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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2689544 1 Registered provider: Cherish Children’s Care Limited

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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 that provides care for up to three children who may have a range of social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably experienced and working towards the relevant qualification. He registered when the home became operational in June 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

This inspection was brought forward to address specific concerns received by 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: 2689544 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/06/2023 Full Good 13/12/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/09/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2689544 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel well cared for and supported by a team of staff they have developed trusting relationships with. The manager is a positive role model who demonstrates a positive and therapeutic approach with the children. Staff are persistent in their approach to helping children to achieve the best outcomes. Social workers, external professionals and children’s families spoke highly of the care and support that children receive from the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress, varying from small steps to significant improvements. One child said, ‘The staff team has made me realise that I can turn my life around. Living here is the happiest I have been.’ Children’s independence skills improve while living in the home. They can now cook for themselves, budget and plan their shopping and they have also applied for provisional driving licences. However, some children’s internal care plans have not been updated to reflect this progress and the changes that have been made to their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to and said they have been able to access new opportunities. They participate in their care planning and decisions about their lives. House meetings have been improved to make them more attractive to the children. Staff have created more opportunities for children to share their views, wishes and feelings. Effective planning ensures that action is taken in response to children’s feedback, to improve their experiences of living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to re-engage in education after extended periods of time out of school. They are supported to secure employment and follow their ambitions, such as applying for the army and attending army cadets. When staff face resistance from children in relation to seeking and maintaining employment, staff continue to explore different options with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children access the in-house therapeutic services, which are adapted for the needs of each child. Children are supported to eat healthily and engage in regular exercise, such as attending the gym and going swimming. When children struggle to engage with health professionals, staff actively pursue this to encourage them to recognise the importance of working with, for example, substance misuse and mental health professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is supported in line with children’s wishes and feelings. The staff have positive relationships with children’s families. This has helped children to rebuild positive relationships with people who are important to them and work through any challenges. Children have age-appropriate independent time to spend with friends in the community, at their friends’ homes and in the home. Children also participate in fun activities with staff and have enjoyed summer breaks away. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689544 4 When children have moved out of the home unexpectedly, the decisions have been appropriate to ensure the safety and well-being of all children. When possible, children’s moves have been planned.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s overall maintenance and decor have been improved. The staff team takes pride in providing children with a homely and relaxing place to live. Children are supported to personalise their rooms to reflect their interests and identities.

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

Children feel safe in their home. Staff use direct work and key-work sessions to educate them to make safer choices. The sessions are purposeful and are focused on developing children’s insight into the impact of risky behaviour.

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

Fire drills are carried out with children so that they know how to respond should there be an emergency. However, for some children, fire drills have been held a few weeks after they have moved into the home. There should be minimal delay in fire drills being carried out.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. When children have grumbles about staff, the manager ensures that they are listened to and the concerns are resolved. Children are supported when they have raised any safeguarding concerns, and they are informed of any outcomes of investigations. When staff practice has been central to these concerns, leaders and managers have taken prompt action to address this.

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

Following an allegation made by a child, there was a slight delay in the concerns being shared with senior managers and the child’s placing authority. Once aware, the manager promptly followed appropriate safeguarding procedures and the child was not placed at further risk. Children’s allegation management risk assessments would benefit from including the action that staff should take in response to an allegation, rather than stating that staff should refer to the policy.

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

Staff understand how to support children when they are struggling with their emotional well-being. Staff use their positive relationships with children to reassure and support them. Restraint is used as a last resort, to protect children. Children are encouraged to talk through their views and feelings with staff after any physical intervention. Records are mostly clear and complete. However, on one occasion, a restraint record was not completed by staff to report on the incident and the manager had not identified this in their review of the records.

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

There has been an increase in incidents of one child going missing from the home. Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and follow the appropriate procedures when children are at risk of going missing from home or at risk of exploitation. This is because the missing-from-home protocols are reviewed regularly and include clear direction for staff to follow. The staff team collaborates with a team of multi-agency professionals, which includes police, the child’s placing authority, exploitation workers and youth offending workers. The manager meets regularly with these professionals to Inspection report for children’s home: 2689544 5 review safety plans and to reassess the approach taken to support the child and promote their safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is knowledgeable about his work. He understands children’s current circumstances, communicates with them effectively and shares these skills with the staff team to support the work they do with children. The manager is responsive to feedback and actively implements changes to improve children’s experiences of living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has offered consistency and continuity of care for children during several changes to the staff team in the last few months. Children said the new staff have fitted in well and they are developing positive relationships with them. The home is now fully staffed and so the manager’s focus is on stabilising the team to ensure that children do not experience any further changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular practice-related supervisions. They are given responsibilities to develop their skills and accountability in their roles. Supervisions are used to discuss any lessons learned and to improve practice. Staff said they feel supported by the manager, who provides them with helpful guidance and direction.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager sources additional training when he feels the staff team would benefit from this to support children. He uses team meetings effectively to deliver child-focused workshops, to address any areas of concern and to ensure that staff are working together to safeguard children. In one example, a meeting focused solely on a child’s increased risks and disengagement from the home. This helped to refocus the team and to review strategies to keep the child safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The review of the location of the premises does not include any feedback from safeguarding professionals about the local area or any known areas of risk. The manager works closely with external professionals, however, this is a missed opportunity to support children to understand how to keep themselves safe during their independent time in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager oversees all records and safeguarding incidents. He ensures that records are organised and clear in relation to the action that has been taken. He uses reflective practice in his analysis to make any necessary changes, such as when he feels consequences given to children are not effective. However, the review of the quality of care report does not capture the views of children and staff or detail action taken to improve the service in response to their feedback. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689544 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 notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff notify senior managers, the child’s social worker or the placing authority’s emergency duty team without delay when a child makes an allegation against a staff member. 12 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must obtain the views of safeguarding professionals about the area the home is situated in and any areas of risk for children when they access the community. 12 December 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home complies with relevant health and safety legislation. Specifically, there should be minimal delay in fire drills being carried out when children move into the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and Inspection report for children’s home: 2689544 7 restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. Specifically, any incidents of restraint should be recorded on the correct document, in line with regulations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and

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Recommendations

make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. Specifically, in their review of the quality of care report, the registered person should evidence feedback obtained from children and staff and how they have used this to make improvements to the quality of the service. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records (regulation 36) are kept up to date. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Specifically, children’s internal care plans should be updated in relation to changes to their plans and the progress that they have made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2689544 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherish Children’s 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 for children’s home: 2689544 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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