Children's home run by Supporting Futures Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2658895 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home that provides care for up to two children who may experience social and/or emotional issues and/or ‘special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 3 January 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. Both children were spoken to during the inspection.

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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: 2658895 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/10/2024 Full Good 31/10/2023 Full Good 22/06/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2658895 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strive to build positive relationships with children to help them develop a sense of security and belonging. They listen to children’s views and follow up on their requests, for example being able to see family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement in education and learning is good. Their educational attendance has improved. This ensures that they have the best chance of success later in life. However, one child has only been provided with limited informal education when they are not in full-time education’ be better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their families and the people who are close to them. The staff maintain regular communication with parents and carers and keep them updated about their children’s progress. Staff support parents and will collect them and bring them to family time. This helps children to see the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children say that they have good relationships with staff. They say that the registered manager is helpful and supportive, and they would approach the manager if they were unhappy or wished to make a complaint. This demonstrates that children feel valued and listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they enjoy having their friends to visit. One child talked about having friends for a recent overnight sleepover. This helps children to have the same experience as their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met to a high standard. When children struggle to manage their emotional health needs, staff ensure that they receive the best help and care. This has helped reduce the incidents of self-injury for one child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm and homely environment. However, the blanket use of window restrictors detracts from the family feel.

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

Risk assessments and de-escalation guidance are regularly reviewed, which provides staff with a comprehensive level of information and support. As a result, children work through their experiences in a positive, safe and consistent way.

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

Staff use positive behaviour approaches, supported by therapeutic training. This avoids the use of negative or punitive measures to manage children’s unwanted behaviour. Children receive regular positive praise in the form of a journal of praise. This helps children regularly reflect on their positive behaviour and progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2658895 4 Children receive good care that meets their individual needs and enhances their day-to- day lives. They recognise the positive progress they are making and speak highly of staff.

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are vetted before starting to work at the home. This ensures that only suitable adults are employed to work with children at the home.

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

Children are helped to understand their emotions. This is largely due to the caring and nurturing nature of the staff team. As a result, the use of physical intervention is very rare. In one incident, a debrief was completed by a member of staff directly involved in the intervention. This compromises leaders’ and managers’ oversight of staff’s practice and their ability to identify if the measure was necessary and effective.

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

Allegations into staff practice are not thoroughly investigated. Statements from staff and the child making the allegation are not routinely collected and evaluated. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that the child’s concerns are being thoroughly investigated. However, the registered manager has ensured that all professionals and agencies are informed of allegations against staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An ambitious and knowledgeable management team leads and manages the home. The team demonstrates a clear understanding of therapeutic approaches to use when supporting children with complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality supervision from managers and have their practice appraised annually. They say that they benefit from this time to talk through any issues or concerns that they may have. They also use this time to discuss any safeguarding or whistle-blowing issues or incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular training courses to help them understand the children’s needs. Leaders and managers regularly review training to ensure that it meets the changing needs of the staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the regulatory body is kept up to date when significant incidents occur at the home. However, on one occasion, a notification was not submitted following an overnight incident when a child went missing from home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2658895 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 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

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that any safeguarding information is recorded contemporaneously, is clear and gives an overview of the incident. 8 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (‘‘the user’’), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 8 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2658895 6 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘‘the authorised person’’)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c) )

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that any debrief with a child, following restrictive practice, is completed by person/s not directly involved in the incident.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that Ofsted is notified if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that they have consent from those with parental responsibility and the placing authority for the use of any restrictive equipment such

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Recommendations

as window restrictors. This should be regularly reviewed to ensure that this is a necessary and proportionate measure to keep children safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2658895 7 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: 2658895 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2658895 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 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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