Children's home run by Safety and Focused Care

Inspection report for children's home: 2728682 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and Ofsted is currently checking this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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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: 14 January 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: 2728682 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2025 27/11/2023 Full Full Good Good Inspection report for children's home: 2728682 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved from the home and one child has recently moved in. Children are supported to move into and on from the home in a planned way. When children have moved out due to their care needs increasing, this has been in the best interest of the child and staff maintain contact with them. One child who has now moved into semi-independence said, 'I know staff cared about me and I would go back any day if I could.'

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to go on holiday, including with their family to help create long-lasting memories. Activities are promoted by staff inside and outside of the home. This supports the children's social development and helps them to improve their confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children's education. When children are not in education, managers and staff explore alternative educational activities. They work closely with education providers and strongly advocate for children to receive assessments and education that meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with people who are important to them. Staff have developed positive relationships with children's family members. One family member of a child who no longer lives at the home said 'everything was amazing and staff went above and beyond'.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean and well maintained. However, locks on external doors limit children being able to access the outdoor area at all times. The manager took swift action during the inspection and the locks were changed.

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

Safeguarding incidents are dealt with effectively by managers and staff. Children's care and risk management plans are clear and detailed. These set out children's known behaviours and provide staff with guidance on how to keep children safe.

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

Managers share information appropriately with others. When there are concerns about staff practice, managers ask for a review of their safeguarding practices by the local authority designated officer. This transparency means that there is independent oversight of an already well-organised safeguarding process to keep children safe.

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

A number of serious incidents have been notified to Ofsted in this inspection period. The recordings are detailed. However, on 2 occasions, there were shortfalls in the manager's oversight. This had no impact on the child as information was located in other recording systems. Inspection report for children's home: 2728682 4 When children go missing from the home, staff work proactively by looking for the child and work alongside the child's family and the police to ensure their safe return. After each incident, children are spoken to by an independent person to seek their views on why they went missing from home. The manager has clear oversight and there is good communication with the children's social workers. However, not all serious incidents have been notified to Ofsted as required by regulation.

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

Children are only physically held when it is necessary to keep them or others safe. Debriefs are undertaken with the children and staff.

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

The staff actively encourage children to develop their independence skills. Staff support older children to take manageable risks, such as having driving lessons and spending time out of the home.

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

Staff hold important conversations with children about risks they may be exposed to. They discuss topics such as substance misuse, healthy relationships and risks associated when missing from home. This helps children to develop their understanding and awareness of risks.

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

The children are provided with a children's guide to ensure that they have information relating to their home. However, information is not included on surveillance and monitoring in the home. This does not ensure that children are aware of the additional safeguards that may be in place and the support available to them.

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

Safer recruitment checks are completed for all new employees. This ensures that the staff employed by the home are safe to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is caring, children centred and enthusiastic. She manages another home in close proximity. Since the last inspection, there have been changes to the management structure and there is a new responsible individual. Together with the manager, they maintain clear oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place on a regular basis to give staff an opportunity to come together and share their skills and knowledge. Staffing in the home remains stable and staff say that they feel supported by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong learning culture, and the manager and staff are constantly striving to develop practice in the home. Staff value the training opportunities they are provided and feel that they give them confidence in their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular, reflective supervision sessions. However, the manager has not always followed their own policy on supervising their own family member. This does not support the home's strong safeguarding ethos. Inspection report for children's home: 2728682 5 Room searches are undertaken to ensure that children are safeguarded appropriately. However, children have not always been informed before a search takes place, in line with the home's policy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has completed quality of care reports to review children's experiences. However, the opinions of children, professionals, family and staff are not considered in the report. This reduces opportunities to ensure that the feedback is being used to develop practice in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2728682 6

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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 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; and

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they have robust oversight of the care provided and incident reports reflect all action undertaken. 30 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children's home's premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child's privacy or access to any area of the home's premises—

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Requirement Due date

Is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

Is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 30 April 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2728682 7 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that any external doors that can be locked are risk assessed.

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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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered manager must ensure that the home's policy of supervising family members is adhered to. 30 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 30 April 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that the quality of care review clearly identifies how the views of children, families, staff and other professionals have been sought and used to evaluate the outcomes and improvements for children. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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Recommendations

 A child's bedroom should not be entered without their permission. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there is reasonable grounds, but the child's views should be sought after the search. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 16 paragraph 3.20)

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Recommendations

 The children's guide must help children to understand what the day-to-day routines of the home are and include surveillance and monitoring. ('Guide to the Children's Home Regulations, including the quality standards', page 24, paragraph 4.22)

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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: 2728682 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

Michelle Snape, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2728682 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 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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