Children's home run by Teen-Works Care Limited in Liverpool

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 1 SC472480

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Registered provider: Teen-Works 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 owned by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2014.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 10 December 2024

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 2

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Findings from the inspection

Children are settled and making progress in most aspects of their lives. They enjoy positive relationships with each other and with the staff who care for them. Staff promote children’s hobbies and interests. For example, they go swimming together and go on trips in the local area. This helps to enrich the children’s experience of living at the home.

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Findings from the inspection

All children attend school or college. One child is struggling to manage their behaviours when they are at school, and they attend on a part-time basis. The manager is working with education professionals to ensure that the child has the support they require to return to full-time education. In addition, staff make sure that the child is offered informal educational activities when the child is not in school. This supports the child’s learning.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff are aware of the importance of healthy lifestyles on the long-term outcomes for children. However, staff are inconsistent in their approach to this. Children are not always offered access to the support and advice they need to adopt a healthy diet and embed physical activity into their daily routines. A requirement is restated in relation to this.

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Findings from the inspection

Children have personalised their bedrooms to reflect their individual tastes. There has been some redecoration of the home since the last full inspection. However, some areas of the home are not well maintained. For example, the carpet in one child’s bedroom is marked and requires replacing. A lock on the door to the lounge is unnecessary. This detracts from the homely atmosphere that staff are trying to create.

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Findings from the inspection

Children are settled and in good daily routines. They spend most of their free time doing activities with staff. They listen to staff and adhere to rules and boundaries.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager ensures that all children have risk management plans. However, these plans are not always updated following significant events. In addition, some plans lack important information about the actions staff should take to minimise risks to children. For example, one child’s plan does not detail the frequency of safety checks that should be made on the child’s mobile phone. This does not support a consistent approach.

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Findings from the inspection

The quality and frequency of direct work with children is variable. This is a missed opportunity to support children to learn how to keep themselves safe and reflect on their behaviours. The manager has recognised that this is an area for development and has sourced additional training for the whole staff team. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 3 An experienced, qualified manager runs the home. She understands the home’s strengths and areas for development. The manager is taking action to address some of the shortfalls identified at the last full inspection. However, it is too early to determine the sustainability of these changes. In addition, because of staff shortages, she has been required to complete shifts at the home. While this has offered continuity of care to the children, it has had an impact on her capacity to make improvements. As a result, many of the requirements made at the last

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Findings from the inspection

inspection have been repeated to secure improvement.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager has now recruited to vacancies in the staff team. There are sufficient staff available to meet the needs of the children.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager has identified gaps in the skills and knowledge of the staff team. She has sourced additional training to address this. In addition, she is offering coaching sessions to staff who lack confidence with the home’s electronic recording system. However, the frequency of staff supervision is not aligned to that described in the home’s statement of purpose. This means that staff do not have a regular forum to reflect on their practice with their manager. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/12/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/03/2024 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 5

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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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 April 2025 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 6 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that meaningful direct work sessions take place with all children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 April 2025 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 7 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

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)) 30 April 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home offers a domestic, homely environment. Locks on the doors to the lounge are unnecessary and should be removed. In addition, redecoration and maintenance of the home should take place in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 509–510 Cotton Exchange, Bixteth Street, Liverpool L3 9LQ

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Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC472480 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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