Children's Home run by Quality Protects Children Ltd in Knowsley

Unique reference number SC405448 Inspection date 16/10/2013 Inspector Alicea Churchward Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 09/01/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Brief description of the service

This home is registered to care for five children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is run by a private company.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides a high standard of personalised, well-planned care, taking full account of the individual needs of each of the young people, and promoting positive outcomes for all young people. Young people are making good progress in all aspects of their welfare and excellent progress in outcomes is being achieved. Young people report favourably about the quality of their care. They have good relationships with the staff in the home who work hard to sustain positive relationships with the young people in a well-managed nurturing environment. There is no doubt that this has had a positive impact upon the young people living in this home. When asked what was good about the home young people say ‘everything’ but do say ‘paint our whole house.’ Independent reviewing officers and placing social workers also report favourably about the home and all said that they would recommend this home to other local

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Overall effectiveness

authorities and report a ‘great area of improvement’ in reducing episodes of missing from care. Areas for further development include ensuring that independent visitor reports on the conduct of the home are sent to Ofsted and the Registered Manager of the home. Also redecorate the home where necessary.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) supply a copy of the Regulation 33 reports to HMCI and the Registered Manager of the children’s home. (Regulation 33 (5)(a)(b)) 29/11/2013

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure that the home is decorated where necessary. (NMS 10.3)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have made exceptional progress to develop a positive self-view, emotional resilience and knowledge. Regular therapy sessions are undertaken in conjunction with key worker sessions, in which the young people fully participate. These combined give young people an excellent understanding of their background. Young people enjoy good health, including good physical, emotional and psychological health. Young people understand the importance of healthy lifestyles. They are encouraged by the staff, who provide positive role models to young people, to take responsibility for their own health. Young people are involved in choosing, budgeting and preparing meals in line with their age and development and say, ‘I like the way I get to cook my own food and when staff take us for a meal.’ All young people benefit from detailed health plans; all medical appointments are up to date and the outcomes are recorded well.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have exceptionally good attendance at school. The educational achievement of children and young people is excellent, taking into account both their attainment and their progress from their starting point at the time of placement. The home has excellent communication with schools to ensure consistency for the young people. Young people benefit from staff attending any events at the school, such as parents evening; this is good because young children and young people see that staff care and celebrate their achievements. Key worker sessions regularly take place to enable young people talk about aspects of their care and behaviour; this provides young people with another forum in which they can discuss any matters affecting them. Regular consultation also takes place in the house meetings where young people are encouraged to make a positive contribution to their home. The staff support young people very well to maintain positive and healthy

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Outcomes for children and young people

relationships with family members, friends and other people important to them, if appropriate to do so. Contact with friends is encouraged and they are invited to the home. The home is suitable for young people to meet their visitors privately.

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Quality of care

Young people are doing very well in a stable, nurturing and supportive environment. They have achieved placement stability. Staff and managers demonstrate a clear commitment to young people; sound relationships are established and maintained. Young people and staff have appropriate relationships, positive interactions, and are clearly very relaxed in each other’s company. Young people say, ‘I love the staff, they are like my family too.’ Staff and managers place the well-being of individual young people at the centre of their practice within the home, irrespective of the challenges they present, and their achievements are celebrated. Young people are encouraged to behave and interact well with each other. Individual behaviour management plans and risk assessments effectively inform staff about strategies to use when managing behaviour. Young people benefit from consistent boundaries implemented by the staff as a result.

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Quality of care

Young people are consulted about routine matters and all aspects of their care. Key workers plan and prepare young people for their statutory reviews. Young people attend their reviews and say that their views and wishes are listened to and acted upon. Young people know who their Independent Reviewing Officers are and that they can speak with them about their care in the home. Young people are involved and appropriately consulted about their lives. Young people understand how to make a complaint. There is a lot of good information both in the home and the children's guide about how to make a complaint, including contact details for the Children's Rights Director. Complaints are dealt with swiftly and the home maintains records of any complaints. The home has had one complaint since the time of the last inspection that has been dealt with appropriately. Young people can identify an adult they can speak to if they have any

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Quality of care

worries or concerns. Young people benefit from detailed individual placement plans that are tailored to meet their needs, and they have been involved in revising and piloting this document. The plans give a full overview of individual care arrangements, including any needs arising from culture, gender and religion. They have access to routine and specialist healthcare professionals to meet their physical, emotional and psychological health needs. Medication is managed well and this is good because it safeguards young people. Young people are actively and positively involved in activities in the community to develop interests, abilities skills and this further enhances individual confidence and self-esteem. These include arts and crafts in the home, attending the gym and meeting with friends in the local area. They also have had day trips out which young people say they enjoyed. The home has good relations with the neighbours. It is appropriately located and

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Quality of care

designed; both the interior and exterior of the home including the gardens are maintained. The home has had a new kitchen fitted. Young people have had new bedroom furniture; the rooms are personalised and clean. Numbers that were on young people's bedroom doors have been removed as recommended at the time of the last inspection. Communal areas such as the hallways look tired and would benefit from redecoration but overall the home provides a homely, warm welcoming environment where young people benefit from access to good facilities.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people report feeling safe and protected by the staff in the home. Young people say ‘it’s a safe place to live… we are like a family and everyone gets on well with a positive attitude.’ All staff have undertaken good training in safeguarding to ensure that they are aware of how to respond to any allegations or suspected abuse. The staff were able to identify what action they must take if they were concerned about any aspect of young people's welfare and are conversant in the home's safeguarding and whistle blowing procedures. Individual risk assessments are in place which are effectively managed and reviewed. This ensures that young people are protected while enabling them, as appropriate to their age, to take reasonable risks as part of their growth and development. Young people live in a safe home and report that there is no bullying in the home. Work is undertaken with the young people to assist them to understand the effects

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Safeguarding children and young people

and impact of associated behaviours. There are few instances of young people going missing and these are been dealt with appropriately to ensure that young people’s welfare is safeguarded. The home has agreed protocols with the local police and the staff know what to do if young people are missing. Positive and proactive behaviour management strategies are consistently applied and physical restraint is used, if at all, only in the most exceptional of circumstances. The use of restraint has reduced significantly and the strategies employed by staff to de- escalate and diffuse behaviour are working well. The Registered Manager regularly monitors the use and incidence of restraint, and takes appropriate action as a result to reduce its use wherever possible. The home maintains excellent records of all restraints and sanctions. Young people say that the rules are fair and have agreed a set of rules with the staff.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The recruitment and selection of staff working in the home is robust and thorough ensuring the continued protection of the young people. The staff are vigilant when managing visitors and take appropriate steps to verify visitor’s identity to protect the young people. The homes safety procedures and management of risk assessments ensures that children and young people live in a safe environment. No hazards were identified during the course of this inspection visit.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

Young people and staff benefit from effective and efficient management through the leadership of the Registered Manager. At the last inspection one requirement was made which has not been fully addressed in relation to the independent visitor reports being sent to Ofsted in a timely way. At the time of this visit the recent reports have not been sent to Ofsted since July 2013 and the visit conducted in August 2013 has not been sent to the home. A requirement has been made. This is impacting upon this area of inspection judgement but is no reflection on the Registered Manager who demonstrates a strong commitment to continuing improvement. Both she and the staff are proactive and committed to ensuring the best possible outcomes for the young people in their care. The managers stimulate the enthusiasm of staff and channel their efforts effectively. The children’s guide contains good information on how a young people can secure

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Leadership and management

access to an independent advocate. The guide includes a summary of what the home sets out to do for children and young people very well and is provided to them upon admission to the home. The statement of purpose provides all the relevant information about the running of the home required by parents and placing authorities. The Registered Manager also makes effective use of all feedback from placing social workers, parents, and young people to improve the quality of care. This informs the development plan for the home. The Registered Manager ensures that planning is founded on robust evidence tackling key areas of weakness systematically and building on areas of strength. The monitoring of the home is not sufficiently robust and thorough. This is because of the shortfalls in the Regulation 33 monitoring of the home and lack of timely reports both to Ofsted and the Registered Manager. The home employs a sufficient number of skilled, competent and experienced staff to

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Leadership and management

assist children and young people with their daily living, appointments, events and activities. Staff turnover is very low and this provides consistency of staffing for the children and young people. The staff say that the quality of their supervision, training and support is very good. Formal regular supervision and appraisals provide opportunities for staff to discuss professional development and plan for training. This assists them in meeting the needs of the young people. The staff provide a good standard of care in a supportive culture that is promoted very well. Young peoples’ files are very well organised and stored securely. They provide a good picture of their backgrounds and of the time they are spending in the home.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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