Children's Home run by Care 4 Children Residential Services Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 1 Registered provider: Your Chapter Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company. The home provides care for up to eight children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

There were five children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: 6 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: 2581237 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2024 Full Good 22/11/2022 Full Good 29/12/2021 Interim Not judged Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are proud of their home, and have well-established and meaningful relationships with staff. Staff work as a team and are committed to their roles. All staff talk positively about the children and are keen to support them to develop. This provides a foundation for children to make good overall progress in their lives. Four of the five children were spoken with. They said that they enjoy living at the home and feel safe there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is homely and decorated with framed photos of the children and staff. The home offers children ample space, and resources such as board games and books for them to enjoy. Children have a sense of comfort, security and belonging. Staff are creative, and help children develop budgeting skills in the home’s tuck shop. This helps children to learn important life skills, have fun and bond with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Mealtimes are an important time, where children and staff come together. The familiarity in routines around mealtimes is something that is cherished in the home. Children enjoy eating meals together with staff and engage in meaningful conversations with one another.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do well in education, and attendance is good. Children are helped to understand the importance of learning. Children have achieved GCSE’s and other educational awards. These achievements reconnect children with a desire to learn and succeed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s identity is respected by staff. All children are supported to understand and respect the identity of others. The staff celebrate and raise children’s awareness about the importance of tolerance. Therefore, children feel accepted and can express their individuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff compile child-friendly care plans to help children’s understanding of how staff support them through significant aspects of their care. However, these plans can be vague and unhelpful to the child in terms of how staff will help them to develop important independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the language used in the home to describe children and their behaviours derives from professional jargon. Consequently, some of the language used in the home is stigmatising, which can marginalise children.

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

There is a good safeguarding culture in the home. Staff communicate with professionals regularly when there are any concerns. Staff understand their duty of care to the Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 4 children and are clear on how to keep them safe, including with regard to the whistle- blowing process.

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

Staff rarely use physical intervention to keep everyone safe. When physical intervention is used, children are supported to better understand why staff have needed to hold them. The manager reviews all holds, and has detailed conversations with everyone involved to assess what happened and how future incidents can be avoided. This approach means that staff and children can reflect, learn and recover following these incidents. As a result, children can maintain trusting and positive relationships with staff.

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

The children have access to help and support from a therapist. This means that children are equipped to understand their emotions and behaviours, and the impact these may have on themselves and others. Children benefit from this clinical support.

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

The manager has rigorous systems in place to monitor children’s medication. Learning from internal investigations into any medication errors supports staff’s learning. This has resulted in staff being more confident and able to consistently and safely administer the children’s prescribed medication.

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

The children’s care is heavily focused on risk management. Therefore, children’s care planning is not dynamic and does not consider the children’s individual needs. As a result, aspects of the children’s care are risk-averse. Consequently, staff are limited in using their skills to teach children how to manage issues such as accessing the internet responsibly. Children say that they want to learn these skills but are uncertain as to how this will be achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by leaders and managers and feel that senior managers are present and accessible. Staff receive good supervision sessions that are meaningful. Staff feel that their views and ideas are welcomed and that they contribute to a whole-team approach to the children’s care. A crucial element of this is the access to specialist training. Staff say that this has ‘opened their eyes’ and made them confident and better prepared to carry out their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff learn about the children and the traumatic events that the children have experienced in their lives. The organisation recognises that this can be upsetting for staff. Therefore, well-being support is available for staff, who say that they value and appreciate this service. In providing this, the organisation demonstrates its commitment and appreciation towards its staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff have left, but staff turnover is low. When there are gaps in staff numbers, agency staff are used. The manager tries to ensure that the same agency workers are used. This helps with consistency of care for children. Senior managers have reasonable recruitment measures in place to employ permanent staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 5 Team meetings are regular. The manager has thematic team meetings that enable staff to broaden their skill set to be able to support the children more effectively. One team meeting focused on sensory self-soothing items for children. Children now have access to a box of self-soothing resources to help them manage if they are upset.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are positive about the work carried out around supporting positive behaviour in children. However, in one instance, there are clear discrepancies in what the plans are for a child. Children’s statutory plans and the manager’s view on the care provided differ. This could leave a child feeling confused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children’s guide is, at times, unclear. The supervision of children and safety measures are not outlined in the guide. This means that when children first come to live at the home, they have limited understanding of how staff will help and support them on a daily basis. Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s 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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, resolve any discrepancies in care planning with the child’s social worker. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are encouraged to develop skills and take appropriate risks, particularly around safe use of the internet.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that children’s care plans specify how staff will help children to develop independence skills. 30 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide contains information that helps children understand what the day-to-day routines of the home are, and the care they can expect from staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)

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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 Home’s (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 8

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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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Inspectors

Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2581237 9 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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