Children's Home run by New Start in Liverpool

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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because:

The home does not have a registered manager. This post has been vacant for over 26 weeks. A manager is in post and has made an application to Ofsted for registration.

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because:

The recording systems are not robust as do not tell the „real‟ story of the young person‟s experiences and progress in the home. The placement plan, health care plan and risk assessment are not clear and do not provide clear insight into the day-to day support required by the young person. The home is not effectively evaluating the progress of young people. Records such as personal progress records, missing from care, key worker, and direct work are not sufficiently detailed. Young people are not being adequately supported with clear plans to develop their skills to live independently. Monitoring of the home is not yet robust. This is because there is some conflicting information between what the independent person is reporting on and what is actually on record. Monitoring by the manager is not evaluative and does not identify any shortfalls, patterns and trends or what action has been taken to address these.

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The children's home strengths

The young person says he feels safe here and is safe. He has dramatically cut the incidents of being missing and said he no longer needs to. He has strong, positive relationship with staff. As a result, he is confident to talk to them about any concerns he may have. He is doing very well in education. He is thoroughly enjoying his theatre course and has established a good network of age, appropriate friends. Staff support the young person well to maintain relationships with family and friends. Effective inter-agency relationships helps keep the young person safe. This means everyone is fully aware of his progress and any areas of concern. Professionals spoken to said they enjoy productive communications with the home.

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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

10. In order to meet the health and well-being standard the provider must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(1) (a) The health and well-being needs of children are met; (b) Children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and (c) Children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the young person has an up-to-date health care plan. 31/03/2016

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Requirement Due date

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard the provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2) (a) (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; In particular, ensure risk assessments reflect current risks associated with the young person and accurately record as to how they are keeping young people safe. 31/03/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain all of the records which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child, in particular that records are sufficiently 31/03/2016 detailed, and are up-to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry, records are held in a secure place when the young person has ceased to be accommodated.

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Requirement Due date

With particular regard to the recording of placement plans, independence plans, key worker, and direct work sessions, personal progress sheets, and missing from care records including any information relating the young person‟s whereabouts and discussions with staff. (Regulation 36 1 (a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. (2)In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating – (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2) (a) (b) (c)) 31/03/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Enhance further the policy on the protection of children from abuse and neglect to include the arrangements in relation to dealing with allegations involving staff, e-safety. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 44, para 9.19)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the staffing structure has the necessary experience and qualifications to enable the delivery of the homes Statement of Purpose in particular, training concerning record keeping, and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender young people. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

12/08/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

08/07/2014 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement

The young person enjoys very positive relationships with staff. These relationships are successful as they are built upon honesty, trust, and mutual respect. He has lived here for some time and is happy and settled here. He said, „everything is good.‟

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requires improvement

Care planning while individualised to his needs is not robust. This is because his placement plan does not accurately reflect his current day-today needs. The plans are large documents, which contain lots of historical information. While this is valuable, it clouds the current issues for the young person and the support being offered. Key worker and direct work sessions take place every day with him. However, staff do not always record these conversations which means valuable information may be lost.

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requires improvement

Health care plans are in place, but do not contain information on his current health issues and the action taken by staff to address these. For example, the young person smokes and has said that this time he does not want to give up. However, there is no record of what staff are doing to encourage him to stop.

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requires improvement

There is little information about how the young person‟s sexual health is being supported. Staff said they are proud he voluntarily went for sexual health screening but do not know the outcome of this. All of these are recording issues that have not been identified through the internal or external monitoring of the home. The staff demonstrate a very good understanding of his needs and how they are actually meeting them in practice. Professionals said the staff have a great relationship with him and are meeting his needs well. As a result they said he is making good progress.

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requires improvement

Young people‟s educational attendance and attainment is very much improved. He is thoroughly enjoying his college course on theatre skills. He spoke enthusiastically about the opportunities to act and direct others and is looking forward to putting on a production. As a result, of attending college he has made a sound friendship base of young people his own age; something that he has not been able to achieve in the past. He enjoys socialising with them and often brings friends home for tea. Social worker‟s and the youth offending team (YOT) case managers all said his engagement and enjoyment in education is wonderful to see. It has had a profound affect upon him and he is doing very well.

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requires improvement

YOT are particularly proud of the young person‟s progress and nominated him for a progress award. Sadly, he was not successful but is being invited to the ceremony to be presented with a certificate. YOT said he has made fabulous progress in the last year and has „turned his life around.‟ He has „increased in confidence, is much more articulate and knows what he wants to achieve from meetings and conversations. He understands why some things cannot happen as quickly as he wishes. However, due to his progress we are looking to see if we can end the YOT order early.‟ This is a massive achievement for the young person.

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requires improvement

He has increased in maturity and is much more comfortable „in his own skin‟. He is looking towards his future and is setting himself goals such as completing his level three course and starting a musical theatre course. Staff are actively encouraging his interest in the theatre. They have provide tickets for local shows and are busy researching accommodation and tickets to London to see a west end show. The young person said staff have suggested Thriller and he said „are you mad, it has to be Wicked.‟ This is being addressed.

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requires improvement

Plans to support the young person‟s independence are not effective. This is because they are „woolly‟ and do not say exactly what it is they want the young person to achieve. For example, they said he has to cook a meal, do his bedroom and laundry. But does not breakdown the time frame for or the actual expectations of these tasks. There is no clear record of how his achievements are recorded or how the next steps are identified. Discussions do take place in staff meetings, but the records do not back up the discussion or the decisions reached. The young person said he finds it difficult to fit everything in with college and wanting to see his friends. He said it would be better to agree days when he was to do certain things as that way he can get into a routine. This is being taken up by the manger.

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requires improvement

The young person is increasing his understanding of budgeting. Each week he sorts his monies into different envelops for separate activities. He does appear to get a large amount of money and staff are not always clear on what this has been spent on. Also, they are missing opportunities to help him understand the value of money, for example staff helping him to understand that staff cannot pay for all his activities and helping him to contribute to this.

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requires improvement

Contact is very well supported by the staff. The social worker team manager said the staff have a „good relationship with mum and are a bridge between us and her.‟ Staff have worked well with her to establish overnight stays for the young person. This went well and the young person enjoyed the Christmas period with his family.

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people are helped and protected

Young people are safeguarded as staff have a clear understanding of the risks to them such as child sexual exploitation and missing from care. However, their risk assessments do not support this, making them ineffective in managing presenting risks. This is because they do not identify the perceived risk or the action being taken to address this. His missing from care risk assessment has not been updated to show some of the new areas he is going to with friends or the extensions to the times he needs to be home. These are recording issues as staff can clearly demonstrate what they are doing in practice to keep him safe.

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people are helped and protected

The safeguarding policy has been updated since the last inspection. The information on the action to take around self- harm and suicide has improved and staff are aware of the action to take. However, it requires further revision about any allegations made about staff and e-safety.

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people are helped and protected

The incidents of the young person being missing has dramatically declined in recent months. Police, social worker‟s, and YOT say this is because of the clear consistent messages he receives from staff and their willingness to instigate new strategies. For example, the extension of free time has enabled him to build friendships with his peers. Granted, there remain some late returns but this is a massive achievement, which has been recognised as multi-agency the level of assessed risk of child sexual exploitation and missing has been reduced.

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people are helped and protected

Missing from care records are completed but do not always give insight into what happened upon his return. For example, one record states the young people „was sober‟ yet his key worker session states he said „he wasn‟t that drunk.‟ On other occasions the records have not been effectively evaluated by the manger, for example stating that „all procedures followed‟ does not consider the action taken by staff or the robustness of the recording.

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people are helped and protected

The young person is very aware of the house rules. He is much more settled and while staff say he is still not a morning person he is getting up on time. He knows how to make a complaint. Consequences are appropriately recorded and the young person is actively involved in setting agreeable consequences and rewards. His rewards far outweigh any consequences. He particularly enjoys going to concerts and the theatre so this is woven in to the rewards. Consequently, they are meaningful to him and he is more likely to succeed.

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people are helped and protected

The home is warm and welcoming. His bedroom clearly reflects his personality and style. Staff said the young people now refers to here as home. Recruitment and vetting procedures are sound. All visitors to the home must provide suitable identification and are required to sign in and out. This helps to keep the young person safe. Judgement grade

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inadequate

There has been no Registered Manager in post since May 2015. A new manager was appointed in August 2015. He has submitted an application to register to Ofsted in December 2015 following a delay in obtaining one of his checks. The new manger holds a social worker qualification and has extensive management experience.

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inadequate

However, the lack of management and leadership has affected the effective running of the home. This is evident in the decline in the quality of recording, which fails to support what staff are actually doing in practice, and the progress the young person is making.

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inadequate

Monitoring of the home by the independent person and manager is not robust and does not help them to move forward. Monitoring failed to identify the inconsistencies in recording, for example, the lack of detail in personal progress sheets and conflicting information in records. The manger has not sent his six monthly monitoring reports to Ofsted. Although immediate action was taken to address this, it does not promote transparency.

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inadequate

Staff said they are well supported by the new manager and the children‟s director. They say the changes in supervision to include reflective practice are beneficial and provide them with the opportunities to consider what they are doing and what can be improved. Staff have regular training throughout the year. However, they would benefit from refresher training in record keeping, las well as extending their knowledge and skills about how to effectively support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people.

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inadequate

Positive action has been taken to address the issues from the last inspection. As a result, the manager has clearer oversight of the issues pertaining to self-harm and suicide. Risk assessments have been updated in response to e-safety and the use of mobile phones but are not yet robust. Consequently, this has been raised at this inspection. The Statement of Purpose has been updated to reflect the current management structure.

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inadequate

Robust and updated location risk assessment has been completed. This assessment has incorporated the views of key partner agencies, such as police and local authority. Information is shared regarding concerns in the local area and potential risks to young people. This supports staff and other professionals to keep young people safe.

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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

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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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