Children's Home run by Aspireone Care Ltd in Staffordshire

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people make sustained progress from difficult starting points, helped and supported by committed care staff.  The individual diversity of young people is valued. Culture, ethnicity and heritage are positively promoted by staff.  The importance of young people emotional health and well-being is understood. Good effective services are provided to help young people to support improvement.  Behaviour management is good. Young people understand what acceptable behaviour is with unacceptable behaviour met with a robust response from staff.  Young people are safe and feel safe. They are protected by good safe staff practices.  Young people are becoming increasingly safe. Exploitation is not taking place and missing from care episodes are rare.  Young people have adults they can turn to if worried or concerned.  The registered manager is both ambitious and committed to deliver best practice.  Robust recruitment processes are in place for new staff members.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff receives good oversight of their work through effective supervision arrangements and their continued development through training.  There are a few areas of practice that require improvement. This includes, young people’s education, placement plans and ensuring HMCI receives in a timely manner any revise in the home’s statement of purpose.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard ensure that children receive care from staff.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular and with reference to young people having personalised care plans that is in the interests of children and young people the registered person must ensure-

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Requirement Due date

(iv) provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking into account of the child's background. 24/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the education standard ensure that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular and with reference to ensuring that young people are accessing education that is in their interests the registered person must ensure-

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Requirement Due date

(viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. 04/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

16: Statement of purpose 07/08/2015 The registered person must notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of revision. (Regulation 16(3)(b))

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Information about this children's home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties, aged between 11 and 17 years old. The home provides emergency, medium and long-term placements. The home is privately owned and managed.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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good

Young people are making good progress in a variety of ways. For example, they are supported to develop an age appropriate level of independence, which increases, as they get older in line with their emerging skills. Staff members provide close support to young people. They provide guidance, nurture and seek to develop the young person’s confidence in their own skills and abilities. This means young people’s confidence and self-esteem grow, and they become equipped with crucial life skills.

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good

Staff value the uniqueness of young people. Individual diversity, culture and heritage of young people being understood and embraced. Celebrating difference through clothing, religious festivals and meals create an environment of positive and proactive promotion of individuality. This means young people feel able to express their individual diversity and practice racial and cultural beliefs.

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good

The Registered Manager and staff understand the importance of maintaining family relationships. Young people enjoy good contact arrangements with family members so they maintain their family links. They have a good understanding of their family and backgrounds. The manager and staff promote contact, they have excelled in their efforts to arrange and facilitate contact. Young people have a good understanding of the reasons behind their admission to care. This enables young people to work with staff to resolve any conflicts they may experience.

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good

Some young people despite advice and support continue to smoke. Others have asked staff to contact the smoking cessation nurse for support to quit smoking. Young people receive regular health assessments and monitoring from opticians and dentist. They take responsibility for their own health, by trying to eat more healthily. Young people do not use alcohol, drugs or legal highs. It is to their credit they recognise the dangers and refrain from these substances.

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good

The important of the emotional and mental health needs of young people is of primary concern to staff. Young people undertake weekly therapy with an art therapist should they wish. This provides them with the opportunity to improve their emotional well-being.

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good

Young people do make progress in terms of their educational attainment. One young person will be attending college to study drama. He has made sustained progress with education since residing at the home. Recently taking GCSE’s and now looking forward to his college course. Another young person recently admitted to the home is not in any form of education. This delay has an adverse impact on the young person’s future.

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good

The physical environment is homely, clean and suitably furnished. Personalisation by the young people is evident throughout and is something they are proud of.

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good

Young people feel safe and are safe. They are protected by robust staff practices in safeguarding. Individual risk assessments and behaviour management plans are comprehensive and reviewed so staff know the best way of managing situations and protecting young people.

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good

Behaviour management is a strength. Staff members take a pro-active approach to understanding young people’s behaviour. This has resulted in staff not having to resort to physical intervention. Sanctions and consequences for negative behaviour are equally rare. This is because staff recognise positive behaviour and give praise daily. The registered manager and staff have implemented a restorative approach to behaviour management. This is based upon young people putting right what they have done wrong, making amends. This approach reflects the strong values at work and equally strong approaches to improving behaviour.

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good

Staff help young people to become increasingly safe through not becoming involved in sexual exploitation. Missing from care episodes are rare. The manager and staff are aware of the contextual factors that led a young person going missing. They take effective steps to tackle this, which are successful.

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good

Young people have adults to turn to when worried or concerned. The manager and staff have ensured that young people have access to telephones, details of organisations who can provide help and support them. This means young people know who to turn to and be confident they will be helped.

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good

Young people are safeguarded. Their needs met through the manager and staff working well with key partner agencies. Regular meetings take place between agencies, reviewing the care plans. This ensures good communication and coordination of services working with young people.

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good

The registered manager works with police and local agencies to complete the location risk assessment. This is comprehensive, providing good analysis on local trends and risk factors. This ensures that young people are living in an environment where relevant risk factors are kept under constant review. Placement plans are not routinely completed. This hinders the service being responsive to young people’s changing needs.

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good

Young people enjoy positive relationships with members of staff who know and care for them well. The young people are nurtured and their strengths promoted by the staff group who take pride in their achievements. This means young people benefit from a high level of supervision and monitoring. Their whereabouts is always known. A social worker said the following, ‘I have never met a group of staff so willing and prepared to do whatever it takes’.

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good

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and experienced. She has been in post since August 2014. She is ambitious, effective and seeks to improve the service. She is well supported by an equally experienced deputy manager. They provide effective leadership that is valued by staff members. One member of staff said, ‘the manager will never ask us to do anything she doesn’t do herself’.

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good

The manager acted quickly in response to recommendations made at the last full inspection. She implemented changes suggested and believes these made a positive difference to the home.

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good

New young people admitted are supported by robust impact assessments completed by the registered manager. These are developed from the information received from the local authority and previous placements. This ensures that new young people are given every likelihood the placement will be a success. Additionally it takes into account the impact on those already living at the home and reduces the likelihood of hindering their progress.

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good

Recruitment of staff is good. Robust processes are in place to minimise the possibility of young people being harmed by those in positions of trust. Staff receive regular supervision to ensure they are accountable in their work with young people. Ongoing training and development of staff build skills and develop working practices. Recently the staff group attended a development day. They invited young people to attend, with a view to further cementing relationships. This resulting in young people being better safeguarded and cared for by a more informed staff team.

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good

There are good arrangements both internally and externally for monitoring and evaluating the service. The manager receives monthly monitoring reports from an independent visitor. Additionally the manager undertakes a comprehensive and reflective analysis every six months. The monitoring also includes feedback from other services and the views of young people and others. These measures highlight area for development and continuous improvement.

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good

The registered manager ensures full compliance with health and safety requirements. This includes the home’s risk assessments, and fire evacuation procedures followed. This means young people are living in a safe environment where staff are diligent in ensuring a safe environment.

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good

The registered manager has revised the statement of purpose for the home. She has not ensured that it was forwarded to Ofsted in a timely manner. This means the regulator is not being kept informed as to changes in the service.

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good

Stakeholders speak positively about the staff and the service. They comment that: ‘communication is good’, ‘support to young people is excellent’, that ‘staff pursue issues and are honest’. One social worker said that, ‘I have been a social worker for eight years and this is the best home I have ever worked with’. Good partnership working results in consistent support, access to services and good outcomes for young people.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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