Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Knowsley

Inspection report for children’s home: 2719793 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who may experience emotional and social difficulties and/or have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted on 17 April 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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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: 11 October 2023

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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: 2719793 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2719793 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they enjoy living in their home. They say that the staff are supportive, kind and caring. Children leave notes for staff to let them know how much they mean to them. This demonstrates that children feel settled and safe in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family members say that their children are well cared for. They say that staff go ‘above and beyond’ for their children and that they are happy with all aspects of their care. Family members also say that staff support and promote family time. This includes special events such as mother’s day and birthdays. These special events are captured in children’s life story books.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school where they are learning and making good progress. Teaching staff say that the home promotes cross curricular learning. As a result, the children are making good progress in their reading and mathematics.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s rights are respected and promoted. Irrespective of any disability they may have, children have access to a range of educational and recreational opportunities. They are able to participate in after-school activities, community based activities, school trips and holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s needs are captured in their day-to-day plans. However, the most recent care plans and personal education plans have not been obtained from the placing authorities. This means that staff are not working with the most up to date information to ensure that they are meeting children’s needs effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a safe and secure home. Staff support children to personalise their bedrooms and both children say that they love their bedrooms. However, some areas of the home require additional maintenance and repainting. Some doors have locks that restrict children’s access to their outdoor space and represent a potential fire risk should this be a means of escape.

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

Children receive help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. Staff understand the individual needs and experiences of the children and implement appropriate boundaries. Staff use resources such as solution and strength-based books that are specific to the individual needs of each child to support them and ensure that their needs are met well.

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

New staff are safely recruited to work at the home and receive a thorough induction. This provides them with a detailed programme of training and guidance for their new role. This ensures that children are cared for by staff who can meet their needs effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2719793 4 Children do not go missing from home. However, the process for when children do go missing is not clear. This means that staff may not all follow the same steps necessary if children are missing from home to help tor keep them safe.

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

Leaders and managers regularly review risk management plans to ensure that they meet the children’s individual needs. The plans are regularly reviewed and updated when children’s needs and risks change. This enables staff to provide a consistent approach to keeping children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working with relevant professionals is a key strength of the manager and staff team. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘The staff communicate really well, and their meeting reports are lovely and child focused which is an area of really good practice’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular training, which helps them to understand and meet the children’s needs. This helps staff to develop their skills to ensure that they implement best practice. Training is reviewed regularly by leaders and managers and is targeted to meet the specific needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported with regular, reflective and robust supervision. Staff benefit from regular appraisal where their progress is evaluated. Feedback from the children is considered in staff appraisals. Staff say that they feel supported by their managers and enjoy working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality-of-care review report celebrates the children’s achievements and evaluates the care they receive. However, the report does not include or consider feedback from children. This is a missed opportunity to help the leaders and managers to evaluate the impact of the care that children receive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2719793 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—

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that each child’s statutory plans are available for staff to follow. 1 August 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the quality-of-care review contains feedback from children and wider stakeholders. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that staff have a good working knowledge of the missing from home policy and procedures and that any gaps in knowledge are identified and addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing environment where any damage is quickly repaired. external door locks should be changed to thumb locks to ensure children are able to access the garden area when they wish to. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2719793 6

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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: 2719793 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St. Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2719793 8 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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