Children's home run by Choices Home for Children Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 1 SC436559

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Registered provider: Choices Home for Children 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 home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to five children who may experience emotional or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 30 July 2024. Inspectors returned on 10 December 2024 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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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: SC436559 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/06/2023 Full Good 02/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/08/2021 Full Good 08/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are happy in the home and staff care about them. Children can identify an adult within the home that they can speak with should they have any worries or concerns. Staff seek the views of children through a range of forums, including children’s meetings and key-work sessions. These views are then considered, and feedback is provided to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s education and learning. For one child, one-to-one tuition has been made readily available. Two children have been supported to sit GCSE exams. The registered manager advocates for children when decisions have not always been in their best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop independence skills. They are supported to manage health appointments and develop cooking and budgeting skills. This support helps children prepare for becoming more independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children access a variety of hobbies and interests, such as gymnastics and cheerleading groups. Children also have opportunities to enjoy fun experiences together, such as visiting waterparks and fairgrounds.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health and are supported to attend regular appointments. When children have declined to attend appointments, staff hold discussions with children to help them understand the importance of looking after their emotional health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers do not always fully consider children’s individual needs and vulnerabilities before they move into the home. Consequently, one child has experienced an immediate move from the home due to concerns that their needs could not be met safely alongside the needs of other children living in the home. This does not help children to feel cared for and exposes them to additional risks and instability in their lives

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with family members and people who are important to them. One child has also recently experienced a positive move back to the care of their family. Staff are developing life-story books for the children, which catalogues through photos their time living in the home. However, staff do not routinely keep other memorabilia or keepsakes of the children’s time spent living at the home. For one child, who did not like having their photo taken, this meant that they moved on from the home without any life-story work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, there have been significant improvements to the home, including a new kitchen, new carpets fitted and refurbishment of the garden area. However, ongoing maintenance, redecoration and refurbishment of the children’s Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 4 bathroom is needed to ensure that the home remains a homely environment for the children to live in.

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

Staff understand children’s experiences and use this knowledge to respond to children’s individual needs. As a result, the number of missing-from-home and self- harm incidents within the home has significantly reduced since the last inspection.

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

Staff understand the needs and vulnerabilities of children in their care. Children’s risk and behaviour support plans are reviewed regularly and updated following incidents.

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

Children are helped to understand how to keep safe. Key-work sessions are undertaken with children following every significant incident. This supports children to discuss and reflect on their behaviour.

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

The registered manager ensures that any allegations are reported to the relevant agencies and there is good partnership working with statutory agencies.

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

Health, safety and fire risks are not fully considered. Leaders and managers had not identified the danger of flammable items stored in the building where a child was restoring a motorbike, that an exit being locked restricted access in the event of an emergency and the absence of fire detection equipment. The registered manager took swift action during the inspection to rectify this.

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

Door alarms are used on all children’s bedroom doors despite there not being identified safeguarding risks for all children. The use of the door alarms is not kept under review to ensure that they are only used when required to keep children safe.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been a high number of incidents of staff physically holding children. More recently, these have reduced. This is, in part, due to the relationship that staff have developed with the child since they moved into the home, but also the therapeutic input that the home has commissioned. The therapist works with the child, but also provides the staff team with guidance. This is supporting improvements in practice.

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

Physical intervention records demonstrate that holding a child is used as a last resort to safeguard children and is appropriate and proportionate. However, the registered manager does not always complete a post-incident discussion with all staff involved in the physical intervention, and children are not routinely offered the opportunity to speak with an independent person about their experiences of being held.

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

Staff use consequences to help children understand that they are accountable for their actions. Children are offered the option of a restorative consequence rather than a financial consequence when appropriate to do so. However, it is not always Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 5 clear from the record if the offer has been taken up or whether the effectiveness of this has been reviewed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a qualified registered manager. He is supported by two deputy managers; together, they provide stability in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular access to the services of a psychological practitioner who supports them in the delivery of the home’s therapeutic model of care, as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Feedback from the therapist is overwhelmingly positive. The registered manager invites the therapist to the home to deliver additional training and keeps her regularly updated on incidents within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment processes are followed when staff are appointed. This provides assurance that the staff are suitably vetted and qualified to provide safe care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about working at the home and the support provided by the management team. Staff benefit from regular supervision, team meetings and training. However, the registered manager has not received an appraisal. This reduces opportunities for the manager to reflect on his practice and development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 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 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the home is free from hazards and that any concerns are swiftly addressed to ensure that children are safeguarded effectively. 28 February

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 28 February

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if— 28 February Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 7 the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d) (2))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all monitoring and surveillance measures are only used when required to keep children safe and that their use is kept under review.

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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)) 28 February

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff support children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that children live in a warm and welcoming environment with a homely feel. Specifically, that the agreed refurbishment of the children’s bathroom is completed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that records of physical intervention include a post-inspection discussion with all staff involved in the incident, not just the member of staff who held the child. The registered person should also ensure that children are offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them

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Recommendations

express their feelings about their experience of being held. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. When restorative alternatives are offered to the child, the outcome and effectiveness of this should be clearly recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 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 for children’s home: SC436559 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Choices Home for Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Wellington Road, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 7ED

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Inspectors

Paula Shepherd, Regulatory Inspection Manager Carrie Mayes, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC436559 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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