Children's Home run by Therapeutic Care Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 1 Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider and provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social or emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were 2 children living in the home and they both spoke with the inspector.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home and manager have been registered with Ofsted since November 2024.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/04/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 3

p.2

Summary of findings

Both children living in this home are making exceptional progress. The have excellent relationships with staff and enjoy positive daily experiences. The children say that they are very happy and settled and enjoy living in the home

p.3

Summary of findings

Staff keep the children safe by maintaining positive working relationships with external professionals and having an excellent understanding of the children’s needs. When there are safeguarding concerns for children living in the home, staff work very effectively to keep the children safe and reduce further risks.

p.3

Summary of findings

The home has an experienced manager who knows the home well and advocates effectively for the children. Family and external professionals speak extremely positively about the leadership and management of the home. Staff are provided with exceptional levels of support and access good-quality training to develop their skills.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are making exceptional progress in different areas of their lives. This is underpinned by the positive relationships they have formed with staff. Staff regularly go above and beyond to support children to achieve. Children say that they enjoy living in the home and get on well with the staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are creative in their support for children’s education and are responsive when there are barriers to attendance. Teachers comment on the high level of commitment and dedication that staff show. Staff advocated strongly for one child following a period of exclusion. This included helping education staff understand how the child’s previous experiences may be affecting their educational engagement. This resulted in a more understanding approach from education staff, and the child is now attending consistently and has also secured part-time employment. Staff’s support for children’s education is helping children to make excellent progress and they are now forming their plans for further education.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff help children understand and begin to heal from past trauma. The trusting relationships that children build with staff over time are central to this. Staff adopt a highly resilient approach, contain children’s behaviours, and offer unwavering and unconditional support for children. When there are challenges for children, which can also be difficult for staff to support, staff stick with children and do not give up on them. This gives children confidence in their attachments, enabling them to accept and benefit from the care staff provide them. One child has begun to engage in the therapeutic support available to them, having previously not been able to undertake this work. Their social worker stated that the staff played a key role in supporting the child to be able to do this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 4 Staff provide highly effective support to children with additional health needs. When one

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

child first moved in, staff met with the child’s school and other professionals to gain a comprehensive update on their needs. This ensured that staff had a thorough understanding of how to support these needs. Staff also access specialist training related to children’s individual health needs. They liaise effectively with relevant health professionals, providing care according to agreed health plans. This ensures that children with more complex needs remain safe, healthy and well cared for.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to learn the skills they will need to live independently. One child was offered high levels of support to move on from the home, with staff completing significant amounts of direct work to help them prepare for this. This included liaising with external professionals, undertaking visits to the child’s new home and working with the child’s family to ensure that the child had the best possible chance of success. For another child, there is a clear and achievable plan in place to support them to move on from the home. Staff support this plan by working closely with the child to learn new skills in areas that will support them to be ready to move on when the time for this arrives.

p.4

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

Staff provide highly effective support to children at risk of substance misuse, including those who may experience mental health challenges. Staff work closely with relevant practitioners in mental health and substance misuse services to address the risks and keep children safe. This helps children have a better understanding of risks of substance misuse, as well as seeking to address the underlying causes that may be leading to it. This approach has resulted in significant reductions in such incidents for children.

p.4

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

Staff support children who are at risk of criminalisation. One child was helped to stop offending behaviours, return to education and significantly reduce their substance misuse. This progress resulted in the child’s risk of becoming involved further in the criminal justice system significantly reducing, improving their future life chances. For another child, staff worked closely with local police officers to help the child understand the risks associated with their behaviours, arranging visits and focused discussions. This helped the child to better understand the risks and led to a reduction in behaviours that necessitated police intervention.

p.4

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

There have been some incidents of children being missing from home. Staff provide effective responses to these incidents. They follow agreed plans and work closely with agencies such as the police and social workers. Staff also work with children to help them understand the risks of such incidents, as well as exploring what may have led to them. This has created an environment where children now rarely go missing. When they have gone missing from home, they are located quickly by staff, helping children to be safer. Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 5 Staff help children understand expectations of behaviour. Children have not been needed to be held by staff to keep them or others safe. This is primarily due to their relationships with staff and the therapeutic approaches that are adopted within the home. Consequences are not routinely needed, but when they are they are reasonable and proportionate. This helps children reflect on and learn from any incidents that take

p.4

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

Staff have an excellent understanding of how to safeguard children, and they engage effectively with local authority child protection processes. Staff attend relevant safeguarding meetings and contribute by providing key information. This ensures that everyone involved in safeguarding children has a good understanding of what risks for children look like, and can agree on coordinated and clear responses to reduce these risks.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is led by an aspirational and highly committed manager. He is child centred and tenacious when advocating for children. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the support provided to them by managers, and children say that the manager and deputy manager are central to the support they receive. Managers build trusting and meaningful relationships with children and have excellent oversight of their care, striving to always to improve this.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager ensures that children’s views are understood clearly. They gather these views naturally in conversations, as well as through more formal consultations with children. These views are used to shape and influence effectively the care provided to children and help show children that they are listened to.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers are reflective on their own, and staff’s, practice. They have a good understanding of the strengths and areas of development of their staff. They have also undertaken work to consider their own management styles and how these affect how they support both staff and children. This self-reflection helps ensure that managers understand how they can seek to improve their own practice, and as a result improves the support they provide staff and the care that is provided to children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers build highly effective working relationships with children’s families and external professionals, who describe managers as approachable, dedicated and communicative. One family member described a child’s care as being ‘second to none’, and a social worker said that the home is ‘one of the best’ they have seen. Effective working relationships with others involved in children’s care help to ensure that children’s needs can be met through a collaborative approach.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers challenge effectively other agencies when needed, to help improve outcomes for children. For one child, this ensured a more effective police response after the manager identified how this could be more supportive of the child. They shared this with police, who reassessed their responses to incidents as a result. Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 6 Appropriate and professional challenge from the manager to external partners has resulted in improved outcomes for children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers provide highly effective support to staff. This includes regular reflective supervision sessions and team meetings. These provide regular opportunities for staff to reflect on children’s needs, how these are being met, and how they may be able to improve the care being provided to children. Staff are also provided with a comprehensive training programme. Within this, there is significant collaboration with therapeutic partners. This helps staff to understand and deliver emotionally attuned care, tailored to children’s individual needs. This support helps children to make significant progress and stay safe.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There were no requirements or recommendations made on this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 7

p.6

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: 2814022 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

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

p.8

Inspector

Jon Collins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2814022 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