Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures 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

A private company operates this home. It is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager has recently been appointed.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living in the home. Both children spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2025 Full good 09/07/2024 Full good 11/10/2023 Full requires improvement to be good 15/06/2022 Full requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 3

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Summary of findings

Staff build positive and trusting relationships with children and support them to make clear progress from their starting points. Staff actively promote children’s relationships with the people who are important to them, and feedback from parents and professionals about the quality of care provided is positive.

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Summary of findings

Staff encourage routines, shared experiences and positive social interaction within the home. They support children to access education and healthcare services and advocate for children to receive specialist support when needed.

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Summary of findings

Staff help children to keep safe, and professionals consistently describe children as well cared for. Staff understand children’s individual needs well and use regular key-work sessions to help children develop their understanding of risk and safety.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not always manage behaviour consistently or in a way that reflects children’s emotional needs. As a result, some consequences do not support children to learn or reflect on their behaviour effectively.

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Summary of findings

Staff have not been supported to manage incidents confidently, which resulted in avoidable police involvement on one occasion. Quality of care reviews are not sufficiently evaluative and do not effectively drive improvement in the home. A recently appointed manager has responded quickly to identified concerns and has begun to strengthen oversight and risk management.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build warm and trusting relationships with children and provide care that is tailored to their individual needs. Children have made clear progress from their starting points. They appear relaxed in the home and spend time comfortably with staff in communal areas. Staff encourage positive routines and shared experiences, including regular tech- free meals together. As a result, children’s social skills increase, along with their sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote children’s relationships with the people who are important to them. They supervise time spent with family and support children to maintain family connections in ways that are meaningful to them. For example, one child regularly plays online games with their sibling. Parents speak positively about the care staff provide to their children. They describe staff as caring and committed. They value the effort staff make to promote stability and security for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children access appropriate healthcare services and seek specialist support when required. However, one child’s bedroom is significantly cluttered and does not provide a calm or relaxing personal space. Although the need for support in this area Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 4 is outlined in the child’s care plan, strategies currently in place are ineffective. As a result, the child’s bedroom environment does not promote their comfort or wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s education with patience, persistence and creativity. One child has experienced barriers to school attendance. Staff continue to encourage attendance and provide reassurance during periods of anxiety. At times, some staff have adjusted their working arrangements to provide additional support during important stages of one child’s education. Children are proud of the progress they are making and speak positively about their achievements.

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

Children say they are safe living in the home and present as relaxed and comfortable in the company of staff. Parents and professionals consistently describe children as safe and well cared for. Staff build trusting relationships with children, which helps children to speak openly about their anxieties. For example, one child openly discusses barriers to school attendance with staff, and reassurance and support were provided to help them manage these worries.

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

Staff understand children’s known risks and vulnerabilities well. They review risk assessments and adapt support to reflect children’s changing needs. Staff use positive relationships and regular conversations with children to help them to develop their understanding of risk and make safer choices.

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

Children enjoy spending time with friends in the local community. Staff balance children’s growing independence with appropriate safeguards, including maintaining regular communication with children when they are away from the home. Children do not go missing from home.

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

Staff know children well and understand the approaches that help individual children to emotionally regulate. However, staff do not always work consistently as a team when managing behaviour. As a result, some consequences are not sufficiently restorative or reflective of children’s emotional needs.

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

Staff do not consistently demonstrate confidence when managing challenging behaviour. In one instance, the police were called out to support with behaviour management. However, staff took steps to support the child appropriately and the incident did not result in the child being criminalised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not consistently evaluate incidents well enough. They hold regular team meetings but do not use these effectively to promote reflection and learning for staff. Following an incident where staff sought police support to manage behaviour, leaders and managers did not identify clear learning or actions to improve future practice. As a result, staff do not always receive the guidance and support they need to manage challenging behaviour consistently. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 5 Leaders and managers do not maintain effective oversight of practice. Quality of care reviews do not consistently include the views of children, parents and professionals. Reviews are descriptive rather than evaluative. As a result, leaders and managers do not consistently identify shortfalls or set clear actions for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers ensure that children receive care from staff who know them well and understand their individual needs. Staff complete a wide range of mandatory and relevant training. They receive regular supervision that focuses on children’s experiences and progress. Leaders and managers advocate appropriately for children and maintain positive working relationships with relevant professionals and family members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not ensure that all staff receive training that reflects children’s emerging and individual needs. This limits opportunities for staff to develop consistent approaches in some areas of practice. Leaders and managers did not ensure that medication practices were appropriately risk assessed for all children. However, the newly appointed manager has immediately strengthened risk management arrangements and implemented additional oversight measures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the previous manager left the home, changes within the staff team have created additional pressures for staff and uncertainty for children. Leaders and managers have managed these changes appropriately and recruitment is ongoing. The newly appointed manager has identified areas for improvement quickly and has begun to strengthen monitoring and oversight systems. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that incidents in the home are evaluated fully and any learning from these is taken into consideration when making improvements to the care afforded to children. The manager must meet with the team regularly, ensuring that team meetings provide opportunity for staff to reflect on practice, learn from incidents and improve practice.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that staff work together effectively as a team. An appropriate behaviour management 2 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 7 procedure must be in place which sets out clear actions for staff to follow so that they are confident to de-escalate challenging behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers should ensure that children are supported to maintain bedrooms that are clean, organised and conducive to their emotional wellbeing. Effective support strategies should be reflected in children’s care plans. 2 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. 2 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 8 The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that quality of care reviews are evaluative, informed by the views of children, parents and professionals, and include clear action plans to drive improvement in the care provided to children.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community, and that children’s views on the given consequence are recorded. The registered person must ensure that children are not given consequences as a result of emotional barriers and ensure that only one consequence is given for each action. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2509381 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St Mary’s Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Bethany Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2509381 10 regulates and 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 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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