Children's Home run by Considerate Care Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: SC059261 1 SC059261 Registered provider: Considerate Care 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 provider.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. All children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2016.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC059261 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/04/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/10/2023 Full Good 20/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC059261 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers promote a culture of acceptance and children feel comfortable to express their identities. Staff build positive relationships with children. This allows them to have meaningful conversations, which support children’s emotional well-being. One child said that staff always listen to them and their worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s school attendance. This helps them to make progress academically. Staff support children’s education outside of school. Opportunities are provided for children to pursue their interests in music or relevant work experience. Staff are consistent in their efforts to support children to pursue further education or employment when they are no longer attending formal education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager is a strong advocate for children if she feels decisions are not made in their best interests. For one child, the manager has advocated to ensure that the child has access to sufficient educational provision. This has led to the child being supported with additional tuition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff understand children’s anxieties and how this can impact on their engagement with staff and wider professionals. They are considerate of children’s worries and offer individualised care to meet their needs. Staff attend weekly meetings with health professionals and children’s families to plan for children’s care. The persistent approach of staff has been effective. This helps children to attend health appointments and access wider support services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are therapeutic in their approach to caring for the children. Children’s plans are developed in partnership with the in-house therapist. The therapeutic approaches are implemented into all staff interactions with the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide individualised care to the children. Children’s views are reflected within their records. The manager has implemented a review system that offers a summary to children, to encourage their participation in care planning. Plans are written in line with local authority reviews. However, not all local authority documentation for children held on file is up to date.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with people that are important to them. Children’s families are welcome in the home. Staff regularly communicate with children’s families. For one child, communication between staff and the child’s family has reduced the frequency of the child being missing.

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

When there are safeguarding concerns, staff co-ordinate a multi-agency response to ensure the safety and well-being of the children. For one child, this involves staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC059261 4 working closely with the substance misuse specialist to improve their knowledge in this area. This helps staff to have meaningful conversations with the child and educate them about the potential health risks associated with substance misuse.

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

Incidents of children going missing from home have significantly reduced. When children do go missing, staff respond well. They search known locations and work with the child’s family to find them. Staff are vigilant in gathering information, such as the direction of travel, or the collection of information when the child uses a taxi. This information helps staff to know where to look when a child is missing from home.

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

Incidents in the home are rare. Staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and vulnerabilities. Children’s plans are personalised and include all known risks. The plans offer staff clear guidance and support them to respond to incidents effectively. Staff focus on praising the children, and consequences are rarely used. This helps to promote children’s positive behaviour.

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

There is effective management oversight over incidents. The manager promotes reflective practice for both staff and children following incidents. This supports children to understand and reflect on their own behaviours.

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

Allegations are well managed. Investigations into allegations are carried out in a timely manner and plans are implemented to keep children safe. Leaders and managers communicate with relevant professionals to address allegations, and ensure procedures are followed by staff.

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

There has been one incident of physical restraint. This was proportionate and necessary to safeguard the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced and enthusiastic registered manager in post. The manager has a nurturing approach and has built positive relationships with the children. She acknowledges the children’s wishes and feelings and acts on these to ensure that children’s needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of children’s care. The manager has implemented effective systems and processes to evaluate the care provided to the children and monitor their progress. This supports staff to develop their practice and ensures that they provide a good standard of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are cared for by a skilled and experienced staff team. The manager has systems in place to monitor staff training. However, training in physical restraint for two members of the core staff team is out of date. This has been scheduled and has not impacted on the care of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC059261 5 The manager knows the staff team well and understands staff’s individual strengths and areas for development. When there are issues within the staff team, the manager responds appropriately and utilises reflective supervision and mediation with the support of the provider’s therapeutic team. Inspection report for children’s home: SC059261 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that mandatory training is scheduled for all staff so that staff training is in date when working with children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that placing authorities are consistently challenged when there are delays in providing relevant plans for children to contribute to effective care planning. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8).

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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: SC059261 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Considerate Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Hayley Smith, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC059261 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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