Children's home run by Safety and Focused Care

Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 1 Registered provider: Safety and Focused Care

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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 home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social or emotional difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living here at the time of this inspection. The inspector spoke with both children.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in May 2025.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home that is large and clean, with plenty of space for children to spend time together or individually. Children’s bedrooms are individualised based on their interests, and their toys and belongings are spread throughout their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they enjoy living here and are quickly enrolled in clubs and activities that interest them. Children can try new experiences and visit different places. During the inspection, children were running around their home, playing with staff and having fun. One member of staff said, ‘The home is filled with smiles and laughter every day.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with people who are important to them. When children are restricted from visiting certain places, staff pick up the people who they care about and bring them to visit the child in their local area. This helps children to maintain important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take children to planned health appointments and help children understand how to take care of their own health and hygiene. Staff also help children begin to develop basic independent living skills, at a level appropriate for each child’s understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff document each child’s day in a positive and child-focused way. This provides children with a positive record of their time here should they choose to view their files at a later date.

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

Staff have quickly developed positive and trusting relationships with children. As a result, children who currently live in the home say that they feel safe here and that staff listen to them if they have worries.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff report them missing quickly and search for the child consistently until the child is safely home. Staff update missing-from-home action plans when needed to ensure that these include all relevant information.

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

Professionals who have worked with the home report good communication and effective joint working. When information has not been shared by external services as it should have been, the registered manager is quick to challenge this.

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

Staff typically record incidents well with clear information about staff actions. However, in one incident in which the child climbed onto the roof, it is not clear from the record how long the child remained on the roof before climbing back down. This makes it difficult to determine whether staff actions were appropriate.

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

The use of physical intervention in the home is infrequent. When staff have had to hold children, this has been in the best interests of all involved. Staff typically de-escalate situations well to prevent further incidents. However, on one occasion staff followed a Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 3 child unnecessarily into a closed room to retrieve a locked phone. This caused the child to become more distressed and further escalated the situation.

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

One child who lived in this home for five weeks had high risks and had been involved with serious youth violence. Staff supported the child to develop a positive relationship with the local police community support officer, and had regular, detailed conversations with the child following incidents. The registered manager identified key topics that needed to be discussed with the child. However, staff did not complete proactive direct work to help the child understand the very real risks of criminal exploitation, knife crime, or peer pressure. This was a missed opportunity to help the child understand how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff and managers write thorough risk reduction plans for each child. However, some of the actions in these are not followed, such as checking a child’s phone each day. Strategies are not removed from these plans when they are no longer relevant, meaning that new staff may not know what they should or should not do when caring for a child.

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

Prior to moving children into the home, the registered manager considers children’s risks and vulnerabilities to determine whether the staff team can meet the child’s needs. When time pressures allow, children are provided with a positive and planned transition into the home. However, one child was moved out of the home immediately following an incident that resulted in the police being called. This meant that the child had to spend the night in police cells and had nowhere stable to move to afterwards. This was not in the best interests of the child.

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

The registered manager and staff team have not taken allegations from a child seriously. As the child made ‘comments’ regularly, this was considered by the registered manager and staff to be a challenging behaviour rather than a concern to be investigated. As a result, the child’s voice was not fully listened to, and the child was not reassured that action would be taken if they raised concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is dual registered to lead and manage this home and another home in the local area. The registered manager has the knowledge and experience to lead the home well. Staff say that they are well supported, and their ideas are valued by the management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are supported by a stable and caring staff team. The registered manager ensures that all staff benefit from regular supervision and team meetings to discuss staff well-being, development goals and the progress of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy a comprehensive training programme to help them understand child trauma and how to respond to children who are distressed. When children have more specific vulnerabilities, the registered manager identifies training for the team that is relevant to the child’s needs. This helps staff continue to learn and respond to each child in a way that works for the individual child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 4 The registered manager makes good use of internal and external oversight. The registered manager reviews and evaluates all incidents to determine patterns and trends and identify any action to be completed. This ensures that practice in the home is responsive to the changing needs of children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 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

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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments are relevant to the presenting needs of the child, and that identified strategies are followed.

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Requirement Due date

When incidents occur, the registered person must ensure that staff do not escalate the situation and that they do include all relevant details in the incident record. 10 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing 10 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 6 authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response;

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Requirement Due date

describe the measures which may be necessary to protect children following an allegation of abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

describe how and to whom staff are to report, without delay, any concern about abuse or neglect of a child. (Regulation 34 (2)(b)(d)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that appropriate procedures are followed when an allegation is made.

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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; and 10 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 7 help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that each child is provided with proactive key-work sessions that are planned based on children’s presenting needs and feelings.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that each child with a plan to move out of the home knows what their transition will look like and moves out in a planned way. 10 November 2025

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2830492 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Safety and Focused Care

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Andrew Seed Accountants, 54 Wood Street, Lytham St. Annes FY8 1QG

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Inspector

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Regular Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2830492 9 regulates 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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