Children's home run by Care Today (Childrens Services) Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2672559 1 Registered provider: Care Today (Children's 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

The home is run by a private provider. It offers care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There was one child living in the home at the time of the inspection. Two children have moved out of the home since the last inspection. Inspectors spoke to 2 children.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 2672559 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2024 Full Good 12/12/2023 Full Good 04/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2672559 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled living in the home and make good progress. Children have positive relationships with staff, who speak with affection and pride about the children they care for. Staff treat children with dignity and respect. Children share their views, which are listened to and acted on by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their relationships with family and friends. Staff have travelled with children and stayed overnight to ensure that family time takes place in a safe way. Children enjoy positive time with significant people in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's attendance at school is excellent. There is effective joint working with the school when concerns or challenges arise. Staff actively encourage children's participation in extra-curricular activities. As a result, one child has developed increased confidence and successfully took on a leading role in the school production.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend routine health appointments. Staff act to secure specialist support, such as counselling services, when required. Staff also use their positive relationships with children to have open and honest discussions about their feelings and emotional well- being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children's independence and individual interests, helping to build their confidence and self-esteem. One child is preparing to attend college and wants to become more independent at home and in the community. Staff are working alongside the child to develop these skills safely in a planned and well-supported way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have moved out of the home since the last full inspection. These moves were planned and completed at each child's pace. However, managers do not ensure that children receive the right levels of support when children move into the home. Individual risks for children are not consistently considered alongside the risks of the child already living in the home.

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

Staff ensure that they take action to keep children safe. When children go missing from the home, staff follow the protocols in place. Staff work closely with the police to take action to protect children and support them to return home. The manager challenges other services when they do not provide children with an independent visit after missing- from-care incidents.

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

When children raise concerns about professionals, staff respond quickly and inform relevant professionals, including the local authority designated officer and social workers. Where relationships between children and staff have been strained, children say that the manager provides support and guidance to help resolve the concern. Inspection report for children's home: 2672559 4 Staff understand children's behaviours and celebrate children's successes. When negative consequences are needed, these are talked through with the child and, where appropriate, a restorative approach is used. The whole staff team contributes to evaluating how effective these consequences are.

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

Staff are alert to children's risks and respond promptly when any welfare concerns arise. However, risk management plans are not consistently in place for all relevant activities. The plans that do exist do not always provide clear, current strategies for managing each child's individual behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is experienced and understands children's needs. He speaks warmly about the children and is proud of the progress they make. Systems are in place for the manager to monitor records and incidents. However, his evaluations are not consistently recorded to demonstrate his oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are development plans in place to improve the building and ensure staff development. However, the plan does not include clear, specific and measurable targets or how the manager will have oversight of the improvements required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a consistent and stable staff team in place who know the children well. Staff have either achieved the required qualification or are progressing towards it. They also have access to a broad range of training to support them in their roles. However, some staff have not completed refresher training specifically related to safeguarding and self-harm, despite this being essential to be able to meet the individual needs of the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff meetings are held regularly and are well attended, providing opportunities to share information about children. However, there is insufficient focus on critical matters, such as incidents, behaviour patterns and children's emotional wellbeing. As a result, learning from incidents is not consistently embedded into practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager provides staff with regular supervision and annual appraisals. This gives staff the opportunity to discuss the children, reflect on their practice and explore their own development needs. However, the manager has not received supervision on a regular basis. As a result, he does not have consistent opportunities to reflect on his own practice or ensure that any learning or development needs are identified and addressed. Inspection report for children's home: 2672559 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the manager and staff receive good-quality, focused one-to-one supervision. 18 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff are up to date with their training, specifically in relation to safeguarding and self-harm training.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that incidents are evaluated with scrutiny, taking into consideration any possible learning outcomes or to support the development of staff. This learning must be appropriately shared with staff. 18 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2672559 6 The registered person must ensure that the development plans contain clear, specific and measurable targets in order to demonstrate how continuous improvement will be achieved.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child's welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that risk management strategies are clearly defined and appropriately assessed for current levels of risk. 18 March 2026

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to move into the home with the best possible planning under the circumstances and timeframes available. 18 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2672559 7 The registered person must consider the individual risks and impact of each child living in the home.

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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: 2672559 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Care Today (Childrens Services) Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Care Today Childrens Services, 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport SK2 6LR

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Inspectors

Samantha Cooper, Social Care Inspector Dave Carrigan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2672559 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 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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