Children's home run by Continuum Support - Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2638202 1 Registered provider: Continuum Support – Care 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 managed by a private provider. The home may only provide accommodation for one child, who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, the home was caring for one child. The inspector sought the views of the child during the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2638202 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/07/2023 Full Good 10/05/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2638202 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience positive moves in and out of the home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home. Staff supported the child to visit their new home and completed direct work sessions to support them in understanding the child's wishes and feelings specific to their move. When the child shared feelings of anxiety about leaving staff, staff supported them to be prepared to move out and helped to create a leaving home basket.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensured that the child currently living in the home had a positive transition moving into the home. They undertook direct work with the child to explore their wishes and feelings relating to their move. They spoke with the child about the personalisation of their bedroom. Staff and the manager accommodated the timing of the child's move at the request of the child, who moved into the home following a visit to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is registered with health services, such as a GP, dentist and opticians. The manager and staff have regularly engaged with professionals, such as child and adolescent mental health services, to ensure that the child's emotional health needs are prioritised. Staff have supported the child to access crisis intervention from health services on one occasion. They have worked collaboratively with out-of-area health services to widen their knowledge of the additional health needs of the child, which has supported them in providing specialist and sensitive care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the barriers to education for the child and regularly communicate with education services to pursue and secure an alternate educational placement. They have communicated with school to review any alternate ways of learning for the child, such as online provision. However, staff do not promote good sleep routines in the home and there is a lack of engagement with online educational activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is clean and tidy. However, there are repairs required, particularly to the upstairs of the property. There is damage to doors, boarded up windows, a boarded up shed, broken tiles and repairs required in the bathroom. There has been a period when the child has had to live in another home temporarily while repairs and damage to the home have been rectified. However, there remains a lack of effective systems in place by senior leaders to quickly remedy any repairs or damage to the home.

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

The child feels safe and protected. There are appropriate procedures in place to support staff to manage any risks which may occur. Risk assessments are reviewed monthly and provide clear steps for staff to follow should concerns arise. Each risk assessment is categorised by significance, clearly indicating any known triggers of behaviour. Staff Inspection report for children's home: 2638202 4 engage external professionals when managing risks, such as police community support officers and child and adolescent mental health services.

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

Staff use a variety of techniques to manage the child's behaviours, such as using a calm voice, offering distractions and providing them with space. Behaviour support plans are regularly reviewed by staff and debriefs are provided to the child and staff following any incident. The manager evaluates each incident to look for any learning. However, there has been an instance where the child reported to the police that they were unhappy with staff, which was not further explored with the child at the time.

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

When there have been incidents where a previous child living in the home was missing from home, staff took appropriate action. They followed the missing-from-home care plan in place and tried to locate the child, as well as contacting professionals, the child's family and friends. This resulted in the safe return of the child.

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

There have not been any physical interventions since the last inspection. However, the manager did take action following the last inspection to ensure that staff were spoken to about the clear recording of physical incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a consistent and stable staffing team in place, who know the child well. Staff speak positively about their roles and enjoy working in the home. They report that the manager and leadership team are supportive and value an open learning culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have effective processes in place to ensure that staff are suitably vetted and qualified to work with children and families. The manager and senior leaders ensure that all checks are completed prior to the commencement of employment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide variety of training. The manager has effective systems in place to track and record staff's progress. Staff have completed training in line with the home's statement of purpose, such as first aid, safeguarding and health and safety. They have also participated in additional training, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, child sexual exploitation and radicalisation, and have completed training specific to the child's needs, such as grief and loss.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are held regularly and are well attended by staff. They provide an opportunity for staff engagement and discuss a variety of topics that are specific to the child's care needs. Team meetings provide an opportunity to reflect on the care provided to the child and the home's strengths and weaknesses, which give staff opportunities to review the way they are working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which is practice focused on the child's needs and experiences as well as the training and development of staff. The manager and leaders consider the emotional wellbeing of staff and their welfare. The manager and leaders have effective recording systems in place for each supervision, which are easily accessible for staff. Inspection report for children's home: 2638202 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b)) 30 April 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the ethos of the home supports each child to learn, emphasising the value of independent study and reading for enjoyment. The home must make available suitable facilities, equipment and resources for learning and ensure that the home's routines do not form barriers to children wishing to use the home's resources to study. Specifically, consistency in sleep routines should be introduced and maintained each day. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 29, paragraph 5.18)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when the child has shared concerns about staff to external agencies, this is acknowledged and followed up with the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 54, paragraph 10.23)

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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: 2638202 6

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Continuum Support – Care Services Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair Accounting Co Ltd, 300 St. Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Vicky Byron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2638202 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 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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