Children's Home run by Attivo Care Ltd in Halton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 1 Registered provider: Attivo 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 home is operated by a private provider and is registered to provide care for two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home. Both children were present and spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 21 January 2025. Inspectors returned on 13 February 2025 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 24 September 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 2

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following an inadequate judgement at the last full inspection on 24 September 2024, two compliance notices were issued under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000, in relation to regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 24 October 2024, Ofsted carried out an unannounced visit to monitor these compliance notices. A case review was held following this visit. It was agreed that the provider had met the actions required in the compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/09/2024 Full Inadequate 03/10/2023 Full Good 08/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 4

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the children have remained settled in the home. They say they like living in the home and the new structures in the home have improved their lives. However, changes to the overall staffing has meant that children do not always receive a consistent level of care.

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improvement to be good

Not all staff understand children’s individual religious needs. When attempts to liaise with places of worship that one child attends have not been successful, action has not been taken to follow this up. Staff have not been provided with opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding of religious teachings that the child follows. Despite some staff having completed further training some staff spoken to did not understand the child’s religious beliefs and extreme views. This is a missed opportunity to develop their knowledge in this area of practice.

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improvement to be good

Both children are enrolled in education. One child speaks highly of their school and enjoys attending. However, plans to support children when they refuse to attend education are not always effective. Children are not supported to engage with educational activities to support their education when they refuse to attend.

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improvement to be good

The children’s physical health needs are met. However, records include conflicting information in respect of the therapeutic support offered to children. It is not always clear when children have received this support.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to challenge decisions made by professionals when they are not in their best interests. As a result, one child has been able to pursue their future chosen career path. However, the manager has not taken sufficient action to challenge timescales for one child accessing a personal adviser to support their journey to independence

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improvement to be good

Staff promote new interests and hobbies for children. One child has been supported to learn the guitar, which they are excelling at. However, one child spoke of the opportunities to enjoy activities outside of the home being limited due to the home’s car often needing repair.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise the importance of children’s relationships with family and friends. Staff work with local authority professionals to ensure that children can maintain relationships with those people who are important to them. However, action has not been taken to share immediate safeguarding concerns in relation to incidents involving one child when spending time with friends.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 5 Staff do not understand all the children’s risks. As a result, children are not always provided with the support they need. Although leaders and managers recognise risks in relation to potential extremist views and sought external advice, ongoing plans are not in place to educate all staff and children in respect of this. Despite some staff having completed further training staff spoken to did not understand the child’s religious beliefs and extreme views.

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improvement to be good

Staff did not demonstrate professional curiosity following an incident of one child making weapons in their bedrooms and when they express a preference for spending long periods of time alone.

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improvement to be good

Safety measures are in place to support children to access the internet safely. However, strategies are not always effective to support children to spend less time on the internet.

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improvement to be good

Records of incidents in relation to substance misuse include inaccurate information in respect of action taken. Children’s records are not updated following incidents to include plans or strategies to support children to address substance misuse following an escalation of incidents.

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improvement to be good

Staff look for children when they are missing from home. They work with professionals and family members to locate children quickly. However, records do not show the full extent of staff actions or that children have been provided with opportunities to speak to an independent person.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment processes for new staff are safe. This ensures that the adults caring for children are suitable to do so.

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

The home is currently managed by the former deputy manager. A new deputy manager has been appointed to support her in her role. The director has assumed the position of responsible individual to support the management and oversight of the home.

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

The Director has taken appropriate action following concerns in respect of the previous leaders and managers. However, sufficient action has not been taken to address unprofessional actions by other staff that have led to safeguarding concerns for children. Information has not always been shared with local authority professionals to ensure that all concerns are investigated.

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

Management oversight of practice in the home is ineffective. Managers do not identify shortfalls in the maintenance of children’s records, to ensure they include up-to-date and accurate information. Furthermore, debriefs with children following incidents are not always undertaken by managers. However, there have been improvements since the recent changes to the leadership and management team. The current acting manager accepts some of the shortfalls identified at this inspection and she is working to address these. Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 6 Staff say they have felt more supported since the current management team has been in place. The acting manager identified shortfalls in staff supervision and has prioritised this since being in post. However, training opportunities have not been provided to all staff on topics relevant to the children’s needs. This could lead to a gap in staff knowledge

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

and skills to meet all the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 7

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that leaders and managers ensure that children’s records include all known risks and vulnerabilities together with identified strategies to support children, that action is taken to safeguard children following incidents of substance misuse and that staff understand and recognise children’s risks and vulnerabilities. 10 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 8 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that leaders and managers ensure that they have oversight of all care provided to children, that children are spoken to following incidents, that shortfalls in staff practice are identified and action is taken to address shortfalls, and that all staff, including bank staff, undertake training on all topics that are relevant to the children’s needs. 10 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; 10 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 9 understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that children’s records contain accurate information regarding any therapeutic support that is provided or offered to children, and that action is taken to provide support for children’s emotional well-being when needs are identified.

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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, that leaders and managers ensure that children’s records are maintained, to include up-to-date and accurate information. 10 April 2025

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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: 2680573 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Attivo Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Attivo Care, Office 1, 41-43 Liverpool Road, Manchester M44 5BQ

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Inspectors

Nicola Forrester, Social Care Inspector Claire Hobbs, Social Care Inspector Hayley Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2680573 11 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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