Children's Home run by Care 4 Every Child Limited in Tameside

Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 1 Registered provider: Care 4 Every Child Limited

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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 organisation. 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 June 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at 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: 2641768 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2024 Full Good 13/09/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/04/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home benefit from a caring staff team who have a good understanding of their support needs. Staffing stability provides children with the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with the people who care for them. This contributes to children feeling secure and making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed sensitively into the home. Professionals working with the children praise the team for their kind and nurturing approach, which reduces children’s anxieties when moving to a new environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved on from the home. Leaders and managers ensure that children move out of the home in a way that helps them feel valued. They work with other professionals to ensure that children understand the plan around them moving on and can prepare for this. Furthermore, children are supported to engage in activities that celebrate their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Family members are welcomed into the home and children are supported to spend time with them in the community. This helps children to retain a sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in education. Their participation is encouraged through positive praise from staff when they take part in educational activities. However, for one child who does not have access to an academic provision, leaders and managers have not ensured that there is a daily plan of alternative education for them to follow with staff.

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

Physical intervention is used as a last resort, to protect children. Well-documented records evidence that incidents are thoroughly reviewed by the registered manager to ensure that staff practice is reasonable and proportionate. Discussions take place with children after a physical intervention, but these do not consider how children feel about being held.

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

There is an effective response to allegations made by children. Leaders and managers listen to their concerns, and these are acted on through a fair investigation process that considers the views of all involved. Information is shared appropriately with the placing local authority and children are notified of the investigation outcome. This assures children that their welfare and safety are prioritised. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 4 Recruitment practice promotes the safe care of children. New candidates go through a rigorous process to assess their suitability to care for children. This reduces the risk of children being harmed.

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

Safety plans are detailed and provide staff with guidance on how to respond effectively when incidents occur. Staff are aware of the measures they should use to safeguard children.

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

Missing-from-home incidents are well documented. Staff follow children’s missing-from- home protocols and involve other agencies such as the police to widen the search for children. However, on one occasion, the response to a child going missing was not effective. Staff initially did not realise that the child was missing. When this became apparent, they did not use all available resources to search for the child.

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

When children return to the home, staff ensure that they can take part in an independent return home interview. However, these do not always take place in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified. She has a good understanding of the children and their individual needs. External professionals and staff have confidence in her leadership and care of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a supportive culture in the home. Staff have access to formal and informal supervision that considers their practice and well-being. Stable staffing arrangements create a cohesive workforce that is focused on providing effective care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly. The registered manager uses these to address shortfalls in practice and set clear expectations on the standard of care children should receive. While all staff have completed the provider’s mandatory training, some have not completed training specific to the children’s individual needs. This means that staff do not have the additional skills and expertise to meet children’s identified needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has good oversight of the day-to-day running of the home. Incidents are routinely reviewed and post-incident discussions with staff take place regularly, to ensure that the quality of care provided to children continues to be good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers embrace multi-agency working and communication with partner agencies is effective. Concerns about the safety and welfare of children are shared with all involved in the child’s care to ensure that there is a holistic approach to managing children’s risks. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that when placing authority documentation for a child is not received in a timely manner, the placing authority is challenged about the delay and, when necessary, the issue is escalated appropriately.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, when children are not accessing an education provision, leaders and managers must ensure this is escalated to the relevant people in the placing authority. 10 July 2025

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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

and help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 10 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 6 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that each child who is not in school has a daily plan of alternative education that supports the child to learn and maintain a routine around education until they can access an education provision.

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders, managers and staff must ensure that when children go missing, they consider and use all resources available to find them. This includes visiting the home of the children’s family members when it is safe to do so. 10 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff complete needs-led training in response to children’s specific needs. 10 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that discussions with a child following a physical intervention include a conversation about how the child felt about being held. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that following an incident of children going missing, children can take part in an independent return home interview within 72 hours of returning to the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 7

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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: 2641768 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Every Child Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Allen Mills Howard & Co, Library Chambers, 48 Union Street, Hyde SK14 1ND

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela Hodgkinson

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Inspector

Chibuzo Otache, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2641768 9 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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