Children's Home run by Contemporary Concept Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 1 Registered provider: Contemporary Concept 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

The home is operated by a private organisation and is registered to care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 8 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 requires improvement to be 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 is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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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 for children’s home: 2639649 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/01/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 3

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improvement to be good

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. One had moved in on the day of the inspection. Because of this, only one child was spoken to.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home and two have left. For two children, immediate notice was served. Consequently, they did not benefit from well-planned moves.

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improvement to be good

Children are not always given clear and consistent boundaries. Failure to do this had a detrimental effect on one child’s ability to remain in the home. For example, leaders and managers said that the decision to serve immediate notice in respect of one child was partly due to ongoing concerns around them bullying another child. However, records show that leaders, managers and staff have not spoken to the child about their behaviour or educated them on the effects of bullying.

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improvement to be good

The home is suitably furnished. The child’s bedroom is spacious and personalised. At the time of the inspection, work to internal and external areas of the home was being completed to improve the home’s presentation. Staff’s practice of locking the kitchen at night restricts children’s access to all areas of the home. This diminishes the homely feel of the house.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to access education. One child has been out of school since moving to the home. The manager has been proactive in helping the child access an academic provision. She has worked jointly with education partners and advocated for the child to have the right to attend school. Because of this, the child has secured a school place and will have the opportunity to develop age-appropriate friendships outside of the home.

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improvement to be good

Children make decisions about their day-to-day care. They choose the food they want to eat and activities they wish to take part in.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health and well-being are promoted. Children attend routine health appointments. They are assisted to access medical support to address any health concerns. For example, one child who struggles with their sleep has been referred to health services for medical guidance. In addition, leaders, managers and staff educate the child on steps they can take to develop a healthy sleep pattern.

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improvement to be good

Complaints are taken seriously and investigated by leaders and managers. Furthermore, they ensure that children know the outcome of their complaint. Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 4

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improvement to be good

Children’s individual risks are well known to staff. Strategies to protect children are recorded in safety plans to ensure that there is an effective response to safeguarding incidents.

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improvement to be good

Room searches are not always reasonable and proportionate. Children’s bedrooms are searched because they are known to misuse substances, rather than in response to a specific incident. This creates an institutionalised feel in the home and does not take into consideration children’s rights to privacy.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not demonstrate that they understand their role and responsibilities to ensure that children are safe in and out of the home. Leaders, managers and staff know that one child left the home during the night without their knowledge, and a child who recently moved into the home has known risks that include frequently going missing. However, there are no measures in place to monitor children’s movements during the night.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers ensure that when children go missing from the home, they take part in an independent return home interview to understand why the incident took place. However, there is an inconsistent response when children go missing. Staff do not always phone children to find out their whereabouts and check that they are safe. This is a missed opportunity to locate children and facilitate their swift return.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is not consistently promoted. Staff do not always speak to children about their risk-taking behaviour, to protect them from harm. In addition, records show that not all discussions are meaningful or educate children on how to keep safe. Furthermore, records show that leaders and managers have missed opportunities to address concerns about bullying in the home.

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improvement to be good

Potential candidates go through a well-scrutinised recruitment process.

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good

The staff team is supported by a manager who is well experienced and qualified. She has good knowledge of the children’s needs and is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses.

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good

Staff have access to various support systems. Team meetings take place often and are used to consider good practice. Staff benefit from formal supervision, which is a reflective and supportive process. Furthermore, staff speak positively about the manager’s helpful approach and her commitment to their professional development. Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 5 The home is well resourced, with a permanent team of staff who understand children’s lived experiences. The use of non-permanent staff to cover absences is rare. This contributes to children feeling safe and secure.

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good

Staff access a wide range of training through their induction and beyond. This contributes to their continuous development. Needs-led training is not completed by all staff to ensure that they are working in a way that benefits children.

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good

The quality of management oversight in the home varies. The manager has identified and addressed concerns around the quality of paperwork, such as for key-work sessions. However, she has not identified the poor quality of handover documents.

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good

Incidents are not always reviewed to ensure that safeguarding protocols are followed. For example, the manager was unaware that staff had not followed the missing-from-home protocol for one child until this was brought to her attention during the inspection. This means that practice that does not meet the standard of good is not being challenged to help staff improve and develop.

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good

The requirements from the previous inspection have been addressed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 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 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;

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Requirement Due date

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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this relates to leaders and managers ensuring that all known and emerging risks are regularly assessed and reviewed, and measures are put in place to reduce the risk of harm to children. 25 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 7 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this relates to leaders and managers ensuring that handover documents are used for their intended purpose.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that incidents are reviewed by the manager to identify shortfalls in staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that staff complete needs- led training. 25 September

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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 arrangements are in place to— 25 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 8 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children are supported to leave the home in a planned and positive way.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to leaders, managers and staff ensuring that children have access to all areas of the home, particularly the kitchen.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders, managers and staff must ensure that room searches are necessary and proportionate. 25 September

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 25 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 9 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that they teach children the dangers of bullying others and set out clearly their policy around bullying and the implications of this.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers should ensure that children learn about the risks associated with sharing indecent images.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders, managers and staff should teach children about the risks associated with using appliances, such as the cooker, at night. Furthermore, they should teach children how to use kitchen appliances safely. Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 10

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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: 2639649 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Contemporary Concept Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 Wyndham Close, Eastham, Wirral CH62 0DH

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Inspector

Chibuzo Otache, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2639649 12 regulates and inspects to 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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