Setting in Shropshire

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Outstanding at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has declined in effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has declined due to the impact of significant management changes and redundancies in the home and across the organisation. Young people, staff and stakeholders were shocked, upset and confused because the registered manager and a senior suddenly disappeared in January 2016. They only came back to say formal goodbyes by arrangement a few weeks later. The former operations manager of the organisation is managing the home and is applying for registration with Ofsted.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The same two young people have lived in the home for over a year. Staff have planned some practice improvements but they seem slow to get them established. For example, their work on helping young people put together a self- soothing box in still at an early stage. Individual praise and reflection diaries for young people only started a few weeks ago. Young people feel frustrated because their progress towards independence, free time and access to communications seems slow. Nevertheless, staff remain committed to each young person. Staff are embracing more coordinated and formally recorded ways of working with them. For example, they are using and recording positive and negative consequences more. They make sure young people are clear about why they are receiving a consequence. They hope young people will understand cause and effect better and make more progress through this approach. Staff are also working closely with the

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

therapist to improve their daily care practice. For example, they aim to give young people more chance to express their own thoughts, ways, and feelings. Staff then value, steer and expand on what young people think, instead of disregarding them as wrong or saying no. Young people’s parents and local authorities continue to rate the home highly. For example, both social workers say it is ‘excellent’ and an independent reviewing officer said, ‘the best thing is the staff team’s interaction, motivation and knowledge.’ A parent said, ‘Everything is excellent. They really do a fantastic job’. The manager and registered individual have not made best use of internal or independent scrutiny to find out the impact of the management and staff changes. They did not anticipate and prepare well for the difficulties staff and young people experienced. They did not undertake timely, full and frank consultation with all

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

parties or record those people’s responses. They have not systematically sought to learn lessons for managing change and improving leadership and management. Added to this, the home changed to a different company for its independent monthly visits in January 2016. As a result, the visitor has not assessed the impact of changes in the course of his work. Ofsted has not received any reports of the home’s monthly independent visits since November 2015. This makes it hard for Ofsted to know about care quality, including the impact of changes, between inspections. The organisation has improved its recruitment procedures and taken advice about this since the last inspection. It ensures that there is an audit trail for recruitment decisions when concerns have come to light though the checks process. However, applicants are not always asked if they have been subject to any disciplinary action in their interview. In addition, applicants do not receive written information about

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

how their recruitment decision has been made following any concerns arising from checks.

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Information about this children's home

The children's home provides care and accommodation for up to three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, including children who have experienced sexual exploitation. Education may be provided at a school on the same site. The children home and school are owned by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

28/04/2014 CH - Registration Not applicable

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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

Ensure that the independent person provides a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(i)) 08/04/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that the registered person actively seeks independent scrutiny of the home and makes best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person takes responsibility for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person maintains good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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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