Children's Home run by Prosperity Children’s Services Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 1 Registered provider: Prosperity Children’s Services

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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 privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection, who spoke to the inspector about their experiences living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since November 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 13 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: 2700241 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming, and children enjoy exploring in the outside space. Children’s bedrooms are well furnished and homely. Children take pride in keeping their bedrooms clean and tidy. However, the communal areas are in need of redecoration. Some furnishings need to be repaired or replaced, specifically blinds in the downstairs areas and stair carpets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff are committed to providing children with good-quality care and support. This provides children with a strong sense of safety and security within the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager promotes children’s education. Before living in the home one child had not been in education for a long period of time. He is now attending a provision on a part- time timetable. His attendance has improved, and he is enthusiastic about starting college in September. Staff are supporting enrolment on his preferred course. Another child is currently enrolled full time in an alternative provision. However, due to disputes in funding, the child is currently not attending school. The manager is liaising with professionals and escalating her concerns. There are no structured plans in place for alternative learning in the home, to ensure that children are getting their entitled twenty- five hours of education a week.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have positive relationships with each other. The children spend time together and engage in shared activities. When there have been minor fallings-out between the children, staff have reacted quickly. Staff have completed restorative work with both children, allowing them to express their views sensitively in a safe space. This has enabled the children to resolve any issues and develop a positive relationship.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy various activities, such as nature walks, magnet fishing, golfing and bike rides. One child attends a youth club and spends time with friends on planned activities. This enables children to build social skills and form friendships in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to and understood. Children’s views and wishes are promoted in the home. Children’s views are gathered using child-focused ‘mumbles and grumbles’ forms, which are completed monthly, and children’s weekly meetings. This allows children to contribute to day-to-day decisions about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are good transition plans in place for children moving in and out of the home. When children move out, plans are made to support children with the delivery of news and settling into their new home. This provides children with a level of stability from trusted adults at a time of significant change. When children move in, the home’s manager assesses their needs alongside the needs of the children already living in the home. Children are welcomed into the home and made to feel at ease. However, not all children have statutory care plans containing relevant information and signed by relevant Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 4 professionals on admission. This does not ensure that the home’s manager or staff can act on behalf of the local authority in the delivery of day-to-day care for the child.

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

Children feel safe in the home and have trusting relationships with the adults supporting them. Children know how to make complaints. When complaints are made, they are investigated fully, and outcomes are explained to the children. This reassures the children that they are listened to.

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

The home’s therapist works directly with staff to ensure that they have a good understanding of the impact of children’s past experiences. This enables staff to have discussions with children on key issues sensitively, helping them to identify their emotions and express them safely.

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

The home’s therapist visits the home weekly, alternating her visits to work directly with staff and then with children. Although children are sometimes reluctant to engage, her weekly presence in the home is showing consistency and building trust slowly with the children. One child is now able to undertake direct work every three visits.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual risks and strategies to support them. However, not all risks are documented in safety plans so as to ensure that new staff or those providing temporary cover know all the risks and how to respond to them effectively.

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

There is a good safeguarding culture being developed within the home. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and whistle-blowing procedures. Safeguarding practices are revisited within supervisions. This ensures that safeguarding is a focal point of staff practice.

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

Children are registered with key health-care professionals and attend their appointments. The home’s manager has identified an outstanding hospital follow-up appointment for one child, which hasn’t taken place due to delays and NHS waiting times. The home’s manager continues to pursue this appointment to ensure that this child’s health care needs are met.

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

The manager ensures that training provided is specific to children’s individual needs. As a result, staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and how to best respond when they are in crisis.

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

One missing-from-home incident has taken place. There are detailed missing-from-home plans in place, and staff have good knowledge of missing-from-home procedures. Staff keep in contact with children throughout missing episodes to encourage children to return home. This shows children that staff care about them and their welfare.

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

Staff are trained in restraints. However, restraints are rarely used. Staff can de-escalate children when they are in crisis without further escalation. When restraints are used, Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 5 they are used to protect children and others from harm. Children can discuss incidents with someone who was not part of the incident. The manager reviews incidents to ensure that action taken was reasonable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s previous manager has taken up the role of responsible individual for the home. The home has a new manager, who has applied to register with Ofsted and was previously the senior of the home. As the home’s previous senior, she has a good understanding of the home, children and staff. This is a new but strong management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious in her vision for the children. She is committed to improving outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Induction programmes for new starters are well planned. Key training takes place before staff enter the home. This enables staff to feel 100% confident before undertaking the care and responsibility of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality, regular supervision. Supervisions are supportive and focus on areas of development and good practice. Staff receive support and say they enjoy working in the home. Staff feel the manager is invested in their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place monthly. Meetings are used to discuss current issues for children and reflect on practice. They are attended by the home’s therapist, who offers insight to behaviours and strategies. The manager also uses meetings as an opportunity to develop the team in areas such as child-focused recording and use of the therapeutic model of care. This provides the staff with knowledge and skills to deliver child-centred care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home. All reports and plans have evidence of the manager’s oversight. The manager completes weekly check lists and uses a matrix to ensure that key documents are updated within timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The manager has clear plans in place for how she would like to develop the team further. The manager has introduced monthly seniors’ meetings to ensure that the home’s seniors are aligned with her vision for the home, support for staff and outcomes for the children. This is in its early days. However, collaborative working will strengthen practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have built positive relationships with all professionals involved in the care of the children. Professionals report that the manager and staff are communicative and keep them updated in all aspects of the children’s care with weekly reports. Professionals state that the manager and staff know their children well and are child-focused in the care they provide. Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 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 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

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that there are structured plans in place to support and enhance children’s learning when formal education falls short of the required 25 hours. 13 March 2025

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— 13 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 7 meet the needs of each child; and

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (2)(1)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers are to ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard, including replacing broken or nonfunctional items, ensuring that the home has suitable window coverings for privacy, refreshing decoration and doing general cleaning, so as to ensure that repairs and damages are repaired to a good standard.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that statutory care plans are in place for all children living in the home which contain relevant information and are signed and dated by relevant professionals. 13 March 2025

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.10)  Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 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: 2700241 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Prosperity Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Prosperity Children’s Services, 8 Mercury Rise, Altham Business Park, Altham, Accrington BB5 5BY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rachel Crossland-Green

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Inspectors

Renée Sims, Social Care Inspector Caroline Bertram, Social Care Inspector (QAV) Inspection report for children’s home: 2700241 10 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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