Children's home run by My Life - My Choice Ltd in Hyndburn

Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 1 SC489038 Registered provider: My Life - My Choice Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and short breaks for children and young people with disabilities. Services are provided for children aged up to 17 years. They can be continued through from the ages of 18 to 25.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were staying overnight and a total of 14 children were regularly accessing the service. The inspector spent time with all four children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 14 January 2025

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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: SC489038 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/02/2024 Full Good 06/03/2023 Full Good 22/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how to prepare the home for children’s short breaks and have a good understanding of the children’s needs. Consideration of each child’s needs makes the stay as welcoming as possible. The feedback from parents and professionals is that the children enjoy coming to the home for short breaks. The short breaks have a positive impact on children and benefit their families too.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and staff have strong relationships that are built on trust and respect. Children are excited and happy when they come to stay at the home, and they receive nurturing, well-planned care. This was demonstrated when the children arrived during the inspection and knew exactly which bedroom they would be sleeping in and where to find their favourite toys they play with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported the children to develop their interests. Staff use various communication tools to help children access activities they are interested in. Staff are patient in their approach and allow the children time to process what is being asked of them. Children’s disabilities are acknowledged and supported and not seen as a barrier to them having good and fulfilling life experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care records, plans, and assessments capture their experiences, helping staff better understand their needs and required support. The quality of these records generally enhances care. However, the manager has not identified inconsistencies in documenting how staff support children who are non-verbal with communication. These gaps make it harder to track each child’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in a wide range of positive activities inside and outside of the home. There are lots of photos displayed around the home. These photos show children taking part in experiences and activities that they enjoy. One parent said, ‘Since being there [name of child] has been involved in lots of activities, over and above what he would engage with at home.’ This helps children build progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a good standard. Children have access to a wide range of toys and play equipment. Bedroom furnishings and decoration are carefully planned around children’s individual needs. This includes bespoke beds that support children in keeping them safe. As a result, the home environment is nurturing and safe. This helps children to feel comfortable when they stay at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from children’s families and professionals is positive. They say that children really enjoy coming to the home and are well cared for. One family member said, ‘A strength of the service is all of the staff know the children really well, they know when they are upset and know how best to support them.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 4

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

Effective safeguarding is supported by high staffing ratios. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs and risks, consistently responding and reporting concerns. Parents confirm that their children are safe in the home. Staff manage incidents between children well. However, direct support for children following incidents to learn kindness is currently limited.

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

Staff only hold children as a last resort to keep everyone safe. Staff have received appropriate training and discuss the incident with the child afterward, trying to understand the reasons for the behaviour to prevent reoccurrence.

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

Children in this home are assessed as requiring some restrictions to keep them safe and to promote their welfare. For example, the use of a specialised harness when in the vehicle and safe space beds. These measures are based on comprehensive assessments of each child’s unique needs and are carefully documented. The manager also conducts regular reviews of these assessments to consider their continued relevance and effectiveness in ensuring the safety of the children.

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

A member of staff attends statutory meetings for every child to ensure that there is joint working with families and other professionals. Staff provide input to these meetings and share their understanding of the children’s needs. Updates are regularly shared with the rest of the team to ensure consistency across the child’s life.

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

Careful consideration is given to ensuring that children receive short breaks alongside other children only when their needs are compatible. This is achieved through rigorous information gathering before children come to stay. Consequently, any risks that children may pose to each other are kept to a minimum and well managed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a determined leader with high expectations for the standard of care provided to children. Both the manager and staff benefit from the support of child-focused senior team leaders. The management team takes immense pride in their roles, showing a strong commitment to improving outcomes for children. They serve as strong role models, leading staff by example.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has developed a range of effective monitoring and quality assurance systems to ensure that they have comprehensive oversight of the service. This means that any shortfalls in the quality of care that children receive are swiftly remedied.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers advocate on behalf of children when they identify shortfalls in the service that they are receiving from other professionals. They escalate their concerns without delay when this is necessary. Shortfalls identified in the last inspection have been addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report they are well-supported by managers and have regular supervision. Specific training ensures that staff understand the expectations and boundaries in place to Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 5 support children with disabilities. However, child-specific training needs further development, especially for children who are non-verbal, and for other children with eating difficulties such as PICA.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides a regular quality of care review, and conducts appraisals with staff on an annual basis, staff reflect on their work and set targets for the year ahead. However, the appraisals and reviews of care do not include the views of children and are not consistent with views from key individuals. This limits the manager’s understanding of children’s experiences and the ability of leaders to make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When staff experience challenging times, they are resilient and support each other. The management team recognises the importance of staff support. Further support mechanisms are put in place following any increase in behaviour from children that challenge. The manager ensures that there is open communication in the team, allowing all staff to raise concerns with confidence that are addressed seriously. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 6

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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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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 develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; 10 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 7 understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that each child is provided with proactive one-to-one support sessions that are planned based on children’s presenting needs and feelings. Ensure that any incidents between peers are followed up with consistent and targeted direct work.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children's case records contain up-to-date information about the child and the support offered by staff, specifically in relation to children's health needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children's case records contain up-to-date information about the child and the support offered by staff, specifically in relation to children's communication needs, and how staff have supported children to share their views.. 10 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should include the views of the children and other professionals when completing appraisals with staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that all staff are up to date with their training, specifically in relation to PICA, and communicating with non-verbal children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 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: SC489038 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: My Life - My Choice Ltd

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Andrea Brighouse

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Inspectors

Jennifer Quest, Social Care Inspector Jon Dutton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC489038 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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