Tide House

Unique reference number SC479919 Inspection date 07 October 2015 Inspector Tina Maddison Type of inspection Full

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Setting address 21 High Street BIDEFORD Devon EX39 2AA

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Telephone number 07794532727 Email cj@inclusis.com Registered person Inclusis Ltd Registered manager Post vacant Responsible individual Craig Jones Date of last inspection N/A Tide House Inspection report for a residential family centre Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Brief description of the service

Tide house is a residential family centre, registered to provide assessment, care and accommodation for up to three families, who are referred for assessment to the centre by the courts or Local Authority Children’s Services. The centre enables children to live safely with their family while the care given to them from their parent(s) or carers is being assessed, with a view to developing safe parenting skills. The centre provides evidence based assessments which will enable informed decisions to be made about whether or not it would be in the child’s best interest to remain in the permanent care of their parent(s) or carers. Parents and carers live in one of three self-contained flats, located in a main building, which is situated in the centre of a large town and benefits from its associated facilities and services.

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The overall experiences of children and parents requires improvement

The family centre has been operating for approximately ten months. This inspection is the first for this service since it was registered. The manager who initially was registered to manage the service resigned six months after the opening of the service and has been replaced. Following the appointment of a new manager it is apparent the quality of assessments is much improved and she is providing clear leadership and direction for staff.

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The overall experiences of children and parents requires improvement

Due to management changes and the service establishing its procedures and policies, some shortfalls in leadership and management tasks are evident. The Statement of Purpose for the service does not document all necessary information. For example, if the service will admit parents on an emergency basis or if the service will admit parents who have a history of sexual offences and who are on the sexual offenders register. A system for monitoring the quality of care provided at the centre is not yet established and is not yet informing the development of the service. Staff recruitment files are not well ordered and some records do not demonstrate that safer recruitment processes are always followed for all staff. Managers do not always notify Ofsted of all serious incidents occurring at the centre, as required by the regulations.

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The overall experiences of children and parents requires improvement

Prior to admission, unless the admission is made in an emergency, the centre provides clear and comprehensive information to parents, so that they understand where they are going, why, and how the assessment will be undertaken. Parents understand that the purpose of the assessment is to evaluate their ability to provide safe and nurturing parenting to their children and ensure they are able to keep them safe. Parents commented positively about the support they receive from staff in order for them to improve their parenting skills. One parent said ‘I am glad I came here, if I didn’t have the support and the work they have done with me, then I wouldn’t be able to keep my child. I have learned so much, staff aren’t bossy, they show me how to do the right thing and teach me cooking and how to play with my child.’

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The overall experiences of children and parents requires improvement

Assessments are individualised and the therapy, support and access to community facilities provided at the centre gives parents every chance to succeed. Staff effectively support parents to gain new skills. Parents say they feel safe living in the centre and appreciate the opportunity to be assessed in a well-equipped and furnished self-contained flat, where they do not have to share facilities such as the kitchen and bathroom with other families.

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The overall experiences of children and parents requires improvement

Parents know how to complain if they are unhappy with any aspect of their assessment and feel confident that their concerns will be addressed and resolved. Views and ideas from parents are welcomed by managers who use them to improve the service provided.

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Statutory Requirements

This sections sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 and the National Minimum Standards. The registerd person must comply with the given timescales.

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Statutory Requirements

ensure that the statement of purpose is kept under Review and where appropriate, revise the statement of Purpose (Regulation 4(1)) - Due date - 15 Nov 2015

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Statutory Requirements

ensure that a system is established and maintained for the review of the quality of care provided at the family centre (Regulation 23(1)) – Due date - 15 Nov 2015

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Statutory Requirements

ensure that if, in relation to a residential family centre, any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 take place, the registered person shall, without delay, notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table (Regulation 21(1)) – Due date - 15 Nov 2015

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Statutory Requirements

ensure that a person does not start work at the residential family centre unless full and satisfactory information in respect of that person has been obtained in relation to the matters specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 2 (Regulation 16(3)(d)). – Due date - 15 Nov 2015.

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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

 ensure parents are encouraged to communicate their views, wishes and feelings on all aspect of their placement, assessment and support - NMS 8.6

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Recommendations

 ensure the residents guide to the residential family centre includes picturesand full information so that families are fully informed about their proposed assessment and the facilities the residential family centre offers - NMS 2.1.

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The quality of assessment requires improvement

Leaders and managers are striving to continually improve the quality of the assessments. Prior to the newly appointed manager overseeing the assessment process, shortfalls were identified in assessments during the court process. This is now remedied and assessments sampled since the appointment of the new manager evidences that assessments are now comprehensive, individualised and fair.

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The quality of assessment requires improvement

The centre provides evidence based assessments, undertaken by a staff team who are knowledgeable, continue to build their skills and are overseen by a manager who is a very experienced and qualified social worker. Assessments are completed using theoretical models such as the Department of Health’s ‘Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000).

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The quality of assessment requires improvement

Placement plans clearly outline how the staff will assess parenting skills and documents their capacity for change. It also notes how CCTV and one to one monitoring will be used during the assessment. Plans are updated according to progress made by families and associated risks, as they increase or reduce. Families are fully involved in their assessment plans and staff regularly feedback on what has gone well and areas families need to work on. Graphs are used to clearly and simply demonstrate to families their progress, or lack of progress, with their parenting skills.

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The quality of assessment requires improvement

One parent said ‘the assessments are fair, they help me and teach me cooking, healthy eating and how to look after my son.’

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The quality of assessment requires improvement

The quality of assessment reports is recently much improved. The new manager produces reports that are clear, concise and contain a clear chronology. Reports are based on clear evidence. Prior to her appointment, reports were descriptive rather than evaluative and did not contain clear recommendations. One social worker said ‘assessments were difficult prior to the new manager coming on board, as they were over optimistic and there was a lack of clear evidence. Some reports did not accurately cross reference information and there was a lack of clear analysis. Reports now contain clear and well evidenced recommendations.’

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The quality of assessment requires improvement

Parents are fully consulted about the information contained in the reports and they are able to query the content of reports before they are finalised. One parent said ‘I saw my report before court and staff went through it with me, it was a fair report.’

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protected and helped

Staff recruitment processes are not yet fully established and do not fully evidence safer recruitment practice. Staff recruitment files do not contain evidence that referees are contacted by telephone to verify the reference and gaps in employment history are not fully explored. Although it is explored at interview, not all staff files contained an application form to evidence previous employment and any associated gaps in employment.

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protected and helped

Parents say they felt safe living at the centre. The manager and staff at the centre aim to provide a safe, supportive and nurturing environment where parents feel confident to do their best and feel safe to raise any concerns or issues with staff.

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protected and helped

Risk assessments clearly identify any potential risks, and document how these risks will be managed. Staff achieve a balance of keeping parents and children safe, while allowing them to take managed risks to inform a comprehensive parenting assessment process. Regular review means that if, for example, a parent is making progress with their safe parenting skills, then supervision is able to be reduced.

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protected and helped

Most families said they had sufficient information prior to coming to the centre. Staff offer parents a guide to the centre, and a child friendly guide has been produced for children. Staff understand the difficulties for parents through being constantly monitored and supervised and sympathetically address these with parents. This is achieved through open, honest and trusting relationships between staff and parents being assessed. One parent said ‘I was anxious and nervous when I came here, it is very difficult having someone monitoring you all the time. Staff try to make you feel at ease though and are straight with you, so you can trust them.’

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protected and helped

Staff succeed in ensuring that the health needs of parents and children are met. Parents also benefit from effective support from staff with their housing needs. For example, staff liaise with housing departments to ensure that when parents and children leave the centre following an assessment, they have suitable housing to return to. This involves accompanying parents on visits to prospective housing and helping them to understand correspondence from housing authorities.

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protected and helped

Direct work is undertaken with parents to help them build their safe parenting skills. Staff work with parents and aid their learning in a variety of ways. These include accompanying them to sessions in the community at the children’s centre and arranging sessions with therapists and psychologists to inform the assessment and parental learning as identified.

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protected and helped

The centre is well maintained and meets all health and safety legislation. Parents live in self-contained flats during the assessment and all equipment such as microwaves and cookers are fully tested and compliant with safety regulations.

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protected and helped

The manager and staff have effective links with the local police and safeguarding board. Staff are confident that they know what to do and understand safeguarding procedures, if, for example, a parent discloses information or they have concerns about the practice of a colleague.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

The service is good at working with partners to improve outcomes.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

The family centre has admitted families for assessment for ten months. During this time, links with partners such as commissioners from Local Authorities, placing social workers, the courts, police and Cafcass workers have started to be established. These links will help to ensure that parents and children receive appropriate and effective support and assessment.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

The centre has established strong links with community facilities in the town. Parents and children benefit from attending the local children’s centre, health services such as GP, health visitor and psychologists. The links with these professionals mean that families receive support and education to help them to improve their parenting skills.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

Social workers and commissioners commented on the clear communication they receive from the manager and staff at the family centre. One placing social worker commented ‘communication and the sharing of information has greatly improved since the appointment of the new manager.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement

Leaders and managers have not yet established a quality assurance system in order to inform the development of the quality of care and identify the strengths and areas for improvement. Parents do score staff on a feedback sheet, so that leaders and managers can use this information in staff supervision, but there is not a system in place to collect holistic views of parents and children, or professionals involved in the process so that this information is used to improve the quality of the service. Staff do act immediately on suggestions for improvement verbally made by parents. For example, one parent raised the issue of staff accompanying them in to town with their badge and keys visible, which parents said made them feel uncomfortable as it may identify them as a parent under assessment. This was immediately remedied and staff no longer have badges and keys visible when they are out of the family

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement

centre. The manager is now beginning to undertake regular checks of systems and an independent visitor has been appointed so that there is an external person monitoring the quality of care at the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement

Managers do not always notify Ofsted of serious incidents. This oversight has now been addressed by the manager. Leaders and managers are now aware of incidents that are notifiable. The Statement of Purpose for the service is not up to date. It does not detail if the family centre will take families on an emergency admission basis and how this will be done. The statement of purpose does not detail whether the family centre will admit parents with a history of sexual offences, and if it will, how this will be safely managed. The previous registered manager resigned three months ago. A new manager has been appointed and an application for registration to Ofsted will be submitted as soon as possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement

Staff report that since the appointment of the manager they are now receiving clear direction, leadership and rigorous monitoring. They report the manager has high aspirations and a motivation to ensure the family centre provides high quality assessments. Staff report ‘this is a happy place to work, working here has improved greatly since the new manager came.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement

The centre is now fully staffed and provides satisfactory levels of staffing in order to support parents and undertaken parenting assessments. Supervision arrangements mean staff receive good quality and regular supervision from the manager or senior workers. Staff said ‘supervision helps us to be clear about our role. We value supervision and the guidance we get at these sessions. The manager is very approachable, and has an open door policy, so if we have any issues we can go to her at any time.’ Staff receive comprehensive training through a training programme that equips them with the skills and knowledge they need. Staff undertake training in a variety of topics, including first aid, safeguarding, child protection and attachment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement

Managers are very clear that they will only admit parents for assessment if this is clearly in the best interests of the children and parents and it has been assessed as safe to do so. Managers and staff work closely and effectively with other agencies to support parents when they leave the centre.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The 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 relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of residential family centres.

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