Children's Home run by Aspire Child Care Ltd in Rochdale

Unique reference number SC413779 Inspector Janine Shortman-Thomas Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Aspire Child Care Ltd Registered person address 15 Jutland Avenue ROCHDALE Lancashire OL11 5DP Responsible individual Christine MacKay Registered manager Christine MacKay Date of last inspection 10/10/2014 2 of 6 Inspection date 24/03/2015

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Previous inspection good Enforcement action since last inspection There has been no enforcement action taken since the last inspection.

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This inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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This inspection

At the last full inspection on 10 October 2014 the home was judged to be good in outcomes for children and young people and leadership and management, and outstanding in the quality of care and safeguarding. The overall judgement for the home was good.

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This inspection

Care planning and practice continues to be highly individualised. Young people are encouraged to participate in completing their pathway plans, risk assessments, and care planning. However despite the best efforts of staff, young people at times choose not to engage in this process. A young person reported to the inspector that they are confident that the Registered Manager and staff team provide them with a high level of individualised care and support, despite them not wishing to engage fully in their own care planning. They went on to state they are very happy within the home and, ‘They have my best interests at heart and make sure I get what I deserve. I am really happy here and do not want to leave.’

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This inspection

Staff now ensure young people benefit from a highly individualised package of education support. Staff have been proactive in seeking out education opportunities that are best suited to meet the specific needs of the young people they provide care for. For example young people have gained knowledge and skills in first aid whilst attending the Princes Trust; have become members of the Local Authorities Children in Care Council, advocating for the rights and needs of other children and young people who are cared for by the local authority; are undertaking mentoring training and are delivering training workshops to health visitors. As a consequence young people are now engaging in a meaningful education package and increasing their skills through the training opportunities they are being given. This provides them with the skills, experiences and knowledge they require to prepare them both for the work place and a successful transition into adulthood.

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This inspection

3 of 6 Young people benefit from good physical health and have improved social and emotional well-being from their starting points. Proactive and effective working relationships with local services, such as doctors and dentists ensure that all young people's health needs are addressed as and when required. Young people are now managing to regulate their emotional responses more appropriately and as a result some risk taking behaviours are reducing. Positive collaborative working relationships with the nurse for looked after children’s , children and adolescent mental health teams and the local police ensure young people have a wide range of services available to them. As a result young peoples’ social, emotional, and psychological well-being has improved with the incidents of self-harming and missing from home reducing for them.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager who is also the Responsible Individual manages this and another home. She and the deputy manager have the required qualifications and experience to provide a high level of support and guidance to a small and stable staff team. They both ensure all the staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals. At present there are no arrangements in place to ensure the Registered Manager undertakes this. There are adequate staffing levels in the home. Young people were observed to be happy in the home and engaged well with staff. They said they like the staff and they are happy with the current staffing arrangements as this provides them with continuity of care. Staff are really positive about working at the home and said they feel very well supported by the management team. Staff receive training relevant to the needs of the young people however a shortfall has been identified as not all staff have completed refresher fire awareness training.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager has made suitable arrangements to address the one requirement raised at the last inspection. An independent person who completes the monthly regulation 33 visits and provides a written report has now been appointed.

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This inspection

Two of the four recommendations raised at the last inspection have now been addressed appropriately. The Registered Manager has ensured there is a system in place for notifying the required agencies of the occurrence of any significance events in accordance with Regulation 30. Painting of the bathroom has now been undertaken, and the shed in the garden has now been removed. Furniture in young people’s bedrooms remain damaged with no clear plans in place for this to be repaired. As a consequence young people do not live in a comfortable, homely environment.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager has yet to ensure that the Children's Guide is updated to include contact details for the Independent Reviewing Officers, Children's Commissioner and OFSTED. As a result young people are not fully informed of the agencies and services available to them should they wish to share concerns about their care.

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This inspection

Appropriate action has not been taken by the Registered Manager to ensure the 4 of 6 Statement of Purpose is reviewed and updated. As yet this does not identify the present staffing arrangements or staffing team. As a result young people, their families and placing authorities do not have a true understanding of who and what services are presently being provided by the home.

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This inspection

In order to continue to improve care practice five recommendations have been raised. These relate to supervision of the Registered Manager, training, home environment, children’s guide and the Statement of Purpose. 5 of 6

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Information about this children’s home

This setting provides care and accommodation for up to two young people who may need support with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2014 Full good 14/03/2014 Interim not judged 22/01/2014 Interim not judged 06/03/2013 Interim not judged

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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 provides a comfortable and homely environment which is well maintained and decorated, specifically ensuring the wardrobe in the young person's bedroom is repaired (NMS 10.3)  ensure the Children's Guide is updated to include information about how children can contact their Independent Reviewing Officer, the Children's Commissioner and Ofsted if they wish to raise a concern (NMS 13.5)  ensure when any revisions of the Statement of Purpose are made a copy of the amended document is sent to Ofsted (Volume 5, statutory guidance, paragraph 2.15)  ensure staff receive high quality training to enhance their individual skills and to keep them up to date with professional and legal developments, specifically in regards to fire training (NMS 18)  ensure that suitable arrangements exist for professional supervision of the registered person. (NMS 19.3) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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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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