Children's Home run by Compass Children‟s Homes Limited in Calderdale

Good

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

p.2

The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people receive good levels of emotional and psychological support to address their previous life experiences.  Young people live in a therapeutic environment that supports them to make positive choices. They develop self-awareness and emotional resilience through the nurturing care they receive.  Young people’s outcomes have improved through living at the home and they become increasingly safe.  Young people feel listened to and develop trusting relationships with staff. They increasingly take responsibility for their actions and learn both practical and emotional skills for the transition into adulthood.  The staff are committed, well trained and are supported through multiple levels of supervision and reflective practice. The therapeutic ethos of the home is embedded into all aspects of care.  Areas for improvement are identified. These do not currently impact upon the welfare of young people.

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

8 The education standard. 8. In order to meet the education standard, with particular reference to children attending education, the registered provider must ensure that staff: (2) (a) (iv) help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment 19/12/2015

p.4

Requirement Due date

5 Engaging with the wider system to ensure children's needs are met. 5. In order to meet the engaging with the wider system standard, with particular reference to promoting contact in line with a child’s wishes; the registered person must ensure that staff: (a) seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans. 30/11/2015

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff should be familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62 paragraph 14.4) In particular, records should reflect progress in an easily accessible manner and additional educational input be evaluated and contribute to the evaluation of progress made.  The registered person must demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children's attachments are not overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 51 paragraph 10.1)

p.4

Information about this children's home

This home is privately owned and provides care and accommodation for up to five young males. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

04/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

good

Young people receive highly individualised and well informed care. The attention given to their emotional growth and self-awareness is a particular strength of this home.

p.6

good

Young people are supported to address previous difficulties and adversities in an environment that offers consistent positive regard. One young person commented, ‘They listen to what I say – everything is always good, everyone relaxed.’ These experiences help young people to develop trust and openness that in turn allows them to engage meaningfully in the therapeutic care that is offered. For some young people this level of engagement marks significant progress from their starting points. The good quality care promotes self-awareness and supports young people to address behaviours that may place themselves and others at risk of harm.

p.6

good

Young people are supported to manage their negative emotions and talk about what is difficult. Staff are finely attuned to young people’s emotions and this insight is informed by staff, chosen by the young people, being present during every therapy session. As a result, incidents within the home are managed with a high level of sensitivity and understanding. This supports young people to recognise some behaviours as not being acceptable. One young person commented, ‘I’ve benefitted from being a lot calmer and therapy is probably what has done it.’

p.6

good

There is significant progress for some young people in being able to express remorse and empathy towards others. This better equips young people to manage future relationships and successfully negotiate social situations.

p.6

good

Staff offer consistent positive role models and show genuine interest in young people’s experiences. As a result young people feel confident in expressing their interests and develop ambitions for their futures. Young people are actively encouraged and supportively challenged to engage in community activities. For example, some young people who had previously refused to take part in activities now enjoy a range of chosen pursuits. These include indoor rock climbing, attending a gym, playing pool, dog walking and plane watching at a local airport.

p.6

good

Young people feel listened to. There are a range of opportunities for young people to express their opinions and feelings. These include day to day conversations with staff, weekly community meetings, weekly therapeutic sessions and key-working sessions. Although the boundaries which are set may not always correspond to their views, they are helped to understand the reasons underpinning the decisions.

p.6

good

Young people have choice over food, activities, further educational courses and the décor of their rooms. They actively engage in an accredited independence skills programme. This prepares them for the anticipated demands in adulthood such as cooking and dietary needs, budgeting and general self-care.

p.7

good

There are robust procedures and planning in place for young people joining the home and, there has been effective information sharing and planning for those that have left. The staff demonstrate a high level of commitment to the young people and consistency and reliability is at the heart of the care given. For example, one young person who compulsorily spent time away from the home received weekly visits from the therapist and his keyworker. This ensured that the relationships between the young person and staff were maintained and the therapeutic process was not severed. As a result the young person made a successful reintegration back into the home.

p.7

good

Young people’s educational progress varies across individuals. Some young people attend on a daily basis and their attitude towards learning is both positive and ambitious. As a result one young person successfully sat his GCSE maths a year early. For others however, despite the interventions which have been attempted, attendance has been low and inconsistent.

p.7

good

Young people are encouraged to maintain contact with people in line with local authority permissions. However, the level of encouragement and frequency has not always been in line with that expected by the social worker. This has been driven by staff responding to the young persons expressed wishes and has pre-empted local authority decision making on frequency.

p.7

good

As a result of the risks which are identified for the young people, the home operates a strict and closely adhered to policy with regards to missing from care. All young people who are not where they are meant to be, regardless of whether their whereabouts are known, are considered as missing by the staff.

p.7

good

Incidents of young people going missing and their whereabouts not known is rare. When this occurs a full management evaluation takes place to strengthen further the response of staff and safety of young people. When young people are not where they are meant to be, they are closely monitored and rarely lost sight of. Staff fully understand the risks that are identified and a consistent approach has resulted in any missing from care incidents reducing significantly.

p.7

good

The staff offer good routines, boundaries and structure. This provides young people with predictability and a sense of safety. Young people are given well- planned and risk assessed opportunities to safely increase their levels of independence. These programmes are understood well by the young people and underpinned and informed by therapeutic assessment and evaluation. One social worker commented, ‘They keep him very safe and are getting him to understand the risks.’

p.8

good

Incidents of conflict and feelings disappointment and anger are managed well by the staff. Techniques of de-escalation are effectively employed and young people are given supportive and timely opportunities to reflect and learn. Through consistent and patient care, young people over time learn to better manage their emotions. For some young people, showing insight into others’ perspectives has been a significant shift in their outlook.

p.8

good

Investigations into safeguarding concerns are shared promptly and in a timely manner with the local authorities and there is good working relationships established with Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO). One LADO commented, ‘Communication has been good. The quality of the contact has been positive and has been appropriate. I have been entirely satisfied with the way things have been looked at and dealt with.’

p.8

good

The manager is newly appointed and is in the process of applying for registration with Ofsted. The interim arrangements made until her appointment were supported by the responsible individual and other experienced registered managers within the company. This was further complimented by increased involvement from the on-site therapist. Since the last inspection there has been substantial staff changes during the transition to fully embed the therapeutic ethos of the home. This transition, for a short period, led to shortfalls in permanent staff and increased use of agency staff. The home is now sufficiently staffed and the therapeutic processes are being embedded. The managers have good insight into the weaknesses of the home and there is a developmental plan in place to address those areas.

p.8

good

At the previous inspection a requirement was made to ensure that the system for the recording of restraints differentiated between date of restraint and date of management evaluation. This has since been achieved. A recommendation was also made for the timely chasing of missing documentation from young people’s files. A system has now been established which alerts staff to these omissions and clearly records the dates of follow-up.

p.8

good

The staff receive regular and high levels of support to fulfil their role in providing holistic and therapeutic care to young people. They receive formal supervision on a regular basis which is focused, child-centred and reflective in nature. This is enhanced by regular practice development sessions with the therapist that promote and support the relationships that staff develop with young people. Added to these systems and in recognition of the demanding role which the staff perform, clinical supervision is provided by a psychologist from outside the home. This provides personal support and centres upon the staff as individuals.

p.9

good

Staff are recruited safely and there are robust processes employed that ensure young people are kept safe. Induction for staff is detailed and thorough. It includes incremental and specific face to face training on both the ethos and therapeutic approaches adopted by the home. This ensures that staff have the knowledge base, skills and confidence to meet the needs of the young people. Staff are fully supported to integrate therapeutic approaches in their day to day care of young people. They work as a team and are consistent in their approach.

p.9

good

There are arrangements and systems in place for evaluating the progress that young people make and there are processes in place which facilitate the sharing of information. For example, regular meetings take place between education, care staff and therapists. This ensures that professionals exchange their insights and that the approaches used are consistent in all settings. There are regular management reviews covering a range of issues and through these reviews, patterns and trends are identified, disseminated and addressed. Records of progress however are spread across a wide number of documents and some targeted work in education has not been recorded. This recording omission and spread of information limits management oversight of progress made by young people.

p.9

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.

p.10

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

p.10

What the inspection judgements mean

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

p.10

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

p.11

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 .

p.11

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,

p.12

Information about this inspection

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

p.12

Information about this inspection

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

p.12

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

p.12