Children's home run by Upwards residential care services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2700240 1 Registered provider: Upwards Residential Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted in August 2023. It provides care for up to three children who have been affected by adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and complex behaviours. The home is privately owned and forms part of a small social care organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in May 2024 and is suitably qualified.

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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: 21 February 2024

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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: 2700240 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2700240 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection, who were present and spoken to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children share positive relationships. Staff provide individualised and specific support to children. Children are encouraged to be themselves, and their identities are recognised, accepted and promoted. One child said that they rated their experiences in the home as, ‘Eight out of 10. Staff are good here, and Ofsted don’t need to worry.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work creatively to capture children’s views, wishes and feelings well. Children know how to raise concerns and share their views and feelings if they are concerned or worried. One child has access to a ‘worry monster’ to record any worries they may have. Staff use communication cards with the other child to allow them to express their feelings and emotions. As a result, children feel valued, and they grow in confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to attend school and engage with their education. The registered manager ensures that they receive support that is specific to their individual needs. Both children living in the home are engaging positively with their education. In addition, another child has had a positive move into a mainstream school since the last inspection, which was a very positive outcome from their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work effectively with health professionals to provide specialist support to children. For example, one child is currently accessing therapy, which was implemented because the registered manager advocated for the child’s needs effectively. Consequently, the child receives specialist support for their mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the previous full inspection, four children have moved into the home, and four children have left. Staff and leaders have managed these moves well for children. The registered manager ensures that care planning and assessment processes are rigorous. As a result, children’s needs are assessed effectively before they move into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise the time that children spend with their friends and family. Family time is planned well so that children spend positive time with their loved ones. In addition, staff support children to take part in activities both inside and outside of the home. These connections and activities help to improve children’s networks and confidence.

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

Children said that they feel safe living in the home. Staff complete direct work to educate them about risks and help them to feel safe and secure. For example, staff have completed work in relation to substance misuse, child exploitation, bullying and healthy relationships. This work helps to reassure children that staff care about their welfare. Inspection report for children’s home: 2700240 4 Incidents requiring physical restraint with children are rare. There have been two incidents since the previous inspection. On both occasions, staff used physical restraint as a last resort to support one child in crisis. Staff and children are spoken to following incidents, and leaders review the incidents well. As a result, staff and children learn from their experiences, and significant incidents reduce.

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

Staff work restoratively with children to promote positive behaviour. One child proudly showed off their reward jar, and children understand what is expected of them. Another child was supported to write letters of apology to neighbours following an increase in incidents. The use of negative consequences is appropriate and proportionate.

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

Leaders and staff respond well to safeguard children who go missing from the home and are at risk of exploitation. For example, the registered manager is proactive and shares protocols with the police before children move into the home. When children go missing, the registered manager shares information with professionals, attends strategy meetings, and ensures that child exploitation risks are reviewed. Consequently, risks are identified early, and children receive appropriate support.

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

Overall, staff have a good understanding of the home’s safeguarding thresholds and processes. They understand their responsibilities and the actions they need to take to keep children safe. However, some staff require development to equip them with the skills to identify when children may be vulnerable and at risk of harm during some serious incidents. This shortfall has the potential to compromise children’s safety.

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

Since the previous inspection, leaders have made some improvements to their systems to ensure that staff are recruited safely. However, the reasons that staff have left previous roles working with children are still not routinely verified before they work in the home. As a result, leaders cannot be assured about the suitability of people they employ. The home’s responsible individual took some action to address this repeated shortfall during the inspection.

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

The home is led by a suitably qualified registered manager, who is energetic and child focused. Staff and the children describe feeling supported by the registered manager. She strives to ensure that children are supported to make progress.

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

However, some of the registered manager’s leadership systems are not yet consistently effective in making continual improvements to the home. For example, monitoring systems have failed to identify shortfalls in safer recruitment processes. In addition, the manager’s quality of care review has failed to capture children’s views, wishes and feelings. These shortfalls have the potential to compromise the quality of care that children receive.

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

Overall, staff training is up to date and relevant to the needs of children. Supervision sessions are regular and used to provide staff with additional support. However, leaders Inspection report for children’s home: 2700240 5 are not using training and their systems effectively to fully develop some staff to improve their practice and ability to manage complex incidents.

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

The registered manager ensures that the home is suitably staffed. Most staff hold the required qualifications or equivalent. A small number of staff are currently working to achieve these, and plans are in place to ensure that they are completed in the required timescales.

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

A strength of the registered manager is her ability to develop positive and effective working relationships with professionals. She works closely with education and health professionals, social workers and the police. Feedback from professionals is very positive. One professional said the registered manager is ‘very proactive in terms of safeguarding’. They added that ‘communication is excellent,’ and the registered manager is ‘absolutely brilliant at completing and sharing protocols with the police’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2700240 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all staff are equipped with the skills and confidence to recognise that children may be at risk of harm and take effective action to reduce these risks. 31 December 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

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; 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)(h)) 31 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2700240 7 In particular, the registered person should ensure that they have clear monitoring and review systems in place to identify shortfalls, develop staff practice and make continuous improvements to the care that children receive in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they carry out checks and verify the reasons that staff have left previous roles when working with children and vulnerable adults before they work in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 December 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: 2700240 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Upwards Residential Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1, 4th Floor Building 1 Wilson Business Park, Monsall Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, Manchester M40 8WN

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Inspectors

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Mandy Wake, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2700240 9 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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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