Children's Home run by Therapeutic Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 1 Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home. Both children spoke to the inspector.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/04/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Decisions about children moving into or out of the home are considered with their best interests in mind. Both children are settled and making progress from their individual starting points. Since the last inspection, staff have assisted one child in moving out of the home in line with their care plan, ensuring that they felt prepared and supported throughout the process. Staff have maintained a relationship with the child, demonstrating the strength of the relationships they build with children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager identified that they could no longer meet the needs of one child. The manager had not fully assessed or understood the child’s needs before the child moved in. The manager worked with the placing authority to ensure that the child’s needs were well understood. This supported the child in moving to a home better suited to their needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support children’s health and emotional wellbeing. They ensure that children are registered with relevant health services, and they make specialist referrals as necessary.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff consistently prioritise children’s education and demonstrate a clear understanding of the educational barriers they may encounter. They work proactively alongside external educational professionals to identify and address these challenges. When children are not in mainstream education, staff provide creative opportunities for learning and enrichment. This ensures that children receive support in accessing a wide range of learning opportunities that align with their interests, abilities and developmental needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively help and encourage children to maintain positive relationships with their families, who are welcome to visit the home. This approach helps children strengthen their sense of identity and belonging. One parent said, ‘The work they have done with [name of child] is incredible.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. Staff take time to listen to children and understand their experiences. As a result, children feel safe to express their views and wishes to the adults who care for them. One child said, ‘They treated me like their own child.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and is a safe environment for children. Children personalise their bedrooms according to their interests. Children can have pets of their choice and are encouraged to care for them. This helps children build independence skills and learn and develop responsibility skills. It also gives them a sense of belonging. Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 4

p.3

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

Children are kept safe by staff who are attuned to their needs and understand their strengths and vulnerabilities. Staff regularly talk to children about important topics, including risks associated with vaping, drugs and alcohol. Staff approach these conversations with curiosity and use relevant resources and training tools to support engagement. This helps children make informed choices and understand the potential risks.

p.4

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

When incidents occur, staff encourage children to reflect and adopt restorative approaches. This helps children take responsibility, consider better ways to manage situations in the future and repair relationships. There are currently risks regarding criminal exploitation. The manager shares information with relevant agencies to try and keep the child safe.

p.4

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

The manager ensures that risk management plans for children are in place and are regularly reviewed. The plans identify relevant risks; however, guidance for staff on how to manage these risks is not always clear.

p.4

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

There are detailed missing-from-home protocols in place, which guide staff practice when children go missing. However, on one occasion, staff did not follow the child or search the local area, and there was a delay in reporting the child as missing to the relevant agency. This limited the staff’s ability to ensure the child’s safety.

p.4

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

There have been two occasions when a child has been held to keep them safe. This intervention was reasonable and used for the minimum time necessary. There was effective management oversight, which included discussions with the staff involved and the child.

p.4

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

There are safer recruitment processes in place. However, they are not always consistently implemented. Applicants’ employment histories are not consistently recorded with specific dates, and information shared in references is not sufficiently followed up on. This limits the manager’s ability to demonstrate that all appropriate enquiries have been made to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced, child focused and has high expectations of the staff. One member of staff said, ‘The manager empowers us to take ownership of the care we provide, which enables us to make confident, informed decisions in the best interests of the young people we support.’

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have been recruited from various backgrounds, with some staff having experience and being qualified in childcare. New members of staff complete an induction before being enrolled to attain a recognised childcare qualification. Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 5 Staff have access to a wide range of training opportunities. The manager is committed to developing staff’s knowledge through tailored learning that reflects the specific needs of the children. This approach ensures that staff are equipped with the skills and confidence to respond to children effectively. In addition, staff benefit from consultation with the organisation’s therapeutic services, which strengthens their understanding of children’s emotional and developmental needs.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and appraisals to support their professional development. Supervision provides an opportunity for staff to discuss children’s needs and progress, as well as their own training and development needs.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place monthly and are a forum for staff to share information, discuss children’s needs and reflect on practice. This helps ensure that children receive consistent and well-coordinated care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager welcomes the independent scrutiny of the home. The independent person visits the home monthly, and any recommendations for improvement are addressed. The manager has systems in place to track and review children’s progress, as well as monitor key aspects of the home. This ensures that staff practice is consistently monitored and areas for development are identified and swiftly addressed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.6

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff understand their responsibilities when children are missing.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that reactive strategies for managing children’s behaviours are clearly outlined in risk management plans and behaviour support plans to inform staff practice. 2 April 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only—

p.6

Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or 16 April 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 7 if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

p.7

Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

p.7

Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

p.7

Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that recruitment processes are safe. They must ensure that staff’s full employment histories are obtained and scrutinised and that evidence of this is recorded.

p.7

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that care planning and matching arrangements are robust so that the home can fully assess whether it can meet a child’s needs before they move in. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

p.7

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: 2743583 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Errigal House, Avroe Crescent, Blackpool FY4 2DP

p.8

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Joanne Whitehead

p.8

Inspector

Shauna Morley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2743583 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9