern relating to leaders and managers understanding of notifiable events. It has not impacted on the safety of a child, as immediate action was taken to keep the child safe. Senior managers have carried out a lessons learnt investigation to revisit the manager’s understanding of safeguarding processes and provided them with additional safeguarding training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Following a change in management of the home, the interim manager has provided continuity of support to the children and staff team. He understands children’s progress and he is an advocate for them. He challenges professionals to benefit the welfare and safety of the children. The manager requires time to embed his vision for the home and to improve his oversight and monitoring of the home in specific areas, such as the quality and detail in some safeguarding records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff feel well supported by the manager. The manager is a positive role model for the children and staff team. Leaders and managers prioritise all staff’s well-being. Staff have monthly well-being meetings with the therapeutic practitioner, which provides them with a forum to talk through their experiences and discuss any concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings are regular and well attended. They are used to provide staff with additional knowledge and guidance to support children effectively. The senior leadership team use practice-related supervisions to regularly review staff development. However, staff in their probationary period are not supervised frequently in line with the providers own policy. This was raised at the last inspection and so it has been restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The system in place to monitor staff training needs is disorganised and ineffective. Some training that staff require to give them the skills to meet the needs of the children has been missed. In addition, training certificates could not be easily accessed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager’s review of the quality-of-care report is submitted regularly to Ofsted. However, it does not include or consider feedback obtained from children, staff, parents and professionals to fully assess children’s experiences of living in the home. In addition, the manager does not use the review to identify areas to be developed to improve the quality of the service provided to children. Inspection report children's home: SC476868 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers should regularly review a management of allegations procedure individualised for one child with their placing authority and consult with the LADO about the threshold for informing them of frequent allegations made by the child.

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Requirement Due date

The system in place to monitor staff training should be made effective so that relevant training is not missed. Training certificates or evidence that staff have completed training courses should be easy to access.

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Requirement Due date

The manager should improve their oversight and monitoring of the quality of and detail in safeguarding records. 5 July 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC476868 7 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 5 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(v)(vii)) 5 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, some areas of the home require redecoration and new furnishings to make it feel more homely. Children also require support from staff to help them to keep their bedroom clean and maintaining this as part of their independence. 5 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 5 July 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC476868 8 Specifically, staff in their probationary period should be supervised frequently in line with the providers own policy.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(b) (5)) 5 July 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they review under regulation 46, the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location. Specifically, it should consider information gathered from children and safeguarding professionals about the location of the home and any local areas of risk. (‘Guide to the Children Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: SC476868 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherish Childrens Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Skyways Commercial Campus, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool, Lancashire FY4 3RS

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Nicola Jeffrey, Social Care Inspector (shadow) Inspection report children's home: SC476868 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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