Children's home run by Identity Care

Inspection report for children’s home: 2842616 1 Registered provider: Identity Care 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 operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025. This is the first inspection since registration.

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Information about this children’s home

During this inspection period, one child moved into the home and one child moved out. At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home. The inspector spoke with the child 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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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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: 2842616 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create a warm, homely environment for children. Professionals describe the home as having a ‘family feel’, which helps children relax and feel comfortable. Children are settled in the home and are supported in building positive, trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are excellent plans in place for children moving into and out of the home. The manager carefully considers the needs of each child alongside the skills and experience of the staff team. The manager ensures that they speak to the children’s network, share the home’s information and meet with the child before they move into the home. Staff arrange activities and visits so that children can get to know staff before moving into the home. This helps children build familiarity with the home and staff before moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s statutory care plans are not always obtained at the time of moving in. This does not ensure that the manager or staff are providing care to the children in line with their local authority plans. The manager has recognised this shortfall and has clear escalation processes in place to obtain the required documentation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager works effectively with social workers and virtual school heads to secure suitable education and the support children need to succeed. As a result, one child has secured an apprenticeship. Staff work with education providers to ensure children have the right support in place and use incentives to encourage engagement. Staff support children to develop a curriculum vitae to help them seek employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote children’s views and wishes. They support children to complete an ‘understanding me’ form when they move into the home and gather their views through regular ‘your voice matters’ conversations. Children are also encouraged to share their views before meetings about their care. This helps children express their views in their own words and contribute to decisions about their care, resulting in them feeling listened to and understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy various activities, such as boxing, football, gym, theme parks, concerts and spa days. This will help children form hobbies around their interests and enable them to build social skills and form friendships in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s identity, including their religious and cultural needs. This helps children maintain a sense of self and their connection to family and faith.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the importance of family for children and support them in building and maintaining family connections. Staff facilitate regular family time for children. One professional expressed, ‘This has enabled [name of child] to celebrate special events with their family and still feel and be part of their family.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2842616 3

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

The manager ensures that staff receive training that is tailored to the specific needs of the children. As a result, staff understand the children’s individual risks and strategies to support them. The children’s risks are documented in risk assessment plans that guide and support staff to prevent and reduce risks.

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

Significant incidents are managed well, and staff respond to children appropriately and with sensitivity. However, on one occasion, staff lacked confidence in managing a child’s behaviour and avoided implementing the home’s rules and boundaries. This led to delays in completing room searches when a child was suspected of possessing substances.

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

Staff complete follow ‑ up work with children after incidents, helping them identify risks and understand consequences. However, incident reports do not always provide a full and accurate account of what has taken place, as staff do not consistently record how incidents escalated or give the full details of their responses. This does not provide those who are informed by incident reports with a clear understanding of what has taken place.

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

The manager and staff work with specialist agencies and professionals to ensure that children receive support with issues such as substance misuse, youth offending services and child criminal exploitation services. Staff encourage children’s engagement with specialist services. As a result, children have access to the support they need.

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

The manager investigates concerns about staff conduct thoroughly, and appropriate actions are taken to address concerns. The manager seeks guidance from relevant professionals to ensure that decisions lead to the right outcomes and contribute to improved staff practice.

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

Staff understand each child’s missing-from-home plan and follow it. When children go missing, staff remain in contact with them and encourage them to return home. Staff search places that the child is known to go and make contact with family and friends. This lets children know that staff care about their safety. The manager and staff work with children’s networks to ensure robust plans and safety measures are in place to reduce children going missing from home. When children return home, staff welcome them and ensure that they are safe and well.

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

Children are registered with key health care professionals and are supported to attend their appointments. When medication is prescribed, this is logged and appropriately administered. However, when medication is no longer in use, staff fail to return it to the pharmacy as expected. Inspection report for children’s home: 2842616 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is motivated to achieve positive outcomes for children. The manager leads by example and has high expectations for the children, staff, and themselves. Staff describe the manager as supportive and approachable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses effective monitoring tools, including monthly audits and weekly task lists, to maintain effective oversight of the home. The manager is also supported through reflective supervision with senior managers. This supports the manager to identify areas of development and ensures that the home operates in line with regulatory requirements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers follow safer recruitment procedures. This means that staff are fully checked before they can provide care to children. New starters are supported to develop the skills and knowledge they need through clear and structured induction programmes. Staff describe the induction as ‘helpful and informative’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality supervision. Supervision sessions are supportive and focus on reflective practice, staff development, guidance on supporting children and expectations of their role and practice. Staff report that they feel supported by the manager and enjoy working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place monthly and are well attended. They are used to prepare staff for new admissions to the home, ensure that staff understand and work to children’s individual risk assessments, and ensure that staff work to the home’s expectations. This ensures that staff are well informed and promotes collaborative working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff communicate effectively with the child’s networks. Professionals report that the manager and staff maintain open communication, keeping them fully updated. This enables the child’s network to work collaboratively and respond proactively to the child’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2842616 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 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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(vi)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that staff implement the children’s day-to-day routines and maintain the home’s rules and boundaries in line with the children’s plans. 31 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2842616 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child and those informed by it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements to dispose of any medication no longer being administered. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: 2842616 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Official Receivers Office, Seneca House, Links Point, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 2FF

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Inspector

Renée Sims, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2842616 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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