Children's Home run by Your Chapter Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 1 SC489416 Registered provider: Your Chapter 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 children’s home is run by a private provider. The home provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose highlights that the staff are trained to apply a specific model of care.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has recently resigned and vacated their role. There is currently an interim manager in place. At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2024 Full Outstanding 28/02/2023 Full Outstanding 09/02/2022 Full Outstanding 16/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

This inspection was carried out due to an escalation in safeguarding notifications. The information in one notification raised significant concern about the children’s welfare in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The organisation has failed to apply its own resolutions following internal investigations into poor practice from leaders and staff. This has resulted in the emergence of a closed culture in the staff team. Consequently, repeated failures to address worrying care practices has led to an incident that placed children at significant risk of harm in their own home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children hold aspirations for their future in terms of careers that they wish to pursue. However, neither child is accessing college. The manager’s failure to seek the intervention from the children’s virtual schools has been a significant factor that has contributed to their lack of progress. The inconsistent approach that is adopted around post-16 education means children may become disillusioned and abandoning their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Significant features of the children’s lives, such as the children’s family dynamics and their heritage, are not widely known to the manager or staff team. Consequently, this adds to the children experiencing an uncoordinated approach to their care that does not meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s daily care is unplanned and reactive. This means that children’s days are often unstructured and lack purpose. This has been recognised by the new responsible individual who has introduced new ideas. However, some staff have not been responsive to changes in how they practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children have positive relationships with some staff. Those staff can engage the children around important issues such as, seeking a sense of comfort and belonging through practising religion or pursuing hobbies and interests. However, the inconsistent approach to caring for the children has hindered relationship building with others in the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff record meaningful conversations with the children. The records show examples of role modelling and good parenting. However, the conversations do not influence wider care planning. A significant incident that the children were aware of and talked about is not recorded. This means that the children’s records do not reflect the care and events that occurred in the home on that day. Fundamentally, this breaches trust, transparency, and the obligations that the organisation has to the children and their respective local authorities.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 4 There was an incident which placed children at risk of harm when a staff member was found, by a child, to be in possession of an illicit substance when on duty in the home. Furthermore, children were placed at further risk of harm when the incident was not immediately reported. An adult, who should set good example to children has modelled inappropriate and illegal behaviour. This does not send the right message to vulnerable children. The organisation is taking robust action to address this and along with other issues that have undermined some of the good work that has occurred with the children.

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

Successive internal investigations have failed to address poor practice in the home. Leaders and managers have not responded effectively to the clear indicators that should have highlighted the onset of an emerging closed culture. In doing so, poor staff practice has become embedded. Consequently, the children have experienced poor examples of role modelling, and, on occasion, they have been unnecessarily exposed to harm.

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

Staff do not always follow their manager’s instructions. For example, a member of staff continued to drive the fleet car, despite their manager stipulating not to do so. This shows a worrying disregard to the manager’s authority surrounding the children’s care.

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

Two unvetted visitors have been allowed to be in the home without the supervision of staff. On one occasion, this resulted in a child alleging that they were called an offensive name by an unvetted visitor. This is another example of staff failing to learn from previous events that expose children to risk unnecessarily.

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

There are positive attributes of care for the manager to harness going forward. Staff have not deemed it necessary to hold children to keep them safer. The children say that they feel safe and that they have good bonds with some staff. Photos that staff have taken bring the children’s sentiments to life and show an array of experiences that the children have enjoyed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The new leadership team has recognised and has a plan to address the systemic flaws around the functioning of the staff team. However, too many opportunities to root out poor practice have been missed. Successive internal investigations have not resulted in effective action being taken and have failed to have any impact on the culture in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose states that the staff look after ‘young men’. This shows a lack of awareness from the organisation around the children’s backgrounds and circumstances. This misguided perception of the children’s status is reflected in staff practice. Consequently, the staff do not provide therapeutic care as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

An internal investigation around a senior leader’s conduct showed failures concerning whistleblowing. The team was found to have been aware of longstanding issues of Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 5 bullying and harassment that undermine the functioning of the team. This raises additional concerns around a closed culture in the home. The recommendations from this investigation have failed to yield change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The previous manager did not receive supervision for over a period of one year. Additionally, staff supervision sessions are intermittent and fail to pick up on issues that need to be addressed. New staff to the home have not had any formal supervision and they do not receive good enough support. As a result, there are fundamental flaws in the systems that should be in place to safeguard children, enabling poor practice to go unchallenged.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A new manager has been recruited to post and is seeking registration with Ofsted. The responsible individual and operations manager are also relatively new to post. Collectively, the new management team recognises the shortfalls and has a plan to address the issues raised. The management team is determined to implement clear lines of accountability, and promote reflection and learning, whilst harnessing the positive features concerning the children’s care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the children’s respective virtual schools are appropriately involved to accelerate the children’s access to education. 24 November 2024

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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. 24 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(e))

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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

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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child 24 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 8 and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (5)) 24 November 2024

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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: SC489416 9

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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, Oakwater Avenue, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3SR

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC489416 10 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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