Children's Home run by Partners in Care 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 benefit from a stable and committed staff team who work hard to ensure each young person is settled, happy and achieving their potential. Young people make excellent progress in reducing their risk taking behaviours. Those who have come to the home with very high risk of sexual exploitation are helped through a variety of ways to understand and reduce that risk. Areas of risk are identified and understood for each young person, and individualised risk management plans effectively reduce those risks. Difficult behaviours are managed sensitively within the home, with physical intervention rarely being used. Alternative methods of encouraging positive behaviours are successful. Attendance and engagement with education improves significantly for young people at this home. The aim of some young people to attend full time mainstream education is often achieved. Relationships between staff and young people are a key strength of this home, and young

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The children's home provision is good because:

people choose to spend time with staff positively because they value these relationships. The home has very good links with external agencies and communication is consistently good across a range of services, agencies, individuals and the staff team. Managers have a very good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and work hard to ensure there is continuous improvement. Young people at this home are healthy and engage well with health services to ensure they maintain their health. Young people have high aspirations. Staff share these and support and develop young people’s confidence and self-esteem to help them achieve their goals. Whilst communication with Local Authorities is very good, where key documents relating to young people have not been received managers do not always chase this, resulting in some paperwork not being up to date. The home is nicely decorated and furnished with evidence of personalisation and young

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The children's home provision is good because:

people’s involvement. One issue to be addressed is how to help young people maintain their bedrooms to an acceptable standard of safety and hygiene and balance this alongside respecting their privacy and individual space.

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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 the registered manager must -

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Requirement Due date

(c) (i) ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. Specifically that bedrooms are kept in a reasonable state of hygiene and cleanliness, that there are no unsafe objects in the room and that there is full bedding on the beds. 30/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

(1) (a) The registered person must maintain records which include the information and documents listed in schedule 3 in relation to each child. Specifically the most recent Looked After Child Reviews and Personal Education Plans should be on file. 30/10/2015

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Information about this children's home

This privately run home is registered to accommodate three children or young people of either gender between the ages of 8 and 17. It is registered to provide care for young people who may have behavioural or emotional difficulties. Lengths of stay may be short, medium or long term.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/03/2015 CH - Interim improved effectiveness

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good

The home is good at recognising and planning for each young person’s individual needs. This ensures that plans are tailored to each child and that planning is effective. Young people’s interests, strengths and motivating factors are identified and plans are developed in line with these which maximises young people’s potential.

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good

Staff are resilient and resourceful in developing strong, positive relationships with the young people. Boundaries are implemented consistently so that young people feel the security of routine and predictability. The staff team is diverse and this provides the young people with a wide mix of interests and personalities. Specific interests of young people are promoted, such as drama, and their achievements are celebrated. One social worker reported ‘X has made good relationships with staff who are committed, caring and professional. The care received is excellent and the staff have always been responsive and professional regarding any issue’.

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good

Young people are encouraged to be involved and make a contribution across all aspects of their home and their care. One young person is involved, for example, in a ‘youth inspection team’. Keyworker sessions and young people’s meetings are used to good effect and ensure that the gathering of young people’s views is not tokenistic, but meaningful and acted upon. Young people say that their views are listened to and feel they have a voice in their care and the running of the home. One parent commented ‘The change in my child is amazing, they really listen to her and that’s why she behaves better.’

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good

Young people make good progress across all areas of development. They are healthy and access health services appropriately. Their emotional needs are met within placement and via contact with their family and friends. Any additional emotional needs are met with the support of external agencies and an internal company psychologist. Educationally, young people make huge progress and are supported into training and work when their statutory schooling comes to an end. One young person has an ambition to enter mainstream school and this is fully supported and being worked towards at a pace which is commensurate with the young person’s developing social, emotional and academic ability. A social worker stated of another young person ‘They have given her a chance of having success as a teenager and setting her up for the rest of her life.’

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good

Young people report being highly satisfied with their day-to-day experiences at the home. One young person simply commented ‘It’s brilliant’. The atmosphere at the home is welcoming and friendly. When the young people are in it is a lively and vibrant environment, with lots of interaction between staff and young people. Young people feel liked, valued, listened to and cared for which helps them to progress positively in all areas of their lives and for their self-esteem and confidence to develop.

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good

Contact with young people’s family members is promoted and supported to a high level, allowing them to have safe, appropriate contact which progresses in line with their needs. Parents report that they are made to feel welcome at the home when they visit, and that staff go out of their way to support contact. They also report that staff communicate well with them about any issues.

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good

Transitions into and out of the home are well managed with great care and sensitivity. Where young people are not felt to be ready to move from placement, the home actively challenges any such plans.

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good

One area to be improved upon is the hygiene and safety of some young people’s bedrooms and how ensuring the bedrooms are of a safe and acceptable standard, balanced with the young person’s wish for their private space to be respected and not violated. A requirement is made in respect of this. Judgement grade

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outstanding

Young people benefit from a high level of commitment to ensuring their safety. The young people themselves and external agencies all recognise this. One young person said ‘It’s good here because when I try to run off they (staff) stand in front of the doors so I can’t get out, it’s to keep me safe because of the risks and dangers. Staff explain to me why I can’t go out.’ One social worker stated ‘She would be massively at risk due to her naivety and immaturity if it weren’t for the staff.’

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outstanding

Bullying is not an issue at this home, and this is due to the extensive work put in by staff. There are a multitude of different ways and forums to address and educate staff and young people about bullying and bullying prevention. It is a theme which is taken very seriously by staff who clearly understand the impact bullying has on young people’s self-confidence and their behaviour. Restorative practice is used with young people who have behaved negatively towards one another which helps them to learn from their behaviour and reduces the likelihood of further incidences.

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outstanding

On line safety is very well understood by staff. Young people benefit from external agencies working with them and through keyworker sessions and young people’s meetings to improve their awareness of online risks. Similarly child sexual exploitation (CSE) is tackled from a number of different angles, giving young people a high level of awareness of this issue. All the young people placed in this home are at risk of CSE, though there are no current concerns. This evidences the success the home is having in this area.

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outstanding

From their initial starting points, missing from home episodes are significantly reduced once young people become accommodated in the home. There is a coordinated and consistent response to young people who go missing and staff are highly proactive at decreasing missing episodes. There are clear plans in place for each young person in respect of their missing from home risks, and these are strictly followed on the rare occasions when they are needed.

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outstanding

Behaviour management is consistent because there are behaviour management plans in place which are individualised and targeted. Staff feel confident in the use of physical intervention should this become necessary, but all have a very strong focus on de-escalation. Physical intervention is only used as a very last resort and as a means of protecting the young person from harming themselves or others.

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outstanding

Whilst identified as previous risk indicators for some young people at this home, drug and alcohol misuse and self-harming behaviour have been effectively tackled and are no longer an issue at this time. Judgement grade

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good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced manager with the strong support of a well-qualified and experienced deputy. Together they are working successfully to drive up standards and to make progress for the young people placed.

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good

The needs of the young people are given foremost priority and that ethos is embedded within the staff team. The progress that young people make is testament to the drive and commitment of both the management and the staff team.

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good

Staff report high levels of satisfaction with the support they receive from the management team. There are clear lines of delegation in place which allow staff to fully understand each person’s role and to seek support appropriately. There is a clear sense of ‘team’ and of unity which provides a supportive and cohesive environment. Morale of staff is high and this contributes to making the home feel happy for the young people.

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good

High quality induction and training is provided, with the company having recently recruited two new trainers to boost the training within the organisation. Staff retention and development is considered important in order to provide consistency and high quality care to young people. The home uses safe recruitment practices to ensure young people are protected.

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good

Managers at this home have good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and implement plans and ideas to improve any area where weakness is identified. Staff report that managers listen to them should they put forward any ideas for improvement. Team meetings are used to very good effect, and staff have the opportunity to contribute items to the agenda.

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good

The home has developed strong, positive relationships across a wide range of agencies and individuals, and communication in all areas is a key strength. This ensures that young people benefit from all round support in all areas of their development.

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good

Managers effectively and actively advocate for children and young people and challenge other services when their responses are not effective. However, more could be done to challenge local authorities to ensure that child looked after review minutes and personal education plans are up to date and held within the young person’s case records.

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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

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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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