Children's Home run by Your Chapter Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 1 Registered provider: Your Chapter Limited

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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 provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be 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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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/05/2023 Full Inadequate 24/05/2022 Full Good 19/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home and two children have moved in. The three children currently living in the home have good relationships with each other and the staff. However, children previously living together did not have the same experiences.

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improvement to be good

Two of the children living in the home are making progress with their education, attending appropriate settings for their needs and abilities. One child who has lived at the home for a short period of time does not have an education placement. The registered manager is working with the local authority to identify a suitable placement.

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improvement to be good

Children are in good physical health. They are registered with relevant health professionals and are supported to attend all necessary appointments. Staff have worked with one child to educate them on the effects of substance misuse, including seeking support from specialist services.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to take part in hobbies and activities that they enjoy, including martial arts and playing pool. Children have enjoyed a camping trip and are planning another for the summer holidays.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with the people who are important to them. They work closely with the placing authority, sharing relevant information, to ensure that these arrangements are safe.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a spacious and comfortable family home. The garage has recently been converted into a gym. Children now spend time together in communal areas of the home. However, children have previously felt uncomfortable accessing shared spaces due to staff being unable to manage the behaviours of one child. This led to children spending a lot of time in their bedrooms.

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improvement to be good

Children have known risks that require high levels of supervision from staff. At times, supervision has been ineffective. As a result, incidents have taken place between children which have had a negative effect on their safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Concerns were raised in relation to one child accessing adult-only content online. However, no action was taken to manage these concerns. During the inspection, the home’s online safety system was not in operation, even though this is a safeguarding measure identified in children’s plans. The registered manager took action to address this during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 4 Since the last inspection, there has been a period of unsettled behaviour which has included two incidents of a child starting fires in the home. While staff took appropriate action to manage both incidents and kept everyone safe, the manager did not notify Ofsted of these incidents.

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improvement to be good

When children have been missing from home, staff actively search for them and encourage them to return home. Information is shared with relevant agencies and children have access to independent return home interviews.

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improvement to be good

Children understand when room searches may be necessary. When searches of children’s bedrooms have been undertaken, the rationale for these decisions is clear and actions are appropriate.

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improvement to be good

Praise and rewards are now used more regularly to promote positive behaviour. However, records of consequences do not include all the detail required by regulation. They do not detail the events leading up to the measure or how staff supported the child. Some measures are not put in place in a timely way for children. Measures are not evaluated consistently for effectiveness, in order to understand the impact on a child’s behaviour of any action taken.

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

Since the last inspection, the home has had a period without a registered manager. A new manager joined the home in January and has recently registered with Ofsted; he also manages another home in the organisation.

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

There have been improvements in the quality of recording and capturing children’s experiences. However, the monitoring and oversight by leaders and managers have not identified the shortfalls found during the inspection.

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

Staff say they feel supported by the registered manager and are now receiving regular supervision. Not all staff have had their performance appraised annually, which means that opportunities are missed to develop staff and review their practice. A requirement in relation to this was made at the previous inspection and is restated.

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

Safe recruitment procedures are in place to ensure that only suitable people work with children. However, there were some minor discrepancies in employment dates which the manager took steps to rectify. Probation reviews take place for new staff, to monitor their induction to the organisation. However, new staff have not completed relevant training as required by the organisation within the set time frame. Furthermore, not all staff have completed their diploma within timescales required by regulation. A requirement in relation to this was made at the previous inspection and is restated.

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

The quality of care review lacks evaluation. It does not monitor, review or evaluate the quality of care given to children or provide any actions to improve or maintain the quality Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 5 of care provided for children. The quality of care should be reviewed at least once every six months. This requirement was made at the previous inspection and is restated. Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 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

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

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)(iv)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the arrangements in place to manage technology. Specifically, that measures identified in children’s plans are known, understood and implemented by staff. 1 August 2024

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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

promotes their welfare. 1 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have completed training relevant to their role and that there are effective monitoring systems in place to ensure that all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home are undertaken.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 1 August 2024

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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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used; 1 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 8 the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any measures of control meet the requirements set out by regulation.

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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. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 1 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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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 quality of care provided for children;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. 1 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 9 The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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: 1271998 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Your Chapter Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hobart House, 3 Oakwater Avenue, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3SR

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Inspectors

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Suzanne Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1271998 11 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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