Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report children’s home: 2509381 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures 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 company. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 11 July 2019. The manager registered with Ofsted on 13 June 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection there was one child 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2509381 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/03/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2509381 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child said that, since moving into the home, they have built good relationships with staff. The child helped staff to personalise their bedroom and went shopping with staff to buy a new duvet set and other accessories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child visited the home prior to moving in. This included the child having an overnight stay. This helped the child to settle into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team promote the importance of family time. The child spends regular time with people who are important to them. The social worker says that staff are helpful, friendly and go above and beyond to support family time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s independent reviewing officer feels that the child has settled into the home well. They say that this is due to the positive and well thought out plan for the child’s move into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all children have a positive experience in the home. One child moved out of the home in an unplanned way as the staff could not meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is making good progress in relation to their health. They are registered with all local health services. The child has now accessed support from a local optician for their eyesight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the child has a structured daily routine. This remains in place as a new school provision was sourced. The registered manager has been proactive in relation to working with wider education professionals. This ensures that there is an opportunity for the child to continue to learn.

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

The home is safe and secure. The leaders and managers undertake regular health and safety checks to ensure that the home remains safe. This includes weekly and monthly audits and regular fire safety checks and tests.

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

Leaders and managers regularly review paperwork including risk assessments to ensure that they reflect any changes in the child’s needs. This helps to adapt the support offered and ensure that the child’s progress is captured regularly.

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

Staff use positive behaviour approaches, supported by therapeutic training. This avoids the use of negative or punitive measures to manage the child’s behaviour. The child receives regular incentives and praise. Inspection report children’s home: 2509381 4 Children rarely go missing from the home. However, not all staff are aware of the policy when reporting children missing. This could potentially delay the response from emergency services and place the children at additional risk of harm.

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

Children’s bedrooms are not routinely searched. However, on one occasion the registered manager did not seek explicit consent to search a child’s bedroom and remove property whilst the child was asleep. This led to an unnecessary and intrusive invasion of the child’s privacy and led to the child becoming upset and frustrated. The registered manager has reflected on this process and put strategies in place to avoid this from being repeated.

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

The child is supported by staff who are recruited in line with safe recruitment policies and procedures. However, not all staff have completed their qualifications within the required time frames.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is supported by an experienced deputy manager. Both are ambitious and motivated to ensure that the needs of the child are prioritised. The registered manager is keen to implement positive changes to ensure that the home runs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular training which is adapted to help staff to meet the needs of the child. Training is reviewed regularly to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and appraisals. Supervision is reflective and allows staff to evaluate their work with individual children. Appraisals contain feedback from professionals and children in relation to staff performance. This demonstrates that children’s views are central to the management oversight of the home. Staff say that they receive support and the manager is organised and available when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of care review report celebrates the achievements of the home and progress being made. However, it does not contain the views of children or wider stakeholders. The report does not evaluate the quality of care being provided. This is a missed opportunity to help leaders and managers to understand the lived experience of the children in their care. Inspection report children’s home: 2509381 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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child's placing authority; that each child's relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that staff provide consistent routines and boundaries for children to provide them with stability. Leaders and managers must ensure that all children have a planned and positive experience when moving on from the home. 30 August 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review is evaluative and contains feedback from wider stakeholders. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the homes care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home Inspection report children’s home: 2509381 6 without permission and how staff should support the child on return to the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered person must ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, must have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). The registered person may extend the time period if the member of staff hasn’t worked in the role for a prolonged period, such as sick leave or maternity leave, or if it is not reasonable to expect the member of staff to complete in this timescale due to the nature of the hours they work. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53,

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Recommendations

paragraph 10.12)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of room searches are fair and appropriate and that they do not take place without the consent of the child and placing authority, unless there are concerns regarding the safety and wellbeing of a child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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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: 2509381 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 children’s home: 2509381 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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