Children's home run by Cherish Children’s Care Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2732651 1 Registered provider: Cherish Childrens 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

This is a private children’s home that is registered to care for up to two children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children living in this home may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered in April 2024. She is appropriately experienced and working towards the required qualification for her role.

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Information about this children's home

There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors spoke with both children 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

Date of last inspection: 16 October 2024

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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: 2732651 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/08/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2732651 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive, caring and trusting relationships with staff. The staff team know children well, invest time in them and celebrate their achievements. Children have staff they can talk to about how they are feeling. Social workers provided positive feedback about the quality of care and the positive impact living in the home has had on their well-being and progress. Children's individual care plans effectively evidence and track the progress that children make while living in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's engagement in education is positive. One child’s school attendance has significantly improved in the last few weeks. The child’s social worker reported that this was excellent progress for the child, who has had a long period out of education. Another child has been supported to engage in voluntary work in the community alongside their college course. The staff team advocates for children to ensure that they are provided with opportunities to support their educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team supports children to be healthy and to promote positive well-being. Staff follow up on referrals to external health professionals to ensure that children’s health needs are met. Children have routines in place to support them to engage in regular exercise and to promote healthy lifestyles. All children have access to the homes in house therapeutic practitioner. She attends the home weekly and attends team meetings to deliver training associated with children's needs. She also has oversight of any significant incidents or emotional well-being concerns for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support to enjoy their recreational time. They spend time with their friends, doing activities of their choice and spending quality time with staff. Family time is promoted in line with children’s wishes. Children spend time together on activities and have a joint holiday to Paris planned for the summer holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Direct sessions with children are tailored to meet their immediate support needs. The manager oversees these sessions to monitor progress and ensure that staff are offering appropriate guidance and intervention. Where follow-up sessions are required, there is clear evidence that these are carried out to explore issues in greater depth. Children’s views, wishes, and feelings are regularly captured through monthly consultations with their keyworker or the manager, helping them feel heard and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is actively supporting one child in preparation for their transition to independence within the coming year. The manager is working with the placing authority to develop a well-considered plan for this move. The child’s independence plan includes activities such as budgeting, shopping, and self-care, delivered at a pace suited to their individual needs. Staff are consistently engaged in helping the child overcome any challenges, ensuring the transition is both positive and empowering. Inspection report for children's home: 2732651 4

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

Children are kept safe and feel safe in the home. Staff have a good understanding of children's risks and triggers to their behaviour. Children's risk assessments provide staff with the information and risk reduction strategies that they require to work with children and to keep them safe. There is evidence of some children’s risks having reduced. Their positive relationships with staff enable children to be transparent about their risk behaviour so that they can be helped to make safer choices and be allowed to take age- appropriate risks.

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

There has been no use of restraint since the last inspection. Staff implement clear routines, boundaries and de-escalation strategies to help children to manage their behaviours effectively. Children respond well to these. Rewards out way the use of consequences and they are linked to positive behaviours. Some consequences used do not always help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour as the measure used does not always fit the behaviour. The manager has not identified this in her oversight of the records.

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

One child was reported missing from the home during the inspection. However, there has been a reduction in incidents of missing from home. The staff team has worked alongside children’s placing authorities to agree age-appropriate free time, curfews and to explore who children spend time with and agree who is deemed safe for them to socialise with. Missing-from-home incident records demonstrate that staff are proactive in their attempts to locate children, and they consistently follow agreed protocols.

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

Staff act promptly to any incidents of self-injury, when they have suspected that children may have had illegal substances in the home and to explore concerns associated with children’s use of social media. They make safe and balanced decisions that consider the potential outcome for children.

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

A local police officer has carried out educational work with children related to online safety. In addition, the therapeutic practitioner directs staff with helpful work they can undertake with children to broaden their understanding of the risks of exploitation. For one child this has helped them to start to recognise healthy relationships. Staff carry out regular spot checks on children’s phones, however, these are not recorded to evidence the action they have taken.

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

The staff team works well with safeguarding professionals, such as the exploitation team, missing-from-home coordinators and sexual health agencies. This has helped them to support children when they have made disclosures and to access support from additional services. Staff respond sensitively to any safeguarding matters to ensure that children feel supported to raise concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well. She understands their progress and areas that they require additional support to promote their life chances. She advocates well for Inspection report for children's home: 2732651 5 children by challenging other professionals, to help children achieve their potential. She maintains a professional joint working relationship with children’s social workers and placing authorities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is confident in her role. She has reflected on the home’s last inspection and used this to drive improvements. Her development plan is child focused. The manager uses it to identify ways of improving children's experiences in the home and to upskill her staff team. The manager has significantly improved her oversight of all children’s records, incidents and systems. This ensures that she knows what is going on for children and her staff team. It also means that there have been improvements in the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is now a full staff team in place. This has brought continuity of care for children and stability in the staff team. Staff are well supported by the manager, and this has promoted positive staff morale. Team meetings are used effectively to share key information and changes to children’s plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular practice-related supervisions. This is an opportunity to explore children’s needs and to develop the knowledge and skills of staff. However, senior leaders do not provide the manager with regular formal supervision, to ensure that she has protected time to review her practice, her leadership skills and to check on her well- being. New staff receive a thorough induction and appropriate training for their role. The manager ensures that all staff are kept up to date on refresher training and training that is specific to the needs of children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been no complaints from children since the last inspection. Both the manager and staff team work positively with the neighbours to address any low-level concerns, to ensure that they do not escalate to serious concerns or formal complaints. Consequently, relationship building with neighbours has significantly improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor frequently does not obtain feedback from children or their families about the impact of the quality of care on children's experiences. This is a missed opportunity to obtain children's thoughts about their care. However, the manager’s review of the quality-of-care report includes a variety of feedback from children and everyone involved in their care to provide an effective evaluation of the impact of the service on children's lives. Inspection report for children's home: 2732651 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, 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

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 19 September 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are alert to the possibility that children may be at risk from such relationships including with other children in the home, staff, family members, friends and others outside the home, and they therefore should take appropriate steps to protect a child where there are concerns for a child's safety. Specifically, when children's mobile phone spot checks are carried out by staff, all checks, any concerns identified and the action that has been taken should be recorded. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 43, paragraph 9.13)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. Specifically, consequences given to children should always align with the child's behaviour and a clear evaluation of the effectiveness of the measure should be recorded when it has been reviewed by the manager. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that the manager receives supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Specifically, the manager should be provided with protected time to receive regular practice related supervisions from their line manager. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children's home: 2732651 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: 2732651 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Cherish Childrens Care Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8a, Skyways Commercial Campus, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 3RS

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Debbie Dawson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2732651 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 who are 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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