Children's home run by Greenacre Care Services Limited

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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because:

 The Registered Manager spends a substantial amount of time in the role of caregiver. This is of benefit to young people and staff, however, as a result there are shortfalls in the maintenance of management systems including consultation, informal complaints and some recording.  There are no records of staff supervision. This means staff are unable to refer back to supervision sessions and information on practice discussions is not captured.  There have been staff shortages for some months. This has resulted in staff on probation working alone on more than two occasions. In addition, staff are self-employed, constraining the hours they can work. This does not enable the Registered Manager to plan ahead.  There are significant delays in the replacing of broken equipment and furniture. This contributes to the home lacking in comfort.  Fire drills have not taken place in line with the home’s own policy. This does

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because:

not promote young people’s safety.  There is no evidence to reflect the progress or areas for development for the young people who are working towards independence.  The Statement of Purpose has not been updated in line with changes in regulation. Staff do not have an understanding of the document; this prevents them from ensuring they provide the services and develop the ethos pledged to young people and placing authorities.

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The children's home strengths

 Agencies visiting the home describe it in positive terms; they recognise the progress made by young people and praise the work of the Registered Manager in keeping young people safe.  Key staff persevere to encourage young people to maintain an interest in education or training.  Incidents in the home are reducing.  Placement plans are comprehensive and well written. Missing and absent without permission has reduced significantly.  There has been a decrease in young people’s offending and involvement with the police.  Young people’s contact with their family has increased.

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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 keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3) (a) (b)) 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard: In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must ensure that: (2) (b) (i) staff understand and apply the home's statement of purpose (2) (c) (i) (ii) the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the feedback and opinions of children and young people about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children and young people. (Regulation 45 (2) (b) (c)) 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2) (b)) 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard: In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must: (2) (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child and young person (e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care for each child 31/08/2015 (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

14: The care planning standard: In order to meet the care planning standard the registered provider must: (2) (b) (iii) ensure that arrangements are in place to plan for, and support, each child or young person to prepare to leave the home in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child or young person's placing authority. 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

7: The children's views, wishes and feelings standard: In order to meet the children's views, wishes and feelings standard the registered provider must: (2) (iii) help each child or young person to understand how their views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give them reasons for the decision. 31/08/2015

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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 that a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions are kept and ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately owned home registered to provide care for up to four children or young people with behavioural or emotional difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

19/02/2014 CH - Interim Inadequate Progress

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Requires improvement

Young people struggle to commit to education or training. However, the individualised support and guidance they receive from key staff working with their placing local authority social workers encourages them to think about their future employability. As a result, they have agreed to access opportunities to attend college or apprenticeships.

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Requires improvement

Young people have trusting relationships with key staff working in the home. Staff persevere with young people, offering considerable time, patience and advice to help them to, for example, develop strategies to manage their anger. Young people can name the staff that they feel able to confide in and accept help from. Consequently, incidents of challenging behaviour have begun to reduce in number and intensity.

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Requires improvement

The systems in place to routinely seek and record young people’s views about the day-to-day aspects of living in the home have slipped. As a result, there is no regular forum for young people to express their views and wishes about the running of the home. This does not promote young people’s sense of inclusion in and contribution to the home.

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Requires improvement

Working towards living independently is a current theme for some young people. Staff provide a weekly budget and offer guidance and some assistance with household management tasks. However, because staff have failed to document individual plans, progress and areas for development cannot be tracked. Consequently, achievements and progress are not readily evident. Interior aspects of the communal and private areas of the home have a faded and uncared for appearance. For example, the carpet on the stairs is threadbare in places and there are scuff marks in the hallway. On the first day of the inspection, young people were drying clothes across the home on radiators and there was no microwave. The tumble dryer and microwave have been broken for some time, despite young people raising this as an issue. This has a direct impact on young people’s ability to be as independent within their self-care as they can be and does

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Requires improvement

Young people have benefited from the support offered by staff to sustain and rebuild relationships with those who are important to them. As a result, they spend significant amounts of time out of the home visiting or having overnight contact with family. This helps young people to maintain their identity and prepares them to leave care.

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Requires improvement

Staff carry out health, safety and fire checks in the home. However, they have not carried out a fire evacuation practice since January 2015. This does not provide for regular practices to refresh staff and young people of the action to take in the case of an emergency and it does not reflect the provider’s policy. This is a particular concern because the inspection identified that young people smoke in the building, which increases the risk of fire.

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Requires improvement

Staff talk to young people about the importance of personal safety. It is currently rare for a young person to go missing, which means that since the last inspection episodes have significantly decreased. Staff are aware of the protocols and procedures to follow should an incident occur. This keeps young people and the community safe.

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Requires improvement

When young people are out, staff are with them or know where they are. They keep in contact with them by phone. Incidents of absent without permission have decreased significantly. This is because over time key staff have persevered in building respectful relationships with the young people’s immediate families. Care planning reflects this. The result is that authorised contact with families has increased and includes overnight stays. This enables young people to remain connected to their family.

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Requires improvement

Staff do not use physical restraint. The frequency of formal notifications to Ofsted and the calling of police to the home have reduced. The number of complaints to the Registered Manager from the neighbourhood has begun to decrease. Incidents resulting in young people’s arrest in the community have reduced. This means that young people are accepting help and reducing offending behaviours.

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Requires improvement

Key staff use the good relationships they have developed with young people to manage behaviour. For example, they skilfully and calmly offer guidance and advice to divert young people’s aggression. One social worker said: ‘The progress my young person has made in placement may be small but it is significant.’ Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The Registered Manager has been in post for two years. She has a level four qualification and has registered to complete the level five diploma in leadership and management. She is hard working, spending substantial amounts of time in the home. She knows the young people very well and is their primary carer. As a result, she is aware of the progress young people make in building relationships with their families and where further energy is required to achieve lasting outcomes for example, in education and employment. This means that she spends much time directly supporting and looking after the young people. While the Registered Manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home there are shortfalls in the application of management systems. For example, there are no formal consultation processes in place and young people’s informal complaints are not always resolved in a timely manner. The Registered Manager is the one member of staff employed on a permanent

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Requires improvement

basis. The remaining staff are self-employed. The Registered Manager does not have access to sufficient resources in staffing to enable her to forward plan. Shortages in staff since the last inspection mean that the continuity of young people’s care cannot be assured. Staff who are working in their probationary period have worked alone in this home. This does not reflect the home’s lone working policy. The home’s Statement of Purpose has not been updated to reflect an accurate staffing structure. Staff spoken to during the inspection were unaware of its function. This does not support staff to understand the services pledged to young people and their placing authorities. Managers do not efficiently replace equipment when it breaks. The registered provider replaced the tumble dryer and microwave on the second day of inspection; however, they had been broken for some months. Overall, the registered provider has failed in her responsibility to ensure that the home is

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Requires improvement

furnished to enable young people to live as independently as possible. The Registered Manager makes herself available and carries out regular supervision of staff. However, there are no recent supervision notes which means that there is not an agreed record of the content and outcomes of the supervision between the manager and member of staff. This inspection identifies repeat shortfalls in regulation, specifically regarding complaints, staffing, recording and consultation with young people. This means that overall, there has been insufficient improvement in the structures and systems the managers use to reflect and review the impact of the quality of the care provided. The home has appropriate relationships and communicates effectively with other agencies. Professionals representing partnership agencies who visit the home were praising of the work of the Registered Manager. They describe her as an individual

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Requires improvement

committed to helping young people to achieve the best possible outcomes in relation to their starting points. The range of shortfalls identified across this inspection means the overall judgement cannot reflect the skilled direct work undertaken by the Registered Manager with the young people and their families.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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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 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

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Information about this inspection

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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