Children's Home run by Care Care Limited in Wirral

Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 1 Registered provider: Care Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

A private provider operates this home. It provides care for up to 2 children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There were 2 children living at the home at the time of this inspection. The inspectors spent time with both children.

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Information about this children's home

There is no registered manager in post. This is the home's first inspection since it was registered in April 2026.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 2

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Summary of findings

Children are happy and settled in the home. One child is engaging well with their education. However, the leadership arrangements are unstable following the recent registered manager leaving the home.

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Summary of findings

Clear monitoring systems are not in place, and managers struggled to obtain all the children's documentation and their vital local authority documents were missing. Professionals and families spoke positively about the quality of relationships the staff have with the children.

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improvement to be good

Both children have recently moved into the home.

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improvement to be good

Care planning arrangements require improvement. One child moved into the home in an emergency. However, the registered manager completed the risk assessment after the child had already moved into the home. This does not demonstrate that all relevant information was fully considered, assessed and shared with staff prior to the child's arrival.

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improvement to be good

In addition, several key documents from the placing authority were not available within the home, including the child's personal education plan, care plan and medical assessment. It was not evident how the registered manager had escalated these missing documents to ensure that they were obtained in a timely manner.

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improvement to be good

Education provision has been variable. One child is engaging well in their education placement. However, there have been challenges in identifying a suitable educational placement for another child. Managers have not taken proactive steps to liaise with the local authority and relevant education professionals to secure appropriate educational provision. This is essential to ensure that the child receives the right support and has the best opportunity to successfully return to education in September.

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improvement to be good

The home is comfortable and personalised. Children were observed enjoying their games room. Warm and natural interactions were observed between staff and children. Staff are attentive to their needs and respond appropriately.

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improvement to be good

Professionals and families speak positively about the home. They spoke about how children are building relationships with staff. Staff ensure that they gather the wishes and feelings from the children. Regular key work is in place, which is meaningful. These are tailored to each child to help them Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 3 understand the dangers of going missing and to help them understand court-imposed conditions.

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improvement to be good

Children's individual hobbies and interests are well catered for. They enjoy a wide range of activities, such as football, trips to local parks, swimming and film nights. Staff understand the importance of family for children. Staff support children to maintain links with those who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice and risk management is not sufficiently robust. Although staff have a good understanding of children's vulnerabilities, potential risks and how to respond to safeguarding concerns, not all children have risk management plans that appropriately reflect their individual needs.

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improvement to be good

Incident management has been inconsistent. For example, one child was able to gain access to a window key and climb out of a bedroom window. Staff were unable to de- escalate the situation and required police assistance. In another incident, a child went missing from the home during the night, with staff only becoming aware of this the following morning. No reflective analysis was completed following this incident to identify learning or preventative actions.

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improvement to be good

Although leaders reported that door alarms had been sourced to strengthen safeguarding arrangements, these had not been installed at the time of the inspection. Furthermore, there have been subsequent similar incidents, and timely and effective action has not been taken to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

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improvement to be good

Recording and oversight of restraint practice also requires strengthening. Since the home opened, there has been one incident of physical restraint, which was necessary and proportionate to the circumstances. However, the debrief with the child was completed by a staff member directly involved in the restraint, and no staff debrief was recorded. Management oversight was only added during the inspection. A recommendation has been made to ensure that restraint records, debriefs and management monitoring are completed in line with good practice.

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improvement to be good

Staff generally respond well when children go missing. They actively search for children. However, records lack sufficient detail of all actions taken by staff.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment practices are followed. Staff are carefully monitored, and appropriate checks are carried out to ensure that unsuitable people are not recruited. This ensures that children are cared for by adults who can care for them safely.

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improvement to be good

Internet safety is appropriate, and regular phone checks and records are in place. All staff are suitably trained in internet safety. Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager has recently left the organisation, and the responsible individual has had a period out of the home due to personal circumstances. He is currently in the process of recruiting to the vacancy. Staff said they enjoy working in the home. Leaders demonstrate care and concern for the children and staff, and staff say they have felt well supported by him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Due to the instability, management arrangement systems are chaotic, and not all records could be located in the home. Children's plans and records do not contain all accurate information. Additionally, the plans are not always signed by an author or dated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The oversight, review and evaluation of incidents are poor. There is no reflection or robust evaluation of safeguarding incidents to improve staff practice and children's safety. Additionally, there have been times when there has been a delay reporting significant incidents to Ofsted. This means that the capacity of external agencies to monitor safeguards is reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff training matrix is not clear, accurate or effectively maintained. As a result, managers cannot readily demonstrate what training staff have completed or identify gaps in their knowledge and development. Furthermore, not all staff have completed training in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, substance misuse and therapeutic parenting, despite these being identified as important strategies within children's risk assessments and behaviour support plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Care planning and risk management arrangements are not consistently effective. Leaders and managers do not consistently review and update children's risk assessments, behaviour management plans and care plans. Consequently, these documents do not always reflect children's current needs, risks and circumstances. This means that staff are not always provided with clear, relevant and up-to-date guidance to support them in managing known risks and responding effectively to children's behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The absence of regular review and effective management oversight reduces the effectiveness of care planning and risk management arrangements. This does not ensure that strategies remain appropriate or that identified risks are consistently minimised. As a result, children and staff may be exposed to avoidable risks, and leadership arrangements do not demonstrate sufficiently robust monitoring of practice within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive regular supervision in line with the organisation's policy. This does not provide all staff with opportunities to reflect on their learning and development needs and practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 5 Regular team meetings take place. These are well attended, and there is a good level of discussion and information-sharing. Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 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 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

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; (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that there are risk management plans in place for all known risks for children. 28 August 2026

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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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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 28 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 7 and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that there is a consistent workforce in place, that there is clear management oversight across all records and that they have all the relevant training in line with children's needs.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child's placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child's relevant plans are followed; (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that there is full assessment completed when a child moves into the home and that all local authority documents are in place. 28 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children's home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and 28 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 8 the registered provider—

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that a suitable manager is appointed in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all children's records are dated and signed by the author. 28 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home's staff in response to the event. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 63, paragraph 14.13)  The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 9 soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident. This should be done by a person who was not involved in the restraint. Additionally, all staff should have the opportunity for a debrief. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards,' page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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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: 2870474 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 95 Greendale Road, Port Sunlight, Wirral CH62 4XE

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Inspectors

Sam Baird, Social Care Inspector Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2870474 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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