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

Unique reference number SC356929 Inspector Denise Jolly Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Quality Protects Children Ltd Registered person address Hill House Archway Road Huyton Liverpool L36 9XB Responsible individual Anthony Nolan Registered manager Nadine Elizabeth Boden Date of last inspection 26/03/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 14/01/2015

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Previous inspection satisfactory progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness adequate

Outcomes for children and young people adequate Quality of care adequate Keeping children and young people safe adequate Leadership and management adequate

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides an adequate quality of care that centres around individualised plans of care for each young person. Staff promote positive outcomes for young people. They demonstrate key strengths in working with other professionals, and in offering warm and nurturing care. Young people have positive views about living in the home, and say that staff value their unique personalities and preferences.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people say that they feel safe in the home, and that staff do their best to protect them. Staff know and understand the risks associated with young people being missing, and address concerns extremely well. They work with young people to help them to stay safe. However, some shortfalls in the quality of supervision of visitors led to a complaint being received by Ofsted, and a requirement is made to address this. Poor communication about the development needs of a minority of temporary staff is also identified as a required area for improvement.

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Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager is relatively new to the post and limited support and supervision has led to shortfalls being found in the monitoring and evaluation of the home. Requirements are made to review the Statement of Purpose, to ensure all young people have a school place, and to improve the overall monitoring of the conduct of the home. In addition, several recommendations are made to improve the conduct of the home. These relate to improvements in policies, monitoring of 3 of 11 records and the understanding of the roles of staff working in the home. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned service provides residential accommodation for up to three looked after young people, aged between 10 and 17 years old, who have complex emotional and behavioural needs.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/03/2014 Interim satisfactory progress 08/01/2014 Full good 13/02/2013 Interim satisfactory progress 09/10/2012 Full good

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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

5 (2001) ensure the registered person shall keep under review, and revise the statement of purpose to include how outreach services will operate (Regulation 5 (a)) 13/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the home makes proper provision for the safeguarding and welfare of children accommodated there, in particular that there is effective supervision of visitors to the home (Regulation 11 (1)(a)) 13/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

18 ensure the home promotes the educational 13/02/2015 5 of 11 (2001) achievement of children by helping them to make use of suitable educational facilities (Regulation 18 (1))

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure all persons employed in the home, including the Registered Manager, receive appropriate supervision (Regulation 27 (4)(a)) 13/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered manager monitors the matters set out in schedule 6, in particular the arrangements for the professional development of staff and any disciplinary action concerning persons working at the home. (Regulation 34 (1)(a), & Schedule 6 (24),(25)) 13/02/2015

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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 all staff, including the Registered Manager and new staff, have access to support and advice, and are provided with regular supervision, and the records are kept in the home (NMS 19.4)  ensure there are clear and effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home, in particular that there are policies and procedures in place to support new initiatives such as outreach work (NMS 21.1)  ensure managers and staff, including temporary staff, are clear about their roles and responsibilities (NMS 21.4)  ensure that records are clear and contribute to an understanding of the child's life, in particular that records of actions taken to reduce risks to young people are monitored to ensure consistency (NMS 22)  ensure that when requested, agreed changes to young people's care plans are authorised by the placing authority in good time, to prevent delay in meeting young people's needs. (NMS 25.5)

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people are settled into the routine of the home, although some young people have only recently moved in. They say that staff have helped them to feel at home, and they like living there. Other young people said that the home is ‘fine’, but declined to speak to the inspector further. However, all young people are relaxed in the company of staff, and share their views and opinions freely.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Relationships between young people are generally good. However, when young people are victims of verbal or physical attack, they say that staff intervene, make the situation safe, and listen to their concerns. This helps young people to be confident in the care and support staff provide. Young people know how to complain, and say that staff respond well to their concerns.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Some young people develop and sustain relationships with family and significant others when appropriate. This ensures a sense of belonging, and improves their sense of identity. With staff help, they visit their home areas, to ensure they remain familiar with their home community. They use public transport, and this helps them to work towards independent travel in the future.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people make progress to understand their emotional response to a variety of stressful situations. They engage in services that help them to develop a range of skills to help them manage past difficulties and improve self-control. This includes working with youth offending teams, and with the organisation’s psychologist. Consequently, young people have steadily reduced their involvement in some risk taking behaviours, such as being missing from home, although for some the risks remain high.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people contribute to their placement plans. They make suggestions about how staff can best support them when they feel upset, or review the impact of their behaviour upon their future prospects. They say that staff listen to them, and help them to negotiate compromises in the rules and boundaries that affect them, such as the amount of free time they have. Young people overcome setbacks to their progress because they are prepared to engage with staff when things have gone wrong, such as when they lose their temper in the home. They engage in role play with staff so that they can see all sides of the incident, and this helps them to accept the consequences that staff impose.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

A minority of young people do not have arrangements that provide them with appropriate educational opportunities. They work on basic skills such as literacy and numeracy, under the guidance of a tutor from the organisation’s school, but they do not have an appropriate school place. This limits opportunities for them to reach their full potential. Other young people attend college part time, and receive some support 7 of 11 from the organisation’s tutor system. They are working towards exams in literacy and numeracy but their attendance can be erratic. This disrupts the continuity of learning, and affects the progress they achieve.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

When appropriate, some young people move on to semi-independent accommodation, to launch their adult lives. They work with staff to demonstrate they have the skills and abilities to be successful. For most young people, this means that they are able to make safer choices about their interests and relationships. They work hard to explore their motivations and the impact of their choices on their safety and welfare. They say that staff support them well, through the ups and downs of their experiences.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people live in an supportive and nurturing environment. Staff get to know them very well, and are fully committed to enabling them to understand and overcome their difficulties, and achieve positive outcomes.

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Quality of care adequate

Staff help young people contribute to their placement review meetings. They help them to overcome reluctance to talk about their views and wishes, so that they can be properly represented. At times, this means that staff work with young people in individual sessions, to help them to understand the implications of their choices. This provides young people with a solid and realistic understanding of their strengths and needs. An independent reviewing officer commented that the home has helped young people to be safer and happier because, ‘they know the young person well, and understand his needs.' Professionals say the home provides effective planning for young people because staff consider all aspects of young people’s needs.

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Quality of care adequate

Over time, young people gain insight and skills to enable them to manage relationships more effectively. As a result, young people develop effective problem solving skills, and adopt safer patterns of behaviour, such as returning to the home on time. Staff identify the importance of consistent approaches to setting boundaries for young people, and prefer to manage difficulties within the home. This fosters a sense of stability and security in young people, who grow in maturity of outlook because of the positive and constructive relationships they experience.

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Quality of care adequate

When young people suffer setbacks to their progress, for example, by returning to previous patterns of behaviour, staff immediately engage young people in thinking about the impact of their behaviour. They alert all professionals to any difficulties. Social workers and other professionals say that staff persist with young people through extremely challenging times, to ensure consistency of care. Staff promote young people’s engagement with the professionals who offer them additional support, such as the organisation’s psychologist, independent advocates, or youth justice workers. They adopt a clear and open mode of communication, to ensure all parties share important information about the lives of young people. This helps 8 of 11 young people to see that working cooperatively can produce improved outcomes for them.

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Quality of care adequate

The home has recently begun to offer outreach services to young people who were previously resident in the home. This has created some difficulties within the home, because managers have not evaluated the status of those who return to the home for support. Furthermore, when difficulties arise in relationships between residents and visitors because. for example, visitors have allegedly brought illicit substances into the home, staff have failed to act consistently to demonstrate they have taken decisive action to address these concerns. This affects the quality of care provided by staff.

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Quality of care adequate

Staff take an active interest in young people's learning. They support young people by working collaboratively with college staff to ensure young people have the opportunity to achieve their academic potential. A minority of young people do not have an identified school place. They have temporary arrangements in place until staff make application to the local area education panel. These arrangements do not fully meet their identified special educational needs, and this inhibits the progress they are able to make in their academic development.

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Quality of care adequate

Staff have a clear understanding of the needs relating to young people’s personal identity, particularly in relation to their sexuality. They work with young people, to help them to develop positive ways to express their individuality, and promote positive exploration of their identity through attendance at young people’s social groups that reflect their sexual orientation. This provides young people with opportunities to make safe and positive choices in their relationships. Young people say that staff have accepted them warmly, and for some this is a new experience.

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Quality of care adequate

The home has undergone redecoration and some refurbishment. Young people have been involved in choosing colours and items for their bedrooms, and are pleased with the results.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Young people say they feel safe in the home because staff intervene when young people react negatively to each other. Staff listen to young people when they review serious incidents in the home, and this has resulted in a minority of young people being moved from the home in an emergency, due to other young people feeling unsafe. Generally, young people are well matched for compatibility, and it is unusual for young people to leave in this way.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Staff have very clear procedures for assessing and responding to the risks young people face when they are missing from home. Because staff know and use effective multi-disciplinary procedures for managing unauthorised absence from the home, episodes of young people being missing has reduced. Police and other protection 9 of 11 professionals say that the home liaises well in monthly review meetings, contributes effectively to intelligence gathering, and works supportively with young people, to help them to understand the risks. Staff complete comprehensive assessments for young people at risk of sexual exploitation, and rigorously apply any actions that are identified to manage risks. A youth justice worker said that, ‘The home has the safety of the young person as paramount. They share any fragment of information, to help us all get a fuller picture of the life of the young person.’

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Staff use restraint rarely, and only to protect young people and others from harm. Young people record their views in records kept by the home, and say that staff intervene to ensure their safety. In general, staff provide clear and settled boundaries to young people, to help them to understand the importance of safe community living. Young people say that staff adopt a low key and fair approach to the rules and sanctions imposed. When necessary, staff work with young people, to help them to understand the impact of their behaviour. This enables young people to identify ways to improve in the future. However, due to ineffective boundaries placed around a previous resident visiting the home, young people obtained illegal substances from them. This placed their and other’s safety and welfare at risk because of the impact on their health and behaviour by taking illegal substances. Although staff followed up the matter with the visitor, they failed to identify

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

consistent actions to protect young people in the future because they did not address the matter of appropriate supervision for visiting ex- residents.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Leaders and managers maintain effective recruitment and selection procedures that help prevent unsuitable people from being employed in the home. The team is experienced and stable, and any new staff are carefully supported and inducted into their role. This ensures they acquire the skills necessary to care safely for young people. The home has agreed protocols for information sharing when staff transfer from one service to another. However, the manager does not consistently follow this practice. This means that staff have worked in the home for short periods of time, without the manager being aware of any disciplinary or practice issues that had been identified. This fails to protect young people because the manager could not address shortfalls that been identified in some staff's safe caring practice.

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Leadership and management adequate

The Registered Manager has been in post since August 2014. She is undertaking an appropriate management qualification, and has the minimum required level of experience in managing children’s residential provision. She leads a largely settled and experienced staff team, although some changes are planned in the near future after a wider service review. The manager is helping young people to prepare for some staff changes by consulting with them about how the change will be managed.

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Leadership and management adequate

The home is making some progress in some areas but its overall development is patchy. A key strength is the quality of relationships staff offer young people, and 10 of 11 their genuine concern to see young people improve their lives. Significant improvements in the staff training programme has supported a wider knowledge base from which staff understand and support the unique vulnerabilities and diverse needs of young people, particularly in relation to sexuality, sexual exploitation, and wraparound support and care. This has improved the day-to-day care that staff provide to young people. Young people say that they appreciate the warmth and understanding of staff.

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Leadership and management adequate

Staff say that informal support systems, and their attendance at staff meetings, helps them to think constructively about the needs of young people, to help them to improve. New staff say that their induction was well organised, and the training provided them with a clear overview of the home’s expectations about the high quality of care they were to provide. However, staff do not have regular supervision, to ensure their practice, and the conduct of the home continues to improve.

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Leadership and management adequate

Additionally, the Registered Manager has not received sufficient professional supervision, and this has impacted on her ability to monitor and evaluate the service provided. For example, the new outreach service is not described within the home’s Statement of Purpose, and there is no written policy to guide staff about how to manage the arrangements for supporting young people in this way. There is insufficient scrutiny of records kept in the home, as evidenced by the shortfalls found during this inspection. A member of staff from another home was temporarily appointed to work in the home to support the Registered Manager. The objective was to improve systems and organisation of the home. However, due to a lack of clarity over roles this has led to some inconsistency in the oversight of the home. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management adequate

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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