Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today Children‟s Services in Manchester

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 benefit from a strong ethos of care which is delivered by a dedicated manager and staff. Staff work hard to meet young people’s individual needs. Staff efforts are rewarded by the progress young people make across all aspects of their development.  Young people and staff share strong relationships. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s behaviours, risk and vulnerabilities and work as a unified team to develop well thought out strategies to ensure young people are safe and their welfare is protected.  Young people are encouraged to work towards independence. They gain confidence and a sense of achievement by accomplishing a variety of skills to help manage their lives in the community.  Care practice is underpinned by good care plans and risk assessments which clearly outline how staff will meet young people’s individual needs. Young people’s progress is routinely monitored by the Registered Manager.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager and staff work closely with a range of education, care, health and safeguarding agencies. This ensures young people receive the services and support they need to meet their known and emerging needs and keep them safe.  Young people are feel safe and are safe. Young people confirm that they get the right support from staff who care for them. They recognise the help staff have given them and how this has helped them overcome many challenges in their lives.  Young people are actively involved in making decisions which influence the running of the home and their care. They confirm that they feel valued and respected and that staff have their best interests at heart.  The home is effectively run by a manager who is experienced, qualified and committed to providing young people with positive care experiences. Staff share this strong care ethic and are well supported in meeting their responsibilities in caring for young people.

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Information about this children's home

The home is one of a number of children’s homes run by a private organisation. This home provides medium to long-term care for up to four young people who experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24/02/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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good

Young people make good progress in all aspects of their development, relative to their individual starting points. Staff support and encourage young people to achieve their individual goals and use incentives and positive rewards to affirm their achievements. This approach has been effective in helping young people make positive choices about their lives relating to their education, health, behaviour and keeping themselves safe.

p.5

good

The importance of education is promoted. Staff ensure young people understand the importance of a good education and work effectively with them to help them attend their respective school. This has proven effective in helping young people re-engage with full-time education. Consequently, a number of young people have completed their GCSE examinations and are optimistically planning to go to college.

p.5

good

Staff support and encourage young people who are working towards their independence and moving on. Young people gain confidence and a sense of achievement by accomplishing a variety of skills which will help them successfully manage their lives as adults. This includes basic tasks such as cooking, budgeting, household tasks and travelling independently. Staff work with external agencies to ensure that young people’s transitioned are. Staff demonstrate a commitment to keep in touch with young people when they have left. This means that young people have valuable support systems from people they know and trust, at a time which brings increased vulnerability. A young person said, ‘I am going to miss the staff and the routine that I am in here. I am working towards independence, I cook and bake and staff are going to support me when I move, which is good as I know them and can ask them anything and they will help me get into a routine.’

p.5

good

Staff provide a good level of nurturing support to the young people. They undertake direct work with them, which is meaningful, and aimed to help young people develop self-awareness and resilience. Relationships between young people and staff are exceedingly strong and are based on trust, dignity and respect. As a result, young people have grown in confidence as they overcome negative perceptions of themselves.

p.5

good

Young people say that staff listen to them and advocate on their behalf, where appropriate. A young person said, ‘we each have a young person’s confidentiality meeting every Wednesday and then a young people’s meeting on Thursdays. I give my views and will staff listen. If we are unhappy about something, they will speak to our social workers. It’s our home, so we have a say in everything’.

p.5

good

Young people are helped to maintain contact with key people who they identify as important to them. Staff facilitate and support contact in accordance with young people’s care plans. This enables young people to maintain quality relationships with their families and continue to be involved in their lives, while living at the home.

p.6

good

Staff have a good understanding of young people’s individual needs. They help young people develop an understanding of their lives. Young people are fully involved in all aspects of care planning. They understand their individual targets; know what they need to do to achieve these and what support from staff they can expect. Young people’s achievements, no matter how small, are celebrated and rewarded. Young people enjoy the recognition of their achievements which incentivises them to work hard towards their individual goals and targets.

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good

Young people’s health needs are well met. Staff support young people to attend routine appointments and access emergency and specialist services when required. Young people are encouraged to eat a healthy diet and make good choices about their lifestyle. Physical activities, such as gym memberships are used to engage young people in regular exercise. The impact of this is evident for some young people who are making better choices about maintaining a healthy lifestyle which has resulted in them losing weight. One young person said, ‘I have lost some weight because I eat well-balanced meals and do a lot more exercise. I feel good so I am trying to keep this up.’

p.6

good

Young people live in a home where they are effectively protected from harm. Risk assessments identify areas within the locality which may pose risks to them. The home maintains links with the Local Safeguarding Children Board and staff cultivate good relationships with community police and other safeguarding agencies. This collaborative approach to keeping young people safe ensures young their risk and vulnerabilities are effectively safeguarded.

p.6

good

Staff understand and recognise young people’s specific and diverse needs, including their behaviour, risks and vulnerabilities. Well thought out interventions underpinned by detailed individual risk assessments and behaviour management plans which are regularly reviewed. Staff provide young people with good support to enables young people to take managed and considered risks. For example, young people are encouraged to develop their independence and travel independently. Staff will keep in touch with them to ensure they have safely arrived at their destination on time. One young person said, ‘I ring staff when I get on the train, then when I’m off and when I get where I’m going, and it’s the same coming back. When I can show that I can be trusted then my free time is extended.’

p.6

good

The number of incidents of missing from home has significantly reduced since the last inspection. Young people choose not to go missing because of the positive relationships they have with staff and the good advice about associated risks. On the occasions young people choose to go missing they are aware what action staff will take, including notifying the police. A young person said, ‘they look for us and tell our social workers and police and that’s because we could be in danger. They worry about us. I know I can talk things over with staff if I have any worries rather than running away’.

p.7

good

Staff encourage young people to manage their behaviour and make the right choices about keeping themselves safe. They benefit from clear and consistent boundaries which are fully understood and mostly adhered to. Staff help young people understand their behaviour and how this impacts on themselves and others. As a result, young people develop appropriate behaviour management strategies and make good choices about their behaviour. This means the use of physical intervention and sanctions is not required.

p.7

good

Young people live in a safe and secure home. They are protected by a range of appropriate health and safety risk assessments and routine checks to ensure the building is kept safe. They regularly practice emergency evacuations to ensure they know how to safely exit the home in the event of a fire.

p.7

good

Young people are protected by safe and effective recruitment practices. They are involved in formulating the questions that are used as part of the interview process. This provides an insight into what young people see as the important qualities required of the adults caring for them. It also means young people feel that their views are important.

p.7

good

The home is effectively run in line with the aims and objectives outlined in its Statement of Purpose. The Registered Manager has been in post since April 2010 and is suitably qualified and experienced. He is child-focussed, has a good knowledge and understanding of the needs of vulnerable young people and provides strong leadership to a stable and competent staff team.

p.7

good

Young people benefit from the care of a suitably qualified and experienced team of staff. Staff confirm that they feel well supported and valued by the manager who ensures they receive regular good quality supervision and have their performance annually appraised. A member of staff commented, ‘We have supervision once a month, it is invaluable. The manager is approachable and we can get some good practice ideas from him.’ Young people’s views are routinely considered as part of the appraisal process. This ensures the manager gains a good insight into young people’s views about the people who care for them and how staffs efforts have impacted on their lives.

p.8

good

Staff are provided with good training opportunities. This ensures their knowledge and expertise is current and up-to-date. They use a number of forums to reflect on young people’s care, their needs and progress, including handovers and team meetings. This means young people’s known and emerging needs are routinely considered in the day-to-day practice in the home.

p.8

good

Care practice is underpinned by good care planning. The manager has developed a child family version of a care plan which young people complete and update with their respective keyworker. As a result, young people helped to understand the reasons they are in care and the work staff will do to help meet their individual needs, in conjunction with external agencies.

p.8

good

The manager has a good understanding of the homes strengths and areas for improvement. He realises the importance of a strong, well-structured and supported staff team and drives an ethos of commitment and dedication. A range of external and internal quality assurance monitoring processes are utilised to good effect. This includes scrutinising the effectiveness of staff, young people’s progress and the performance and impact of external professionals and agencies. The manager is a strong advocate for young people and will openly challenge young people’s placing authorities to ensure that their individual plans are effective and achievable.

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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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