Children's home run by Inspire Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2536395 1 Registered provider: Inspire Children’s Services 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

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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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: 2536395 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2024 Full Good 14/02/2023 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good 04/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2536395 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved into the home and two children have moved out of the home. One child was spoken to as part of the inspection. The child said they like living in the home and like all the staff. One child is in the process of moving back to their family, in line with their wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s plans are individualised and include their needs. Staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs. Children enjoy strong relationships with staff, and observations of children with staff demonstrate that they like being in their company.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have moved out of the home have had positive endings to their time living in the home. Staff support children to prepare for leaving in line with their individual needs. The staff prepare leaving gifts and memory books and ensure they have all items that are important to them to take with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to understand their family history, background, and culture. Staff are proactive in seeking appropriate resources and guidance to support children to follow their cultural and religious beliefs. Staff support children to celebrate religious festivals. This helps to promote children’s identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s documents are individual to each child and include the views of children about their progress and experiences. Care plans are written in children’s first language when children speak English as an additional language. This helps all children to understand their plans and the progress they are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are enrolled in education. When there are barriers to learning for children, staff work closely with professionals and ensure that alternative provision is sourced. This means that children are supported to achieve in line with their individual needs and academic capabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not respond quickly to changes in one child’s care plan. This impacts on the care that staff provide for them. Managers have responded, and there are current plans in place to address this situation.

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

Staff understand children’s risks and vulnerabilities. There are clear risk assessments in place and plans with specific strategies to help staff reduce the risk of harm in practice. Staff know the plans and strategies in place to support children. Staff follow these when incidents occur. Inspection report for children’s home: 2536395 4 The manager ensures that when there are external factors that increase the risk to children, such as child exploitation, this is escalated with relevant professionals to implement strategies to reduce risk.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. Children have made three complaints since the last inspection. The manager takes complaints seriously and addresses them quickly to the satisfaction of the children. This helps contribute to children’s well- being and security.

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

Physical intervention practice in the home is safe. Staff use their relationships with children to try and de-escalate incidents. As a result, incidents are rare, and physical intervention is only used as a last resort. When physical interventions do occur, appropriate work is carried out afterwards to restore the relationship between staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has resigned from her role and is due to leave the company. A new manager has been in post since February 2025, with a plan for a gradual handover between managers to take place. The responsible individual and leaders in the organisation have had day-to-day oversight of the home during this period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision where they can discuss their practice and development. Staff are generally positive about the support they receive from leaders and managers. However, some staff report issues with clear communication from managers, although they say that that this is now improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some information in one child’s care plans is contradictory, for example in relation to specific staffing levels to respond to their needs. This could impact on the quality of care that staff provide for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the staff are qualified to care for children. The manager ensures that staff are recruited safely and that they receive a thorough induction. Staff are provided with a wide range of training that they attend, including specialised courses to meet the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff build effective working relationships with relevant professionals. This helps to ensure that children receive care that is well coordinated and planned. Professionals spoken to as part of the inspection speak highly of the manager and staff team and the care they provide to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2536395 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 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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)) 28 April 2025

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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

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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 home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that children’s individual plans include the relevant level of staff to meet their needs. 28 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2536395 6

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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: 2536395 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Inspire Children’s Services, Unit 3, Craig Court, Standish Street, St. Helens WA10 1GJ

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Inspector

Nicola Rutherford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2536395 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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