Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

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

The home was last inspected in November 2015. It was found to require improvement in all areas. Eight requirements and three recommendations were made to bring practice up to a better standard. At the point of this interim inspection, seven of the requirements have been satisfactorily addressed and two out of three of the recommendations have been actioned. This shows that the manager takes note of inspection activity to improve the quality of care. The home is currently operating as a solo placement service for one child. He appears to be interacting well with staff and forming good attachments. This has led to a significant overall reduction in the frequency of serious incidents with him. It also means that there are far fewer restraints of him. This confirms that behaviour management strategies are successful in reducing his risk-taking behaviours. As his social worker observed: ‘It looks like he’s made lots of progress.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

I can see he has really warm relationships with the staff. There has been a reduction in the number of aggressive incidents with him. We’ve seen his behaviour steadily improve from how it was. I feel the placement is meeting his needs and keeping him safe. Staff have had to endure some quite violent behaviours and have managed this well and appropriately.’ Staff carry out individual project work with the child about matters such as assaulting staff, sexualised behaviour and personal hygiene. They take a restorative approach wherever possible and this helps to educate him, and to enable him to reflect on the impact of some of his behaviours. Where appropriate, the manager has brought in external specialist agencies to help with this approach. The child benefits from regular in-house therapeutic support. The focus of this work is to provide high level nurturing activities and ongoing monitoring of his

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

psychological health and well-being. Structured play therapy is in place to help the child talk through past traumas, though this work is still at a very early stage. Important, assertive steps have been taken by the manager to promote the child’s education. He now attends a school in the community and appears to enjoy going. He is very proud of his school uniform. Staff support him with homework, take him out on educative activities and work closely with the school to try to promote consistency of behaviour management approaches. However, six months on from the child’s placement in this home, he is still only receiving ten hours education a week. There are no firm plans as yet in place to increase this. This limited access to formal education means that his learning and progress is not as good as it could be. Staff feel they receive support and are valued in the role that they play. Training is now up-to-date so that they feel confident in their work with the child. They have

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

their performance individually and formally appraised at least annually, and children and young people are invited to contribute to this. Staff morale has been up and down though in recent months. This is linked to a significant shortfall that remains from the previous inspection. The child’s care is still being adversely affected by staffing shortages and use of reserve staff. There is a reliance on staff working extra hours and using the organisation’s relief staff and external agency staff. This child is known to struggle with change and new faces, and it causes him to escalate his behaviour. This was experienced during the interim inspection, though the manager took effective action to manage the situation. Nevertheless, there remains an ongoing cause for concern about frequent changes in the staffing arrangements that continue to have a negative impact on continuity of care. Safeguarding arrangements appear to be adequately robust. The manager

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

responds promptly to any concerns and takes action with appropriate consultation with relevant agencies. Staff take all reasonable steps to anticipate and manage the challenges and behaviours the child presents. On the rare occasions he has gone missing from the home, staff have followed procedures and guidance to ensure his swift return. The home has developed close working relationships with community police to locate and promote the safety and well-being of children and young people when absent from the home. Local police also assist with restorative work and to help this child to understand some of the consequences of his behaviours. The physical environment of the home has improved since the last inspection. There are now more pictures on display and the home presents as clean, suitably maintained and mostly tidy. However, there remains room for improvement in terms of tidying the garden, ensuring that the child’s bathroom is appropriately

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

equipped and more use of photos of the child around the home to promote his sense of belonging. The inspector also found a potentially serious oversight on the part of staff who had left out a bathroom cleaning product in the child’s bathroom. This is a toxic product that could have been harmful to both the child and to staff. The manager was mortified that this had happened and assured that he will address it with the staff concerned. The manager is still in process of applying to be the Registered Manager of the home. He has successfully completed his suitable person interview but there remain some delays in receipt of background checks. He continues to be supported well by senior managers and has been active in sourcing specific training to promote his development as a manager. He is currently also completing his appropriate professional leadership qualification. This all helps to ensure he has a

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

satisfactory strategic understanding of the home. He undertakes regular monitoring to make sure that the child is safe and enjoys a good enough standard of care. This process helps to highlight the strengths of the home and areas for development. The independent visitor provides very useful critical-friend feedback to further promote the development of the service. Unfortunately, her advice is not always fully acted upon and her reports show repeated recommendations from previous months. This means that the manager is not taking full advantage of constructive monitoring activity. To conclude, the home has made some significant progress since the last inspection, especially in relation to addressing the previous breaches in regulation. The child has now started to access formal education and his behaviour continues to improve. However, there is still a way to go to bring the service up to a consistently good standard. As a result, three requirements (including one raised

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

previously in relation to continuity of care) and two recommendations are made to drive forward the necessary improvements.

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Information about this children's home

This is one of a number of children’s homes operated by a private company. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Currently the home is operating as a solo provision for one child.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/11/2015 CH - Full Requires improvement

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Recent inspection history

10/02/2015 CH - Interim improved effectiveness

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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

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

13.—(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

(e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child; with specific reference to use of reserve staff. 23/04/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

—(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and . (b) promotes their welfare. . (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 23/05/2016

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Requirement Due date

—(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health. 23/04/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 Children should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age. The home must aim to support full time attendance at school unless the child's relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests. (The Guide, page 28, paragraph 5.14)

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Recommendations

 For children's homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments that seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than 'institutional' feel; with specific reference to display of photographs and pictures, regular garden management and appropriate supply of hygiene products in the child's bathroom. (The Guide, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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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