Children's home run by Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in Sefton

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 feel that they are benefiting from staying in this friendly and supportive environment. It is a safe place that gives them time away from the pressures they may be facing at home, school or in the community. They receive a high quality of care, and the personalised support and guidance they need to help them tackle their problems and improve their relationships with their families. They are making sustained progress in all areas of their development.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people are safer, and have developed trusting relationships with the insightful staff. Strong and effective safe care practices protect them from aggression, self-harm, bullying, exploitation and from going missing. Staff have a thorough understanding of the risks to individual young people’s safety and work effectively to reduce these risks. They work creatively to provide young people with very good advice and guidance in fun and accessible ways.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The culture and ethos of the home helps young people to build and maintain positive relationships with their families, staff, other children and important people in their lives. The warm and positive atmosphere gives young people time, space and help to work understand their feelings and behaviour, and develop their skills to resolve arguments positively and without anyone getting hurt. Young people’s behaviour is usually excellent and they do not show aggression. They get along well with staff and other young people extremely well.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The home is successfully run by a strong manager and experienced and cohesive staff team. They effectively and collaboratively with young people, families and colleagues from The Community Adolescent Service to ensure that young people receive they best possible support and guidance that meets their needs. Routine and rigorous scrutiny of the quality of care means that leaders and managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the service, and the impact that it is having on the lives of young people that come to stay.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The home meets all the quality standards. However, there are some weaknesses in relation to the quality of the written records. The short breaks plans show do include young people’s views or clearly set out the work that needs to be carried out. Risk assessments do not explicitly show the specific protective measures that staff should follow for individual young people.

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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 in preparing or reviewing the placement plan so far as reasonably practicable, having regard to the child's age and understanding, seek and take into account of the child's wishes and feelings. (Regulation 18(8)(a)) 06/03/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the independent person must provide a copy of independent person's report to HMCI. (Regulation 44(7)(a)) 06/03/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that children's risk assessments and behaviour management plans include clear and comprehensive details of the specific steps the staff will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. In particular, the risk assessments and plans are personalised and tailored to the risks relating to individual children. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 42, paragraph 9.6)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the home has sufficient information from the child's placing authority and other relevant agencies to effectively assess they can meet the child's needs; in particular that each child's short breaks plan clearly outlines in detail the specific work that the staff are expected to carry out. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 57, paragraph 11.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure case records are signed and dated by the author and the information about the child must ways be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child; in particular provide a detailed account of the child's experiences, progress and they support and guidance they receive. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62, paragraphs 14.3 and 14.4)

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Information about this children's home

This local authority children's home provides short breaks for up to four children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties supported by the Community Adolescent Service. Its main function is to work with children and families to improve their relationships and enable them to continue to live together permanently. It only provides short breaks and outreach for children and their families being supported by the Community Adolescent Service.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

28/10/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

good

Young people and their families receive a high quality of support that is making a significant difference to their lives. The staff ensure that young people get the personalised support and guidance they need to help them tackle their problems. They are safer, build their self-esteem and feelings of emotional well-being, improve their participation and achievements in education, and develop life skills, such as cooking, baking, shopping and managing money. They feel able to accept the advice and guidance available to them, manage their feelings and behaviour constructively, and develop skills in resolving problems. The short breaks provide young people with positive experiences, space and time to think about and start to deal with the difficulties they experience at home, in school, or in the community. Young people enjoy staying because it is a safe place for them away from the difficulties they are facing. A young person said: ‘it’s a

p.6

good

place where I can chill away from the stress at home.’ It is a comfortable and homely environment that is suitably located and designed to meet the needs of young people. They have enough personal space to relax and reflect, as well as opportunities to spend time with other young people and staff playing games, watching television and films. They have plenty of meaningful activities to enjoy, including going to the cinema and the theatre. Some of the activities are linked to helping them to talk about their feelings and lives through play, art and crafts. A young person said that he liked going for drives in the car with staff and having a chat in a café. The staff give a lot of thought to providing interesting and affordable activities that the children can continue at home. All the young people using the service are given leisure passes for local authority facilities, including gyms and swimming pools, which they can use with their families.

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good

Young people have strong and trusting relationships with the staff. A Community Adolescent Service worker said: ‘The young person really likes staying and really likes the staff. She has an excellent relationship with her keyworker.’ Young people feel that staff are friendly, interested in their lives and want to help them. When they are struggling, feeling upset, anxious and frustrated, the staff make every effort to understand the problem and provide them with the support and guidance they need. Family members and workers from the Community Adolescent Service feel that very good the quality of care provided is making positive difference to family life. A grandparent said ‘he is enjoying his time and stay overs and has made new friends’ and ‘staff are doing an amazing job.’ A Community Adolescent Service workers said: ‘He wants to stay, really enjoys being there and is really engaging with the work. He is safer when he is there because he is not going

p.6

good

missing from the home.’ The staff are skilled at enabling young people to identify what is going wrong and think about how to make changes. They help young people understand the impact of their choices and behaviour on their lives and the people around them; for example, the effect of a young person increased cannabis use on their relationships at home. They staff are very knowledgeable about the support services available to young people and ensure that they get the support they need. They encourage and support young people to have a good understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles, balanced a nutritious diets and getting plenty of physical exercise. As well as understanding the health risks associated with using cigarettes, drugs, legal highs, alcohol, and sexual activity. They work extremely hard to make sure the young people get the excellent support and advice at the right time. When young people have asked for help and been ready to talk about

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good

their experiences support is always available. The staff also work extremely well with young people’s families to provide them with reassurance, understanding and advice. They emphasise the importance of everyone working together to try to improve the situation. The manager and staff work in a sensitive and coordinated way to identify if they can respond effectively to individual young people’s assessed needs and understand and manage any risks. Young people feel involved in the decisions about coming to stay and understand what is expected of them and agree the short break plan. They usually visit beforehand to have a look around and meet the staff, and feel they have a say in the decision. However, their views are not included in their short break plan. This would be helpful for staff to understand young people’s wishes and feelings about the reasons for their stay, their understanding of the problems, what they want to change and what they want to

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good

achieve. The quality of the short break plans is not consistently strong. Overall, the plans do not provide a comprehensive and detailed picture of what needs to be done to meet the young people’s individual needs and tackle the concerns. For example, a plan identifies that a young person needed support around ‘negative peer relationships’, but does not show how this is to achieved or how it fits in with the rest of the work with the family. The plans are routinely reviewed to ensure that continue to get the right support and consider their futures. The daily records are not always written in a way that is helpful to the child and provide a better understanding of the child’s life. They do not provide a detailed account of the child’s experiences, progress and they support and guidance they receive. In addition, they are not often dated or signed by the author. Judgement grade

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good

Young people stay in a safe and supportive environment. They feel safe, trust the staff and feel able to talk about their feelings and what is happening in their lives. They know that the staff will listen to them, take what they say seriously, and take action to help them.

p.8

good

The staff’s strong and effective safe care practices help young people to be safer. They protect them from aggression, self-harm, bullying, exploitation and from going missing. They are very well-trained in safeguarding and recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect, drug use, young people’s vulnerability to sexual exploitation. They respond promptly and effectively to concerns about their safety. They work collaboratively with the police, local safeguarding services, and the Community Adolescent Service to successfully promote young people’s safety. The staff have also established strong links with services that help young people experiencing problems and work creatively to devise ways to provide young people with advice and guidance in fun and accessible ways. Pamper or pizza evenings have proved to be a more relaxing way to talk about relationships, understanding consent and sexual health. The staff provide young people with good advice and

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good

suggestions for their personal safety, including about keeping in touch with their parents and staff when they are out with friends, and always call for help if they feel unsafe.

p.8

good

The staff have a thorough understanding of the risks to individual young people’s safety and work effectively to reduce these risks. However, the written risk assessments are not sufficiently individualised to set out clearly the specific protective measures that staff should follow to help deal with the risks for each young person. For example, what steps to take for individual young people under influence of drugs or alcohol, and how best to help individual young people manage their feelings and behaviour. This lack of detail and clarity may impede the consistent use of effective protective measures to help children by different members of staff.

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good

The development of healthy, safe and positive relationships with staff, other young people, parents and relatives is central to the ethos of the home. The warm and positive atmosphere gives young people time, space and help to work understand their feelings and behaviour, and develop their skills to resolve arguments positively and without anyone getting hurt. The staff work hard to understand young people’s frustrations and anxieties and provide them with clear and consistent expectations for behaviour. Young people’s behaviour is usually excellent and they do not show aggression. They get along well with staff and other young people extremely well. The staff encourage and support them to learn to how to negotiate, find common ground and problem solve. Community Adolescent Service workers feel that since first coming to stay young people are ‘showing signs of becoming more mature’ and have improved family relationships.

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good

For example; the short stays are: ‘giving him time away from conflicts at home and time for him to reflect on what is happening and he is trying to approach things differently. He is thinking about better friendships and he is not getting into as much trouble.’

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good

The staff working with young people are carefully vetted and selected. They have the right experience, qualifications, skills, values and motivation to work with young people and their families experiencing problems.

p.9

good

The Registered Manager has been in charge of the home since July 2015. She is a vastly experienced manager, and suitably qualified as a social worker and in leadership and management. She has a strong track record of leading and managing children’s homes to a consistently good standard. She ensures that the home runs efficiently and consistently with the objectives set out in its statement of purpose and in the best interests of young people. The culture and ethos of the home reflects a strongly child-centred approach and commitment to promoting and safeguarding young people’s welfare and supporting their families.

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good

The staff are experienced and caring people who work together as a cohesive team. They clearly enjoy their work and are enthusiastic about working in a different way with young people. A member of staff said: ‘We now definitely work with young people, instead of doing things for them.’ This includes recognising young people’s skills and learning new skills together. For example, a member of staff did research online with a young person about the dangers of legal highs and cannabis using the young person’s IT skills. The staff are keen to develop their expertise and the scope of their work to support young people and their families in the community. They show a strong commitment to ensuring that each young person, regardless of the difficulties they are experiencing, is safe, valued, and gets the best possible opportunities to work through their problems and improve family relationships. Consequently, young people and their families get the help

p.9

good

they need to sort out their difficulties, and young people make pleasing progress across all aspects of their development. The good deployment of staff promotes young people’s safety and suitable daily routines. The staff also have the opportunity to work with young people in the community.

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good

The staff are an integral part of the work of the Community Adolescent Service and work collaboratively with colleagues from a variety of disciplines, including mental health, youth justice, health, youth and social work, to ensure that families receive they best possible support and guidance. Information is shared effectively and efficiently between the staff and their colleagues in the Community Adolescent Service. This means that staff can be responsive to family crises and emerging needs and risks; ensuring that a place is available for young people to stay when things are very difficult at home. Also, changing the focus of the work with young people to look at the most pressing issue; for example talking about personal safety after a young person was under the influence of drugs and alcohol in the community.

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good

The staff are very well supported by the managers through regular professional supervision and team meetings. They have opportunities to review and reflect young people’s progress and needs, their own performance and development needs, the running of the home and how best to develop and improve the standard of care and support. All the staff are either suitably qualified and have excellent opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge relevant to the young people’s needs through training and working alongside specialist safeguarding, drug and health services. They also have opportunities to learn experientially, working alongside colleagues from different disciplines, such as shadowing work in parenting groups, with a view of leading these groups in the future.

p.10

good

Leaders and the managers routinely monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the service at meeting its objectives. They have a clear understanding of the strengths and use clear systems to measure the progress families are making. The manager has completed a review of the quality of care and reflected on how effectively the home’s statement of purpose reflects the local needs. The review provided a reasonably clear picture of how the home is meeting quality standards. It draws convincing conclusions from the findings to identify strengths and weaknesses and set out an action plan. It also shows examples of consultation with young people and changes made at their suggestions, for example getting a larger pool table. Her analysis of the reasons young people are referred to the service helped to identify the need for the local authority to develop specific provision homeless older young people. She has also identified that the quality of written records,

p.10

good

short break plans and reviews need to be much more detailed. Also individual risk assessments need to use information about young people in a more sophisticated way to work out their compatibility to stay at the same time; for example information about young people associations to gangs needs to be better understood to work out any potential risks of young people from different areas spending time together.

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good

A new system of independent monitoring has been introduced and is improving the level of scrutiny of the home. An independent person has visited every month, provided detailed reports of their findings with recommendations for action. The improved quality of monitoring is assisting the leaders and managers to understand the effectiveness of the home’s approaches and to secure improvements and better outcomes for children. However, the independent visitor’s report have not always been sent to Ofsted.

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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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