Children's Home run by Care Today (Childrens Services) Ltd in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2625182 1 Registered provider: Care Today (Childrens Services) 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 children’s home is operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2625182 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/05/2024 Full Good 06/09/2023 Full Good 07/09/2022 Full Good 26/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2625182 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children spoke with the inspector as part of the inspection. One child has moved into the home since the last inspection and the move was well planned. Staff supported the child and made them feel welcome. This helped the child to settle quickly and feel at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have positive experiences and make progress. They develop positive relationships and provide consistency and stability for children. Both children have lived at the home for over 12 months and have made good progress in the important areas of their life. One of the children told the inspector that staff are brilliant and they rated their experience of living at the home as 10 out of 10.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with a range of health services to promote their physical and emotional wellbeing. They attend their routine health appointments with good support and encouragement from staff. The arrangements for the storage and administration of children’s medication are safe and effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in education and to overcome any barriers to their learning. Staff and the manager work closely with education professionals to keep children motivated. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points and are provided with opportunities to learn.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are effective at improving and sustaining relationships between children and members of their families, even when there are challenges with this. This means that children experience greater opportunities to sustain important relationships and attachments with those significant to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff undertake regular key-work sessions with children and there are further opportunities for children to express their wishes and feelings at children’s meetings. As a result, children contribute to their daily care and the running of the home.

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

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding thresholds and processes. They understand their responsibilities and the action they need to take to keep children safe.

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

Children have detailed individual risk assessments. These are regularly reviewed and updated. They provide staff with clear information about the risks to children and how staff should respond. Recording processes are good and evidence the action taken and the follow-up work completed to help children learn to keep themselves safe.

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

When children are missing from the home, staff take appropriate action to locate them and ensure that they return home safely. Children are provided with an opportunity to Inspection report for children’s home: 2625182 4 speak with an independent person following missing-from-home episodes. Information is shared appropriately and is used to manage and prevent further episodes of children going missing.

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

Physical intervention is sometimes used to prevent children from harming themselves or others. Staff use a range of strategies to try to de-escalate incidents before physical intervention is used. However, on one occasion, after a physical intervention was carried out, the recorded account lacked sufficient detail about the reason for the intervention, the specific hold used and the appropriateness of the actions taken. This shortfall in record-keeping means it is not possible to determine whether the intervention was carried out safely and in line with regulation.

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

Children are supported to understand how their behaviour can impact on themselves and others. Staff use a range of resources and have regular targeted key-worker sessions to further underpin children’s understanding. Key-worker sessions provide an opportunity to analyse and reflect on children’s progress and ongoing needs.

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

Children are protected by the organisation’s safer recruitment practices. Staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These procedures promote children’s safety by helping to prevent unsuitable adults from working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. He is passionate about his role and aspires for children to achieve success in their lives. These beliefs and values are shared with staff, who work together to create a positive environment for children to live in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions are regular and of good quality. These help staff to generate ideas and to reflect on their practice. New staff are supported through an effective induction process. This ensures that children receive good-quality care from well-informed staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good access to training opportunities to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills they need to care for children effectively. All staff are qualified or are working towards gaining the level 3 diploma in residential childcare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager holds monthly meetings with the staff. These meetings consider the individual needs of the children and provide staff with the opportunity to learn from each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager builds collaborative working relationships with partner agencies. This helps to ensure that children receive a strong, focused multi-agency response to meet their specific needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2625182 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

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

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. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that recording of physical restraints is accurate. 17 February 2026

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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: 2625182 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Today (Childrens Services) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd, Floor Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Liam Fitzpatrick

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Inspector

Dave Carrigan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2625182 7 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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