Children's Home run by Cherish Children’s Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 2547761 1 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 three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023. He is suitably experienced and working towards the necessary qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

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

Date of last inspection: 31 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 children's home: 2547761 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2023 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Good 17/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2547761 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children have positive relationships with the staff team. They say they feel listened to and can talk openly to staff about their worries. Social workers report that staff do all that they can to promote children’s well-being. They support children to work through difficult situations. Some children have benefitted from positive and long-term placements at the home. When children have moved out of the home, they have had planned and supportive transitions to foster care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the initial care planning stages for one child, strategies to reduce risks associated with the child’s known behaviour have not been identified. In addition, support for the child to help them settle into the home has not been identified. This was important as the child has had negative past experiences of living in residential care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children make progress while living in the home. They gain confidence and develop positive relationships. This is because of clear and consistent boundaries from staff. Children make progress in education. The approach by staff to encourage children to regularly attend education has improved. Staff also help to prepare children for their future and support them to develop their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s voices are heard. Children’s views and feelings are evidenced in their individual care plans, risk assessments and direct work. Staff promote family time and help children to rebuild their relationships with family members, at their own pace and in line with their wishes. Children choose and engage in activities associated with their interests. This provides children with positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well monitored. Staff work with external agencies when children require more support to meet their health needs. Children are provided with individual support from the in-house therapist. This helps children to express themselves and have confidence to talk to adults about their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has identified areas of the home that require improvement. He has a maintenance plan to prioritise the tasks. Children’s bedrooms were found to be very untidy. Plans are not effective in supporting older children to help keep their rooms clean and tidy.

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

Most children feel safe and secure. They know how to complain. When children have raised concerns, leaders and managers have responded to these swiftly and appropriately. Children are supported to talk through any incidents or concerns. Direct work with children helps to educate children about how to keep themselves safe. Inspection report children's home: 2547761 4 Staff are effective in managing safeguarding incidents. Appropriate safeguards are in place to keep children safe. Risk assessments provide staff with up-to-date information about agreed strategies to help minimise risks for children.

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

Restraint is rarely used in the home. It is used proportionately and always as a last resort. The managers oversight of all incidents has improved. He ensures that incident records and debriefs have been evaluated. He uses reflective practice to review all incidents and provides additional guidance to staff to help them to support children.

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

Children are not criminalised. Staff take action to try to prevent children from going missing from the home. When children go missing from the home, staff to try to locate them. They work with families, known friends and the police to return children safely to the home. In addition, the senior leadership team regularly communicates with the placing authorities.

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

Staff understand children’s mental health and emotional need. They are alert to indicators of self-harm. Staff respond and support children with a nurturing response. However, on one occasion leaders and managers found that staff’s response to children’s behaviour could have been better. Managers have been proactive in investigating staff practice to ensure that children are supported consistently.

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

Consequences are fair and proportionate. However, consequence records are not always overseen by the manager or reviewed for their effectiveness. This does not enable staff to understand if the measure was effective.

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

Following an isolated incident when a child returned to the home under the influence of alcohol, staff used basic first aid and monitored the child’s well-being throughout the evening. However, they did not consult with a medical practitioner to seek medical advice or guidance. This would be good and safe practice, as staff are not trained medical professionals.

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

There have been significant changes to the staff team in recent months. This has left the staff team depleted and it has at times impacted on the continuity of care for children. Leaders and managers recognise this shortfall and they have been actively recruiting staff. Staff from other homes have covered gaps in the rota to ensure that there has been minimal disruption to children’s care. The manager now requires time to stabilise his new staff team, to build on their experience and to embed their practice.

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

The manager has offered continuity of support for the children and staff and has helped on shift to offer extra stability. The manager recognises the home’s strengths and areas for development. He is receptive to constructive feedback and learning opportunities. He has a good understanding of the children, their progress and their needs. He advocates on behalf of children and challenges professionals, when required, for the benefit of children. Inspection report children's home: 2547761 5 New and existing staff are not being supervised in line with the providers own policy. On occasions, staff have been provided with brief sessions with the manager. This does not allow time for an effective review of staff performance, reflective practice or to assess the children’s needs and the support they require.

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

However, staff say that they feel well supported by the manager. They say that the senior leadership team are approachable and responsive to staff feedback. Team meetings have not taken place regularly in the last two months, due to the reduced staff levels. The manager plans to hold them more regularly when the staff team has increased. Previous staff meetings have been used effectively to provide staff with additional learning, such as therapeutic parenting reflections and to review the management of specific scenarios.

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

Leaders and managers identify any practice-related concerns at an early stage and take action to support staff with their skills and practice. The manager monitors training to ensure that all staff have suitable training to meet all the children’s needs.

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

The manager’s report on the quality-of-care does not include feedback from children, their families, staff or professional’s and it does not detail any action taken or changes made in response to the feedback. The manager does not yet conduct regular audits of systems used in the home. This would help him to identify any gaps in practice or paperwork. Consequently, the manager has failed to notify Ofsted of an incident when a child was missing from the home overnight. This was a requirement at the last inspection and so it has been restated. Inspection report children's home: 2547761 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, 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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)) 1 November 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider must reduce risks associated with children’s known behaviours should identified at initial care planning stages. This includes identifying support for children when they have had negative past experiences of living in residential care. 1 November 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2547761 7 The registered person must ensure that—

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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

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)) 1 November 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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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.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (2)(b) (5)) 1 November 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. Specifically, the staff team should agree an effective plan with older children to help them to keep their rooms clean and tidy independently. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.7) Inspection report children's home: 2547761 8  The registered person should ensure that staff have sufficient understanding of relevant health services, including the functions of the designated nurse for looked- after children in their area. They should support children to navigate these services,

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Recommendations

advocating on their behalf where necessary and appropriate. Specifically, if children return home under the influence of alcohol, staff should consult with a medical practitioner to seek medical advice or guidance. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 34, paragraph 7.8)

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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: 2547761 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: Unit 8a, Skyways Commercial Campus, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 3RS

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2547761 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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