Children's home run by Care 4 Every Child Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2679026 1 Registered provider: Care 4 Every Child Ltd

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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 owned by a private provider. The home provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 4 children were living at the home and 3 were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2025

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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: 2679026 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2025 Full Good 14/11/2023 Full Good 04/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2679026 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection period, two children moved out of the home and one child moved in. When children leave, the manager and staff support their transition and celebrate their time at the home. Staff create memory books that capture positive experiences and activities, helping support children’s identity as they move on. Staff encourage children to explore different faiths and participate in a range of extra-curricular activities, including work experience. Staff and children enjoy spending time together during special occasions, including holidays and opportunities to travel abroad.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with relevant professionals to support the educational needs of children. When barriers arise, the manager has sought specialist assessments to gain a clearer understanding of each child’s needs. For children who are not currently engaged in education, staff have used a variety of approaches to encourage participation. Staff remain persistent and creative, offering learning opportunities that link to independence skills. While planners are in place to support this, the recording of what has been offered and completed lacks detail.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff undertake key-work sessions with children. Staff capture children’s voices during these conversations, displaying a positive relationship between children and staff. Children’s meetings take place and key topics are discussed. However, they are happening irregularly, rather than weekly as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. This lack of consistency limits children’s opportunities to share their views and provide feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their family and people who are important to them. Leaders and staff have built positive relationships with professionals and connected people to children. These people provide positive feedback about the care offered to the children. One parent said, ‘My child is in the best place … they are a family; we all work in harmony to give my child the best care that they need.’

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

Staff provide good support to children who display self-injurious behaviours, and there has been a reduction in incidents. Staff know how to respond appropriately, including offering first aid when needed. Positive relationships between staff and children help children feel comfortable about sharing their needs. Staff ensure that children attend appointments with key professionals, which supports children’s wellbeing.

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

Children identify staff they could talk to if they wanted to make a complaint. Leaders often send personalised letters to children after complaints or incidents. However, the manager does not consistently record follow-up conversations with other children when concerns are raised. Further, actions taken in response to children’s feedback about staff are not always captured. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679026 4 Staff have developed positive relationships with children, and the use of physical intervention has reduced. Leaders and staff have reflected on practice to review interventions, consider how to create a positive environment for each child, and identify potential triggers for children’s behaviour. However, the outcome of this has not been incorporated into children’s plans. The manager speaks to children following being held, and staff receive debriefs. However, discussions with staff are generic and individual staff

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

responses are not consistently recorded. On one occasion, a staff member was involved in a restraint before receiving the required training.

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

When children go missing from care, staff know how to respond, including contacting relevant professionals and family to consider where children may be. There are missing- from-care protocols in place for children, and the management team ensures that return home interviews are requested. However, recording of incidents is not always clear, particularly regarding staff actions, such as when they returned to the home after searching and whether children were told that room searches had taken place. In one incident, the outcome of a key safeguarding meeting was not recorded, which limits understanding of agreed multi-agency actions to support the child.

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

Behaviour support plans for children include dates of incidents, which helps leaders identify patterns in behaviour and interventions with children. However, emerging risks for children and how children should be cared for, based on their assessed needs, are not always updated in plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and committed manager, with support from her assistant managers. The manager is moving to a new role in the company soon and there is a good transition plan in place to attempt to minimise the impact on children. The manager has a positive understanding of therapeutic support of children and is passionate about ensuring that staff work in this way with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders show a clear commitment to staff development. The team is generally well qualified, with staff achieving or working towards Level 5 and newer staff progressing towards their qualifications at the appropriate time. However, the statement of purpose is not kept up to date in relation to current staff qualifications or general information regarding staff. In addition, the staffing levels outlined in the statement of purpose and referral documents for children moving into the home suggest a higher ratio of staff to children than is provided in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home and feel supported by leaders. Staff receive training that is relevant to the children’s needs. However, some staff who have worked in the home for some time have not yet completed face-to-face first-aid training. The manager has a plan in place to prevent training gaps from occurring in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are several support systems in place for staff. The manager holds regular team meetings with staff that are reflective and consider the needs of children and the Inspection report for children’s home: 2679026 5 incidents that have occurred. Staff are encouraged to share ideas about how care and practice could be improved. Staff receive supervision which is generally of good quality and includes discussion about children, staff support needs and safeguarding scenarios. However, there have been some recent gaps in supervision due to staffing pressures, including staff covering shifts in other homes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679026 6

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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 (2)(a)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the statement of purpose is kept updated, including staff qualifications and the frequency of children’s meetings. Further, the registered person must ensure that the statement of purpose is clear about staffing levels in the home. The manager should have clear oversight of incidents, and ensure that records are accurate, complete and include conversations with children. The manager should ensure that staff receive consistent supervision and staff training is completed promptly. 23 March 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept and that these records should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. In particular, staff debriefs should be clear and staff should be trained before being involved in Inspection report for children’s home: 2679026 7 restraints. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Children’s plans, agreed between the home and the placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take

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Recommendations

to manage any assessed risk on a day-to-day basis and be regularly updated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2679026 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Every Child Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Allen Mills Howard & Co, Library Chambers, 48 Union Street, Hyde SK14 1ND

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela Hodgkinson

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Inspector

Lorna Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2679026 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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