Children's Home run by New Foundations Care Homes Limited in St Helens

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people continue to make good progress while living in the home. Staff form some extremely positive relationships with young people supporting them emotionally to maintain contact with family members and access activities in the community. A parent commented that staff are ‘great’ and ‘have really helped’ her daughter. Young people are equally positive about the home and staff, saying its ‘brilliant’ and that’s staff are ‘dead nice’. Staff consistently seek the views of young people in all aspects of their care and make changes wherever practical. All young people are engaged in educational activity both within the home and in placements in the community. Close links with education staff, and when appropriate, attending school with young people, ensures those who are struggling to attend or engage in education are supported to access learning. Young people have made progress in various areas of their lives while living in the home, such as learning to

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

walk away from conflict; being able to express their feelings through more appropriate actions and attending education more frequently.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, one young person has moved on from the home to an emergency placement as a result of a violent incident against staff. After restorative work and careful planning with the social worker and young person, they have returned to the home, and are now engaging more positively with staff. One young person has moved into the home, and again planning was sound. The young person is positive about her experience of moving into the home and despite being anxious about her move, said she felt welcome.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people say they feel safe in the home and their relationships and interactions with staff demonstrate they are comfortable. They say they can approach staff with any worries or concerns they have and feel they are listened to. Staff are confident in processes to follow should they be worried or concerned for a young person’s safety or well-being. Young people do go missing from care on occasions and responses by staff are swift and coordinated with police when required. Return interviews are always competed by the social worker and a local young people’s charity. Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s vulnerabilities and understand the risks of exploitation and radicalisation. They work closely with the local youth offending team to support young people who are completing current orders, but also to support young people to attend voluntary sessions on specific subjects. The worker allocated to an individual in the home

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

commented that ‘staff go and above and beyond to make sure young people are not criminalised’. Staff have strong relationships with partner agencies, such as sexual health and drug and alcohol teams to ensure swift referral when the need arises. Those who use substances or self-injury as coping mechanisms are supported through intensive therapeutic work when needed. When discussing responses to risky behaviours with a social worker, she commented that staff respond promptly and ‘act as any good parent would’.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff work well as a team and are consistent in their approach to care and behaviour management. A serious incident where a member of staff was injured by a young person has been analysed and changes to practice implemented to reduce the likelihood of further occurrences. Restraint is rarely used and young people’s views are sought on the effectiveness of any holds or sanctions used. Young people are actively involved in care planning and formulation of their risk assessments to enable them to understand areas for development, but also staff’s responses to negative or risky behaviours. There has been one complaint since the last inspection, made by a neighbour which was responded to swiftly and to the complainants’ satisfaction. The young person involved also apologised for their actions.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has been without a Registered Manager since January 2016. A new manager has been appointed and is currently in the process of applying to be registered with Ofsted. Since the last inspection, the new management team have considered how to improve the service and quality of care provided. Reports produced by the independent visitor in line with Regulation 44 are robust and the managers review recommendations and identify how they can improve in light of these. They have many plans in place which have yet to be realised, such as redecoration of the whole building, including young people choosing new colours for their bedrooms. There are plans to repurpose communal areas and potentially redesign the ground floor to provide more space for group interaction and personal study. The bathrooms, along with other areas of the home, require a deep clean and maintenance to ensure they are of an acceptable standard. Despite the

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

managers planning to make improvements and evaluating the service, there have been no reports in relation to Regulation 45 forwarded to Ofsted for well beyond six months. The current evaluation took place in January which is significantly over the 28 day period for submitting reports to Ofsted. This has had little impact on the quality of service provided though.

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Information about this children's home

The home is run by a private organisation and offers accommodation for up to five young people 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

26/03/2015 CH - Interim improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

12/03/2014 CH - Interim Inadequate Progress

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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 ensure they supply to HMCI (Ofsted), a copy of the quality of care review report within the 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review was completed. (Regulation 45(4)(a)) 29/04/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  the fabric of the building must be homely and cleaned and maintained to an acceptable standard. This is with specific regard, but not limited to, the cleanliness and condition of bathrooms. (The Guide to Quality Standards, 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

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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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