Setting in Knowsley

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Requires improvement at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has improved effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Changes in the home since the last full inspection have resulted in a better standard of care and accommodation. A new manager has been registered with Ofsted. She is suitably experienced and competent. The home has made good progress in meeting the requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

One child was admitted shortly after the inspection and is making good overall progress. He is settled in the home and feels that staff care about him and look after him well. He said: ‘Compared to all the other children’s homes I’ve lived in, this is the best. It’s not like other care homes. I feel at home here. I can open up to staff and they help me to talk about things, so I feel better.’ The child could not identify anything the home needs to do to improve.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

One child has left the home since the last inspection. She had not made progress at the home and her very high safeguarding needs led to the home serving notice on her placement within seven weeks of her admission. Her placement disrupted when the home and police recognised that she could not be kept safe from self- injury in an open children’s home. Assaults on staff had become frequent and serious. The home did not press charges but kept the child out of the criminal justice system, recognising her behaviour resulted from psychological and emotional distress. The home prevented the child from seriously hurting herself despite her many attempts to self-harm. Staff worked well with the police but their joint attempts to get her the help she needed from psychiatric services were unsuccessful.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This is the third placement to have disrupted since the home opened in 2014. In each case, the home has admitted children whose safeguarding needs it has been unable to meet. This means children have had unnecessary placement moves because the quality of assessing children’s suitability has not been good enough.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A requirement to admit only those children whose needs the home can reasonably expect to meet was made following the last inspection. Since then, the home has admitted one child. Transition planning was well underway at the last inspection; the child had been offered a place in the home even though relevant documents about him had not been shared with them. This was addressed immediately so that documents were in place for his arrival. The child’s transition to the home was well planned, with him having two visits including an overnight stay at the home before making a final and positive decision about moving in. This enabled him to get to know staff and the other child in placement and to be fully included in decision-making about the move. It helped him to settle in quickly and helped the home to make a better assessment of his needs.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The arrangements for assessing children’s suitability and matching them to staff skills and the needs of a child already in placement have improved. The home now has a new and more detailed impact and compatibility risk assessment for future use. The manager has clearly stated her intention to meet with children and previous carers before agreeing to take a child. She recognises the importance of obtaining full information and all the relevant documents necessary to enable an informed decision. The new arrangements have yet to be tried and tested so the home cannot fully demonstrate it has learned lessons from its previous practice and that future admissions will be well-planned and suitable.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff follow sound safeguarding procedures which help to keep children safe. For example, the home follows robust missing from care procedures that protect children who go missing or fail to return home on time. Children are routinely made welcome on their return and are interviewed by staff and by an independent person following their return. This helps to protect children by ascertaining, as far as possible, why a child went missing and where they have been.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Records of serious incidents are detailed and demonstrate the home takes immediate action to protect children, working in partnership with other agencies and community services. Any concerns about staff practice are appropriately and swiftly addressed. There have been no allegations against staff or complaints since the last inspection. A child who engaged in very serious, risk-taking behaviour was kept safe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Restraint is used appropriately and only to prevent serious injury to a child. Records of restraint are much improved and are well monitored by the manager. Despite this, not all records clearly detail what happened immediately prior to a restraint or show the details of the way in which a child was held. Staff have received further training in recording skills and understand how the records need to be improved. There have been no restraints for over three months so their new skills have not been tried and tested.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Good consultation with children ensure that children have a say in their day-to-day experiences and make effective contributions to their short and long term plans. Key worker sessions are person-centred and focus on the individual needs of the child. Children receive good support to stay safe on-line and the home works hard to raise their awareness of grooming and how to stay safe from child exploitation. The home is making good progress in meeting the current child’s health needs. With staff support, he is attending health appointments and receiving the treatment he has not received previously, as he has been reluctant to attend appointments with health professionals. Consequently, he has caught up on previously missed vaccinations and health checks including dental and eye sight checks.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The child has re-engaged with education since his admission to the home. This is a slow process but there are clear signs of improving attendance and engagement. The home promotes his education by working in close partnership with the school and alternative education provider. However, the home needs to do more to challenge practice by partner agencies when they are not providing the best possible service to the child.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has made good progress in meeting the requirements and recommendations raised at the last full inspection. The manager has improved the arrangements for monitoring children’s experiences and progress. She has established effective systems for measuring progress and maintains regular overview of children’s progress. This enables her to support staff to promote continuous improvement in children’s lives. The home works well with partner agencies and this helps to ensure, for the most part, that children receive the support from other professionals that they need.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staffing arrangements were improved following the last inspection and additional staff have been employed to ensure sufficient staff are available to meet the needs of the children. Three staff now work on a one-to-one basis with the current young person, which meets his needs. Further staff, including night staff are available to start work at the home, should another child be admitted.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Ofsted met with the provider following the last inspection and raised concerns about the location and size of the home for children with high levels of complex and challenging emotional and behavioural needs. The provider has reviewed the suitability of the home’s location and recognises the home has had a negative impact on neighbours, particularly due to the high levels of noise. She also recognises that children with complex and challenging needs require more space than is available in the home. The provider has found alternative accommodation and plans to move premises within the next six months. The home has not met the requirement to sound-proof the walls, in accordance with its promise to neighbours. However, noise levels are not currently a concern and the home is suitably meeting the needs of the child in placement.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The six-monthly review of the quality of care lacks depth and analysis. It does not cover the whole of the six month period and does not reflect on pertinent issues about the quality of care and children’s progress. Nor does it outline areas for development. The value of the report is therefore limited. It does not provide an informative and accurate overview of the home for the provider and the regulator.

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Information about this children's home

 The home is privately run. It provides care and accommodation for up to two children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

18/11/2015 CH - Full Requires improvement

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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 quality of care review demonstrates effective 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; and that the written report about the quality of care review includes the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review and demonstrates that the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff have informed the review. (Regulation 45 (2),(5)) 31/07/2016

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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 the manager and staff have an understanding of how schools function, including the processes for admissions to schools, the role of designated teachers for looked-after children and the role of the Virtual School Head. In particular, ensure the manager and staff are familiar with legislation relating to school exclusions and to children's education entitlements (The Guide, page 27, paragraph 5.10)  ensure that records of restraint enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly when any issues or trends of concern appear. In particular, ensure that restraint records clearly demonstrate details of the child's behaviour leading up to the restraint and a full description of the measure of control used

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Recommendations

 where the placing authority or another relevant person, such as a school, does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child's needs during their time in the home or in preparation for leaving the home, the home must challenge them to meet the child's needs (see regulations 5 (c)). Staff should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. The registered person should consider the use of an independent advocate (see paragraph 4.16) if the child's needs are not being met (The Guide, page 12, paragraph 2.8)

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Recommendations

 ensure that the home only accepts placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (The Guide, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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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

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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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