Children's Home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Lancashire

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 live in a caring and supportive home that is making a positive difference to their lives. They are effectively cared for by a relatively newly formed staff team who demonstrate a strong commitment to helping them achieve their long-term goal of returning to a family environment. All young people have made good progress on this journey.  Young people confirm that they like living at the home, feel safe and get on well with staff. They enjoy particularly strong relationships with their keyworkers who take responsibility for ensuring their individual needs are fully met. The effectiveness of this support is evident in the progress young people make in many aspects of their lives.  Staff give young people’s safety a high priority. Care practice is underpinned by good safeguarding procedures that are routinely followed by the manager and staff.  High staffing levels and the care of staff who understand young people’s

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The children's home provision is good because:

risks and vulnerabilities mean that the right action is taken to keep young people safe from harm.  Staff listen to young people and act on their views, wishes and feelings. They are strong advocates for young people when appropriate. All young people could identify a staff member whom they trust and could talk to if they had any concerns.  The manager promotes a child-centred approach and has high expectations of her staff team. She has aspirations to achieve outstanding outcomes and demonstrates a strong commitment to an improvement agenda. This is evidenced in the forward travel the home has made in the relatively short period of time she has been in post.  A number of shortfalls were identified at this inspection. These relate to the Statement of Purpose, notifying the local authority of admissions and discharge, risk assessments, sanctions, complaints, shift management and outstanding repairs to the environment. The registered person has also

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The children's home provision is good because:

failed to meet one recommendation from the last inspection relating to training in the management of self-harm, which is now a requirement.

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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

13; Leadership and Management Standard; In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person is required to- 2(c) ensure staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. This is with specific reference to ensuring all staff are trained in safeguarding and receive further training in the management of self-harm. 19/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the Statement of Purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. This is with specific reference to making clear that individual therapeutic support from the organisations clinical team is accessed via referral and not as a standard service (Regulation 16 (3)(a)) 19/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify, without delay, the local authority for the area in which the children’s home is located of every admission of a child into the home and every discharge of a child from the home (Regulation 41 (1)) 19/08/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

ensure where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. This is with particular reference to the management of self- harming behaviour (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 ensure any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are of a restorative nature, and are relevant and proportionate to the misdemeanour (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  ensure a homely environment is maintained, in particular, that any outstanding repairs to damage are fully completed (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 ensure any member of staff placed in a supervisory role such as 'shift leader' has substantial relevant experience of working in a children's home and have successfully completed their induction for the home (The Guide, page 54, paragraph 10.21)

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Recommendations

 ensure staff encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as they arise and that children are fully aware of the complaints procedure, and are reminded of it as necessary, including who they can raise their concerns with outside of the home. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

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Information about this children's home

This is a children's home operated by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide time limited medium to long-term placements for up to 10 young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Education can be provided on site in a registered school which is attached to the home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

25/02/2015 CH - Interim declined in effectiveness

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good

Young people are well cared for by staff who demonstrate a strong commitment to helping them come to terms with their often traumatic past. Placements are stable with the majority of young people being a substantial way through this time limited intervention, which is designed to prepare them for future foster placements. Young people say that they like living at this home and on the whole professionals are very complimentary about the home. One social worker said, ‘I really rate them. They are a very good children’s home and the work that has been undertaken has been effective in helping (name) prepare for a foster placement. We are currently looking for a placement because (name) is ready for this. The home has been very influential in making this happen and I know will fully support this transition.’

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good

A small number of young people have been admitted since the last inspection. The manager realises the importance of ensuring young people are well matched and their needs can be met without detriment to the existing group of young people. This is particularly pertinent given the high numbers of vulnerable young people living at the home and their extremely diverse and complex needs and behaviour. Referrals are scrutinised and admissions have been well planned. One social worker said, ‘(Name’s) admission was very well planned. Staff attended a planning meeting and asked the right questions. They clearly wanted to get it right. They facilitated a visit to the home and made (name) feel very welcome. It has only been a short time but I am impressed so far. They are encouraging (name) to develop his interests and have already provided him with a lot of activities for him to try.’

p.7

good

The young people spoken to during this inspection say that they have good relationships with staff. The majority of young people identified their keyworkers as being the most important people in the home because ‘they provide them with all the things they need.’ Keyworkers, supported by the manager and staff, take overall responsibility for ensuring young people’s needs are met on a day to day basis. They ensure young people’s case files are up to date and that young people’s care is well coordinated, including working in conjunction with a range of safeguarding, health and education professionals and agencies. This promotes a collaborative approach in supporting young people to maintain healthy, safe and beneficial lifestyles. Consequently, young people make good progress with their health, including psychological and emotional well-being. They routinely attend school and make academic progress and learn how to make safe choices, including

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good

self-regulating their own behaviour. As a result, young people are well prepared for their return to a family environment, evident in the recent successful transition of one young person, who is now doing well with their new foster family.

p.8

good

During the inspection young people appeared at ease with staff and happy and relaxed in their home. There was a noticeably calmer atmosphere than seen on previous inspections, attributed to the warm and positively reciprocal relationships that have developed between staff and young people. Staff value young people’s views and there are a range of opportunities for them to be involved in decisions about their care and the day to day running of the home. When young people are unable to express their opinions staff will make every effort to gather these and advocate on their behalf. One social worker said, ‘I was really impressed with how they advocated on (name’s) behalf at their recent looked after children review. They had clearly taken time to gather his views.’ Good information is available for young people about how to raise concerns. All young people could identify at least one staff member who they could talk to if

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good

they had any worries or complaints. However, a number of young people did not fully understand how to raise concerns to people outside of the home, if they were unable to talk to staff. The manager has acknowledged this and is in the process of introducing weekly sessions with their keyworker. As well as reviewing their experiences for the week, it is intended to include conversations and reminders about the complaints process.

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good

Young people have a very busy and well planned activity programme. Staff make every effort to set up activities which are of interest to each young person. They support young people to attend a range of clubs and activities of their choice, including horse riding, dancing, cubs, skylight circus, army cadets and visiting the donkey sanctuary. Young people were keen to tell the inspector about their interests and were very excited about their imminent holiday to the seaside. These opportunities enable young people to develop their talents and skills as well as improving their self-confidence and social skills and to make friends.

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good

Young people live in a large, spacious house that is suitable to meet their needs. A number of areas have been redecorated and improved, including young people’s bedrooms, to ensure they reflect the personalities and tastes of the young people living there. This includes a range of child-friendly murals which young people have chosen. The home is difficult to maintain and young people have a propensity to damage the fabric of the environment when they are in crisis. Every effort is made to repair damage quickly after the event. However, some damage has only been partly repaired. For example, holes in young people’s bedroom walls have been filled or boarded over but have not been repainted, despite the damage occurring some months previously. Judgement grade

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good

Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and keeping young people safe is integral to daily practice. The manager understands her safeguarding responsibilities and is effective in discharging these duties. For example, there have been two child protection concerns since the last inspection, one of which related to staff. Decisive action was taken to ensure the immediate risk to young people was reduced and relevant safeguarding agencies were informed and their advice followed. The manager continued to work closely with safeguarding professionals and young people’s social workers to ensure both matters were rigorously investigated to a point of conclusion. As a result, the right action was taken to protect young people’s safety and welfare.

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good

Young people say they feel safe because staff care what happens to them. High levels of supervision and a strong commitment to keeping young people safe mean that there are no incidents of young people going missing. When young people run off from staff, they are always followed and kept in sight.

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good

Staff are acutely aware of the potential for bullying and effectively help young people manage their relationships with each other. Potential bullying situations, which are primarily brought about because of the high numbers and emotional immaturity of young people, are sensitively challenged and effectively managed by staff. This has clearly helped young people develop empathy, and there is a notable improvement in their tolerance and understanding of each other.

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good

Staff are effective in their care of this highly vulnerable group of young people. They demonstrate a good understanding of each young person’s known risks and vulnerabilities and offer appropriate support in helping them keep safe. Risk assessments have been re-formatted to make them much clearer for staff to follow. They clearly identify young people’s known risks and are regularly updated as these needs change. However, these documents are not specific in outlining what actions staff should take to manage any assessed risks, in particular those relating to self-harm. This is a behaviour which is exhibited by a number of young people who have cut themselves, used non-attached ligatures and placed in situations of danger while threatening to kill themselves. Staff have made the right responses in each of these situations, but these are based on good parenting and commitment rather than a suitable level of expertise and written guidance.

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good

Staff work very hard to maintain a calm and supportive environment for this large and very challenging group of young people. Strong relationships exist between young people and staff. These relationships are utilised to good effect in encouraging young people to behave and be considerate of others. During the inspection staff could be seen using humour, distraction, encouragement and praise as a means of helping young people manage their behaviour. Staff are calm in their responses to overtly challenging behaviour and only use physical restraint as a last resort to keep everyone safe. A range of incentives and rewards are used to encourage and affirm young people’s positive behaviour and achievements. Misdemeanours are addressed through use of sanctions. However, some sanctions bear no relevance to the misdemeanour; for example, one young person was given reparation for refusing to follow staff instructions. Examples of this nature are rare

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good

and managers are starting to work with staff in order to promote a restorative approach to behaviour management.

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good

Procedures for recruiting staff protect young people. 11 staff have been recruited since the last inspection, which means the home no longer has to rely on agency staff to meet its staffing needs. A number of these staff members were working in the home on agency contracts before being made permanent. Safe recruitment practice has been followed for these and all other staff to ensure relevant checks are complete and up to date before starting work permanently in the home.

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good

The home is run by an experienced manager who is in the process of completing the Level 5 Diploma. She has been in post since December 2014 and was registered with Ofsted in May 2015. She has a strong commitment to the young people in her care and high expectations of her newly formed staff team. Her leadership qualities are complemented by two deputies who share her strong childcare ethics. Collectively, they impact positively on young people’s progress, helping them to take a step closer to returning to a family environment.

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good

Good monitoring practices ensure young people’s care is routinely reviewed and that any practice shortfalls are quickly addressed. The manager demonstrates a strong commitment to an improvement agenda and has had positive impact on the forward travel of this home since coming into post. She has taken suitable action to address the two requirements from the previous inspection ensuring that incidents of young people being managed away from the group are fully recorded. More pertinently, she has vociferously challenged the inappropriate practice of holding doors closed from the outside, which was being used to stop young people leaving the room when they are presenting challenging behaviour. Young people confirm that this no longer happens because those members of staff have left. Four out of five recommendations from the previous inspection have been addressed. All staff are now trained in the home’s approved restraint techniques;

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good

matters relating to the heating system, damp patches and young people’s bedrooms have been addressed; records of fire drills are now fully complete and the process for notifying relevant person’s and authorities of the occurrence of significant events has been consistently followed. However, staff have not yet received further training in the management of self-harming behaviour, despite this being a current behaviour of two young people.

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good

A significant number of new staff have been employed since the last inspection. The staff have a range of different experiences, skills and personalities but all share a strong commitment to the young people in their care. New staff are well inducted and given high levels of support from managers. This enables them to develop a good level of competency when working directly with young people. A number of new staff have assumed the role of shift leader, despite them having limited or no previous experience of working in a residential environment. Also, one member of staff in this role has not yet completed safeguarding training. While this has had no detrimental effect on young people’s care, there is clearly a potential for them to have to manage situations which are beyond their experience, knowledge and expertise. This could place young people and staff at unnecessary risk.

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good

A high proportion of staff do not have a relevant childcare qualification. Suitable processes are in place to ensure these staff will have the opportunity to gain these qualifications within regulatory timescales. All staff are routinely given good quality supervision and have their performance appraised at least annually. Staff confirm that they benefit from this support and generally have good access to training which helps them to further develop their knowledge and practice.

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good

The Statement of Purpose is generally a well written document which provides the reader with a reasonable insight into what they can expect when placing young people in this home. However, a number of placing social workers are of the view that statements about the therapeutic provision could be clearer. For example, it is not clear that individual therapeutic support from the organisation’s clinical team is accessed via referral and not as a standard service. Social workers commented that this is a factor that needs to be clearer when considering placements for young people who require an intensive amount of support from qualified clinical staff.

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good

The registered person has not informed the local authority for the area in which the home is located, when young people are admitted or discharged from the home.

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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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