Children's home run by Teen-Works Care Limited in Liverpool

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The children have very positive experiences living in this friendly, nurturing and supportive home. The high standard of individualised care consistently meets their needs, and is enabling them to make very good progress. They are happier, healthier, back in education and enjoy the same social experiences and activities as other children. They enjoy positive and safe relationships with the staff and each other.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Effective care planning and productive working relationships between the staff, placing authority, schools, health and mental health workers mean that children receive the best possible support in meeting all their needs.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The children feel safe and are protected from harm. They are listened to, and their feelings and worries are taken seriously. The staff’s strong safeguarding practices are helping the children to be safer and to protect them from the risks of neglect, going missing, sexual exploitation and self- harm.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The children’s strong sense of safety and trusting relationships with staff are helping them to feel safe enough to explore and manage the impact of experiences of abuse and neglect. The staff’s creative and insightful work is supporting children to manage their feelings and frustrations constructively. Children’s emotional well-being is improving and they are coping with challenges and difficulties with resilience.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager’s strong and effective leadership is making a positive difference to children’s lives. Caring, experienced, skilled, qualified and well- supported staff provide a high quality of care for each child. The staffing arrangements are efficiently organised to provide children with a continuity of care that meets their needs and provides opportunities for them to form positive attachments.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager has a clear and accurate understanding of the progress that children are making and the key priorities for each child. Her effective monitoring of the quality of care and support means that she has a realistic understanding of how well the staff are promoting and safeguarding children’s welfare and of how improvements can be secured.

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when children placed in the home are not fully participating in education they are engaged in suitable structured activities (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15).

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Information about this children's home

This privately run children's home provides care and accommodation for up to three children 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

16 February 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

26 February 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

This children’s home provides children with a stable, nurturing and supportive place to live. They receive a high quality of individualised care that consistently meets their needs and helps them to achieve better developmental outcomes. They enjoy positive experiences and make continuous good progress in all aspects of their lives. Overall, they are happier, brighter and healthier. They are back in education and safer from the risks of going missing, sexual exploitation and self- harm. They have the same opportunities as other children to spend time with their friends, including having sleepovers, going swimming, out for meals and to the cinema together. The children recognise and take pride in the progress that they are making. A child said, ‘I have made leaps and bounds in progress. I no longer self-harm or have suicidal thoughts. I’m looking to go to mainstream school and I have 100% attendance. I still have problems, but they are a lot better than they

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Good

used to be. I have better contact with my mum and I’m making friends.’ Children have developed a strong sense of belonging. A child said, ‘Staff care for me. It has become my home. They are like a second family to me.’ They enjoy positive and safe relationships with the staff and each other. They feel valued and respected and trust the staff. They know that staff care about them, are interested in their lives, want what is best for them, and always take their wishes and feelings seriously. They are supported to influence the running of the home, make choices and take part in decisions about what happens to them. For example, the staff and social worker acted upon a child’s wish to see his dad. This was a very positive experience for him and showed him that his wishes could be met in a safe and structured way. Children feel safe enough to talk to staff about their experiences, feelings and worries and accept help from them and from counselling services. The staff

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Good

respond sensitively and creatively to help the children understand their feelings. A child told a member of staff that pansies always reminded her of her granddad, and they decided together to buy some flowers to plant out in the garden in his memory. Children’s confidence and self-esteem are noticeably improving. They are becoming resilient and more able to deal with the challenges that they face in their lives. Effective care planning and strong working relationships between the staff, placing authority and other people and services involved in the children’s lives mean that they are receiving the support that they need on a daily basis. Everyone works extremely well together to ensure that the relevant plans for each child’s care are reviewed on an ongoing basis to reflect their progress and to continue to meet their needs and circumstances. Clearly written records and up-to-date care plans provide an accurate picture of the good progress that the children are making and

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Good

contribute to a better understanding of their lives. A recent report from an educational psychologist showed that a child was ‘now settled at the home and has made positive friendships in the area. Generally, she has a good relationship with staff and is beginning to trust adults. She is a bright girl with the potential to succeed academically. She is engaging with CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services), and her mental health is improving. She is calm, settled and friendly.’ Social workers and independent reviewing officers also said that they were very pleased with how well the children were being supported and with their progress. A social worker said, ‘It is the best possible place we could have found for him. He has made a lot of progress: he is back in education, his behaviour, health and diet have improved, he is attending health appointments and he has a good relationship with staff.’

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Good

The staff actively help children to see the importance of education in terms of enjoyment and for their future prospects. They work hard to tackle any barriers to children’s learning. They understand the factors that affect children’s participation in education and work well with children, schools and the virtual school headteacher to find achievable solutions. One child’s attendance and cooperation in school has significantly improved. She is achieving some excellent results and planning to return to her original mainstream school. She is also starting a radio production course. The staff are encouraging and supporting a child who has been out of school for some time to return to full-time education as soon as possible. He is going to school, but not yet every day and often refuses to go. The work is taking place, with the school and virtual school headteacher’s agreement, at a pace with which the child feels comfortable to build his confidence. A worker from the

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Good

children looked after education service said, ‘The fact that they have got him to engage in education is incredible given the time he has been out. Their flexible and supportive approach is helping him.’ However, despite staff’s efforts, he is not taking part in suitable structured activities on the days when he is not in school, which would develop his skills and learning and prepare him for going to school. Children live in a healthy environment. They are physically healthy and their emotional well-being is improving. They have healthy and nutritious diets, and get plenty of exercise. The staff support and encourage children to attend health appointments, and are currently working with great determination to get a child to go to the dentist. Children’s vaccinations are kept up to date, and their health needs are routinely assessed by the placing authority. They are receiving support from health services to meet their needs and to help them understand about

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Good

healthy lifestyles. The children like the house. A child said, ‘It feels like home. Just like a normal house.’ It is a homely, pleasant and comfortable place, which is furnished and decorated to a high standard. Children have plenty of personal space, and their bedrooms and bathrooms are tidy and decorated to reflect their characters and interests.

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Good

The manager and staff have created an open and strong safeguarding culture in this home. Children are protected from harm and feel safe. They are listened to, and their feelings and worries are taken seriously by trusted adults. The staff have detailed knowledge of individual children’s risks and vulnerabilities to abuse and exploitation. They take prompt and decisive action to deal with any concerns about the children’s safety. This includes sharing information with the social workers, the police and safeguarding agencies, working together effectively to manage the risks that the children face and taking action that protects them. The risks to children of neglect, exploitation and self-harm have significantly reduced, and they are increasingly safer since they first moved in. The staff successfully prevent children from going missing as often as they were doing, and take positive action to find them when they go missing. Staff make

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Good

every effort to help them to understand the dangers involved and to know how to get help if they do run away. The children are now much better at keeping in touch with staff when they go out and letting them know where they are going. They also receive helpful guidance about personal safety from the staff and the Young Runaways project, including guidance about safe and supportive friendships and using the internet and social media safely. On the rare occasions when children have gone missing, they always get the chance to talk to an independent person about what happened and their concerns. This is helping the staff to build a clearer picture of the reasons why they went missing, for example, wanting to spend more time with their family or feeling upset, and to take action to reduce the risks. The children have built a strong sense of safety and trusting relationships with their staff. This has helped them to feel safe enough to explore and manage the

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Good

impact of experiences of abuse and neglect. The staff’s creative and insightful approach is encouraging and supporting children to build positive relationships and to manage their feelings and frustrations constructively. The staff work very closely with CAMHS to ensure that children get the right support to promote their emotional well-being. A psychologist provides staff with high-quality training and guidance about how to best support the children using a ‘time-in’ approach. Instead of using sanctions when children struggle with their feelings, which reinforces their sense of being unloved, staff give them a choice of activities, for example arts and crafts, going for a walk or doing jobs around the house that they complete with staff. This provides them with time and space to reflect on what happened, what led up to the event, how it affected them and other people and what can be done to stop it from happening again. This is working. The times

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Good

when children show unacceptable or aggressive behaviour have significantly reduced. A child said, ‘My behaviour has improved. I’m talking things through instead with staff and I’m seeing CAMHS and Young Runaways. Staff are helping me through my problems. They are listening to me and let me know whatever happens that things will be ok. They are fighting for me. They see I’m doing well and they are helping me tell people how I’m feeling in the right way.’ The manager ensures that people wishing to work at the home go through a rigorous selection procedure and are carefully vetted. She makes sure that they have the right experience, skills, values and motivation to work with vulnerable children and prevents unsuitable people from working at the home. She makes sure that she has all the available information to make decisions about a person’s suitability. This includes seeking additional information about a person’s practice

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Good

and abilities from employers who have only provided brief written references.

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Good

The registered manager has been in charge of the home since it opened in January 2014. She is a very experienced and suitably qualified manager. She provides strong and effective leadership that delivers the home’s objective to provide a nurturing environment that makes a positive difference to the lives of children. The children are supported and encouraged to develop and have improved opportunities to reach their potential. The staffing arrangements ensure that there are sufficient staff available to meet all the children’s assessed needs. The children receive the continuity of care that they need to promote good attachments and relationships with the people caring for them. Caring, experienced, skilled and qualified staff provide a high quality of care for each child. They work together cohesively to ensure that children live in a safe, friendly and nurturing environment. They receive good-quality support and

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Good

guidance from the manager and the senior staff. They have opportunities to reflect on children’s progress their performance, and to develop their knowledge and skills through relevant training. This includes professional supervision at least once a month with the manager or deputy manager and thorough appraisals of their suitability to do their jobs. The manager and staff have open and productive working relationships with social workers, schools, health workers, CAMHS, the police and the Young Runways project, which ensure that the children receive the best possible support in meeting all their needs. They actively take part in regular multi-agency meetings about children’s welfare. They communicate effectively with the other people about children’s experiences and progress. The manager assertively challenges other professionals when she feels that the children are not getting the right support or that decisions may not be in their best interests, ensuring that children’s wishes

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Good

and feelings are taken into account in important decisions affecting their lives. The staff are open to advice and guidance about how to improve the quality of care that children receive. A worker from the looked after children education service said, ‘The staff take on board advice from other professionals, change and are open to develop new strategies to help children take part in education.’ The manager has a clear and accurate understanding of the progress that children are making and the key priorities for each child, including helping them make more progress in education, and supporting a child to make sure that her level of anxiety about her future does not impede the excellent progress that she is making. The manager’s effective monitoring of the quality of care provided means that she has a realistic understanding of how well the staff are promoting and safeguarding children’s welfare and of the areas for development. She uses this information to

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Good

devise a comprehensive and achievable development plan to improve the standard of care and staff’s skills and knowledge, especially around a better understanding of mental health and promoting children’s emotional well-being. Since the last inspection, the manager has taken effective action to improve the support that children get with education by developing better links with the virtual school headteacher. The manager and staff have reflected on the effectiveness of strategies to resolve serious incidents quickly and take into account how the physical environment and layout of the home may impede the use of certain strategies. The staff have had further training on how best to help children manage their feelings and behaviours. The manager has reviewed how she makes decisions about which children come to live at the home. She demonstrated that children only move in when she is fully satisfied that the home can effectively

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Good

respond to their assessed needs and when she has thoroughly considered the impact that the children will have on the existing group.

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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 that 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 whom 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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