Children's Home run by North Lakes Children’s Service Limited in Cumberland

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 in the home are generally settled and making good progress. Children who are new to the home are given high levels of support to help them to settle and become familiar with the routines.  Staff are well trained in issues specific to the young people placed so that they can better understand and meet their needs.  The staff team is stable which allows the young people to develop secure and trusting relationships.  The home shows good levels of commitment to young people, even where the full extent of their needs are not apparent at the commencement of the placement.  Young people have very good attendance at education and are making good progress. There is a sharp focus on ensuring the most appropriate educational establishment is identified for young people.  Young people make good progress from their starting point in relation to their risk taking behaviours. Missing from home, drug and alcohol use and

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The children's home provision is good because:

child sexual exploitation are not issues affecting the young people living in this home.  Staff and young people are all trained in on-line safety and boundaries are clear and applied consistently in respect of social media and internet use.  A nurse is employed by the company to oversee the young people’s health needs and they receive a high level of care in this area. Two medication errors have occurred since the last inspection which is an area for improvement.  Promoting family contact is a strength of the home and the young people’s contact plans are progressed in line with their needs.  Leadership and management are effective with some improvements noted since the last inspection. The registered manager has a very good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses.  Some areas for improvement are identified, for example in the timeliness of notifications to Ofsted and the timeliness of reporting safeguarding concerns

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The children's home provision is good because:

to the relevant authorities, although the impact of these concerns on young people is minimal.

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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

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay of any of the occurrences included in the regulation sections (4) (a) to (4) (e) 15/02/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the health and wellbeing standard the registered person must ensure that the health and wellbeing needs of the children are met. Specifically that medication must be administered as prescribed. 10 (1)(a) 15/02/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure that staff understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. Specifically that any safeguarding incidents are reported without delay to the relevant authorities. 12(2)(a)(v) 15/02/2016

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by a private provider who has a small number of other children’s homes in the locality. It provides a service for up to five young males, between the ages of 12 and 17 years. The home cares for young people with learning disabilities as well as those who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties. The organisation also operates a school, registered with the Department for Education, providing fully integrated programmes of care and education.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16/02/2015 Interim sustained effectiveness

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good

Young people coming to live in this home benefit from careful pre-placement planning to ensure that they are correctly matched and their needs can be met, this promotes placement stability and positive outcomes.

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good

Placement plans are detailed and individualised. The young people placed in the home have a range of different needs and the plans reflect that their unique needs are understood. Young people with very specific needs get a high level of support and attention to help them settle and make progress. The staff team are open to new ways of working with young people and are keen to implement new strategies when previous strategies are less successful than desired. Additionally staff are encouraged to contribute their thoughts and ideas on how to improve or change the care, to better meet the needs of the young people placed.

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good

The company which runs the home employs a registered nurse to oversee the young people’s health needs, which results in them having their health needs met to a high standard. Young people engage well in health services and where they have complex health needs, there is good partnership working amongst the professionals involved. There have been two medication errors since the last inspection. These have been recognised and responded to in an appropriate way, with clear communication about expectations regarding administering of medication and further training booked. There was no adverse impact on the young people involved.

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good

Young people are encouraged to be active and to have a healthy lifestyle, with a number being involved in clubs and groups in the local area which allows them opportunities to socialise and develop friendships with their peers. For young people with more specific social needs, there is a good level of planning and consideration of the best way to ensure they have positive social contact.

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good

The home develops positive relationships with family members and promote family contact, ensuring that young people maintain relationships with those important to them. Where contact is not at a sufficient level, the home advocate on behalf of young people to have this increased in line with their needs.

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good

All the young people in the home attend education regularly. Some young people have had to move to different education provisions and there is clear evidence of close working with education providers to ensure this is in the best interests of the young person and that their transition is smooth. One young person is currently educated at the home and there is a plan for progression back into an off-site school provision.

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good

Relationships between young people and staff are a key strength of this home. The stability of the staff team allows young people to develop strong relationships which benefits them when they experience difficulties in their lives. Young people feel supported by staff and report that they could speak to staff if there was something upsetting them. The staff invest time in the young people and show interest in their day-to-day experiences. Young people report feeling that their views are listened to and some high quality key-working sessions take place, which give young people the opportunity to express themselves and to have their views heard.

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good

Although the cohort of young people at this home are relatively young, they are encouraged to take small steps towards learning to live independently. There are plans in place to further develop in this area and to support the young people to become increasingly independent and learn new skills which will help them as young adults.

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good

Young people at this home make good progress from the point of placement in relation to their areas of risk. For some young people this home is a less structured and higher risk environment than their previous placement, and although their progress is perhaps less evident than for other young people, they are taking steps towards self-regulation and reducing their risks.

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good

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans are robust and dynamic; any updates are clearly communicated so that all staff are aware of any new or changed areas of risk for each young person.

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good

Missing from home, child sexual exploitation, drug and alcohol misuse and anti- social or criminal behaviour are not issues affecting any of the young people in placement currently, although some of these have been issues for young people prior to placement.

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good

There is a high level of attention to ensuring young people are safe in their use of social media and the internet. Staff recognise that the young people need to learn how to keep themselves safe on-line and training has been put in place for both staff and young people. Regular checks on their social media are undertaken and this is understood and well tolerated by the young people. Some young people can be frustrated by being denied access to games and DVDs that have an age rating higher than their age.

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good

There are consistent behaviour management strategies in place which are generally working well. However, the introduction of a new resident and some current issues for one young person placed has led to a rise in the number of times physical intervention has been used. For some young people high level physical managements have been seen as necessary and this has been reviewed and their behaviour management plans amended. Whilst there is no breach of regulation in this respect, definite strategies need to be implemented to identify alternative ways of managing behaviour. Managers fully understand this and are committed to ensuring physical intervention is used only as a last resort. Recording of physical interventions is thorough and monthly analysis allows patterns and trends to be identified, to assist with planning strategies for behaviour management.

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good

Any safeguarding incidents arising are well managed in the home and risks are addressed and reduced. There has been one occasion where the reporting of a safeguarding incident to the relevant authorities was delayed for over 24 hours. This was not an oversight but rather a considered decision due to the reduced levels of support available to the young person at the weekend from their placing authority. All young people involved were safeguarded in the period between the alleged incident and the time it was reported to children’s services.

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good

The home is led by a suitably qualified manager who has been in post since April 2011. He has the support of a deputy manager who is also one of the team leaders. The staff team are mainly experienced with many holding the level 3 qualification and others working towards it. The staff team is generally stable and good staff morale is evident with staff consistently reporting the home is a good place to work.

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good

The needs of the young people are clearly prioritised within the home and the entire staff team show very high levels of commitment to ensuring young people progress and achieve. With the high levels of support and good oversight provided, the young people make continuous progress and this is accurately recorded. The quality of written records is mainly good, although this is an area highlighted by the registered manager for improvement. Some records are completed in very great detail and the manager strives for all records to meet this high standard.

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good

Improvements are noted in the frequency of staff supervision and staff report they receive regular high quality supervision that they find constructive and which helps them to develop their practice. Training levels are also high and there is a move to focus training on the specific needs of the young people placed, as most staff have now completed the full complement of generic training.

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good

The home has a clear statement of purpose and is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in the statement. This provides useful information to interested parties such as placing authorities and families about what services and support can be expected of the home. There is also a clear development plan in place setting out areas for improvement.

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good

Good quality internal and external monitoring takes place and the manager is well aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. The monitoring is used to good effect with planning to address any deficits identified. One area identified via external monitoring was the timeliness of notifications to the regulatory body and this is repeated via a requirement as undue delay has occurred on two occasions. There has been no detrimental impact on young people as a result of this.

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good

The home develops highly positive relationships with external agencies and the close partnership working ensures good all-round care for young people. The home acts positively as advocates for young people where this is needed.

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good

At the previous inspection three requirements were made relating to recording the outcome of complaints and internal and external monitoring systems, all of which have been met.

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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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