Children's Home run by St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council 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 improved effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people continue to be settled and are making good progress in all aspects of their lives. They all attend full-time education placements and, when necessary, additional tuition is arranged to support their learning and outcomes. One young person is due to sit her GCSE exams and is currently receiving extra tuition in English and maths. Another young person recently won a prize for his effort and achievements in his work placement.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Effective partnership working with a range of health services is ensuring that young people benefit from good health care and guidance. Specialist health services, including, drug and alcohol teams, counselling services, and sexual health workers provide on-going support to both young people and staff. In addition to this, staff encourage and support young people to attend all routine health checks and appointments. As a result, both physical and emotional health is fully promoted within this home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

New monitoring systems have been introduced to the home and this is ensuring that the manager and staff have a clear overview of young people’s outcomes and achievements. Young people’s progress is being regularly documented and tracked, for example, school attendance, health appointments and incidents of missing from care are clearly recorded on each young person’s file. This is helping the team to evaluate young people’s progress, identify any changes in need and adjust individual care plans and risk assessments accordingly.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people now benefit from comprehensive placement plans which are jointly drawn up by them and the team. Staff confirmed that they also benefit from having all relevant information detailed in one document. A member of staff said, ‘the new plans are a very useful tool as everything is in it. New staff can pick it up and find out everything they need to know.’ Additionally, these plans clearly identify targets, based on the young person’s specific needs; including how and when this will be achieved. Consequently, care planning within the home has significantly improved. Some young people living at the home were at high risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE) when initially placed. Through staff and specialist CSE service support, these risks have reduced over time. Regular key work sessions with staff are helping young people to reflect on their behaviour, learn about danger and keep themselves safe. Risk assessments are detailed and kept up-to-date. This is

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

ensuring that staff have a full understanding of each young person’s specific needs and know how to manage risk.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

When young people go missing staff take effective action. They actively look for young people in the community and ensure that the local missing from care protocol is rigorously followed. When necessary, more concerning incidents are escalated to multi-disciplinary strategy meetings. This ensures that young people’s risk taking behaviour is appropriately assessed by all relevant safeguarding professionals responsible for promoting their welfare.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people enjoy a variety of hobbies and activities, such as, fire cadets, boxing and scuba diving. Not only is this providing them with the opportunity to meet with friends and learn new skills while having fun. It helps increase their confidence and self-esteem, which in turn, will improve their emotional well-being.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The Registered Manager has addressed all of the shortfalls raised at the last inspection. The introduction of individual placement plans is ensuring a more consistent and effective approach to care planning. Internal monitoring systems have improved and this is helping the manager and team establish a clearer overview of young people’s progress and staff’s practice within the home. The independent monitoring visits have been undertaken monthly as required. However, the reports from these visits do not provide a thorough evaluation of the service. These visits are undertaken by local authority councillors, who do not always have the relevant knowledge and experience essential to this role.

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and managed by a local authority and provides accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16/02/2015 Interim sustained 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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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home's care. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, paragraph 15.5, page 65.)

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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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