Children's home run by New Start in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 1 SC409738 Registered provider: New Start Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately run and provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties and/or have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager at the home has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 for children’s home: SC409738 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2023 Full Good 21/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/10/2021 Full Inadequate 14/07/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home and two children have moved in. Moves in and out of the home are planned and managed in a child- centred way. The manager considers the child’s needs and the needs of the children who already live in the home. One child moved into the home in an emergency. The manager and staff ensured that the child felt welcome by preparing their bedroom with the child’s own belongings. The child said, ‘This is the best place I have ever lived.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care from staff who know them well and understand their needs. Staff celebrate the children’s achievements and recognise that progress is different for each child. This promotes positive and nurturing relationships that support children’s progress and general well-being. The manager and staff show commitment to children when faced with behaviours that are difficult to manage. Children are making good progress with their behaviour, which has resulted in incidents for the children becoming less frequent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home have varying needs, with different levels of communication and understanding. Staff work with the relevant professionals to ensure that they understand each child’s care needs. However, for one child, an up-to-date care plan has not been received from the placing authority, and the manager has not escalated this in a timely manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education, and they develop effective relationships with education providers. The manager is a strong advocate for the children and understands the barriers they may face in education. The manager challenges other professionals when required, which has resulted in good outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a range of activities, such as cooking and baking, going for walks, visiting theme parks and attending music concerts. Two children are attending football clubs, which supports them to develop skills, have fun and build positive friendships. An upcoming holiday has been planned, which reflects the individual interests and wishes of the children. Children are supported to see their families in line with their feelings and wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to express their feelings and wishes. Children are listened to, their views are acted on, and the manager responds to children in writing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is comfortable, and children’s bedrooms have been personalised to their individual tastes. However, there has been some damage in communal areas that has not been repaired in a timely manner. Bedroom door sensors are in use. These measures are based on assessments of each child’s needs. However, these assessments are not frequently reviewed to consider their continued relevance and effectiveness in ensuring the safety of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 4

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

Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff in the home. Interactions between the children and staff demonstrate that children feel safe with the staff. One child said, ‘The staff are better than good, they are a million times better than anyone I have ever known.’

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting the children. There are clear plans in place that help the staff to understand how to meet each child’s needs. Incidents are reported in a timely manner and recorded clearly. When accidents happen, they are responded to quickly and first aid is given as appropriate.

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

Staff receive a broad range of good-quality training in safeguarding matters. There is good communication with safeguarding partners in the local authority. Managers are aware of the additional safeguarding vulnerabilities for disabled children and what those inherent risk factors may look like. Staff understand the importance of an open safeguarding culture. As a result, they know how to recognise, report and act on any safeguarding concerns that they may have.

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

Significant events are low in number and are always well managed. There are detailed records of all incidents and the actions taken. Children and staff are spoken to afterwards so that they can learn from the incident. Staff are trained and skilled in de- escalation, which means that physical intervention techniques are rarely used.

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

Consequences are fair, take a restorative approach and are clearly recorded. For instance, when one child broke a toy belonging to another child, they went to the shop with their pocket money to purchase a replacement.

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

Children understand how to make a complaint and are supported by staff and the manager to express their views.

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

Health and safety checks are generally carried out regularly to ensure that the home is a safe environment. However, the fire risk assessment is out of date, and two recommended actions have not been addressed. A visit has been booked for this assessment to take place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post for four months and is currently applying to register with Ofsted. She is an experienced manager whose practice is child centred and meets each child’s needs. The manager and the responsible individual have a clear aspiration to improve the care provided and have begun putting systems in place to increase the overall effectiveness of the team. Inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 5 The manager works with a range of professionals and ensures that children’s voices are heard. A social worker said:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

‘There isn’t anything that the home does not do well. They are approachable, engaging, care about the children in their care, work with social care well, accommodate visits and support contact with family. It is clear that [name of home] and the staff have the child’s best interests at heart.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a comprehensive training package to ensure that they have the necessary skills to meet the children’s needs. Some staff are qualified and experienced in childcare. New staff complete an induction before being registered to undertake a recognised childcare qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been many staff changes. Leaders and managers are working to address this and stabilise the staff team. The home is now almost fully staffed and there has been a reduction in the use of agency staff. However, the rota is not kept up to date to show an accurate record of staff’s working hours. When recruiting permanent staff, some safer recruitment practices have not always been followed, with full employment histories not always being provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the manager. Staff receive regular supervision, which is of good quality, evaluative and reflective. Team meetings are used as a forum for discussion and learning and are held regularly. Inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that a full employment history is obtained for all staff employed. Additionally, any gaps in employment must be fully explored and analysed. 12 September 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; and 12 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 7 enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that damage to the home is identified and rectified in a timely way.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the staff rota contains a factual record of actual hours worked and by which staff member. 12 September 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that alarms on children’s bedroom doors are only used to safeguard each child in the home. Furthermore, door alarms should only be in use after a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that they have up-to-date local authority care plans for the children. Where these have not been received, the registered person should challenge the placing authority. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)  The registered person should ensure that the home complies with relevant health and safety legislation. Specifically, ensure that the fire risk assessment is in date and that any actions in the assessment are addressed in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC409738 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: New Start Limited, 179 Townsend Lane, Clubmoor, Liverpool L13 9DY

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Inspectors

Eve Ostridge, Social Care Inspector Jennifer Quest, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC409738 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 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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