Children's Home run by After Care (NW) Limited in Sefton

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:

 Young people are making noticeable progress, since staff provide them with good support and guidance.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 They benefit from developing positive relationships with staff and, therefore, feel valued and cared for. This helps them to trust staff, and to take on board staff‟s guidance and support.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Their physical and emotional health improves. They are encouraged to attend routine health appointments, including the dentist and opticians. Additionally, they benefit from accessing specialist services including the in- house therapist, and child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS).

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff ensure that young people‟s views are heard. Their wishes and feelings are regularly sought on matters which affect their lives, such as planning their menus and activities. This supports them to develop decision-making skills, which will help them in adulthood.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people benefit from maintaining contact with their families and friends, even when living a long way from their home. This is achieved through staff‟s commitment to ensuring that this happens safely.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Risk-taking behaviour is decreasing. Young people are learning to manage difficult emotions more effectively. This is achieved through staff‟s effective key-work sessions and collaborative working with other professionals such as therapists, placing social workers and youth offending teams.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The home is run effectively by a conscientious registered manager. She has young people at the centre of her practice, and demonstrates enthusiasm and commitment to improving the service continually.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Areas for improvement include: maintaining a clean and suitably equipped home environment; consistent and effective education planning; obtaining statutory documents as required and robustly challenging other professionals when they fail to provide them; reviewing and updating the home‟s statement of purpose; and more rigorous service monitoring.

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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 „Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

5 (c) In order to meet the engaging with the wider system standard, the registered person must, if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans. 10 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

8 (1) In order to meet the engaging with the education standard, the registered person must ensure that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. 10 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

13 (h) In order to meet the engaging with the leadership and management standard, the registered person must use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 10 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure the statement of purpose is kept 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)). 10 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure records ("case records") are maintained for each child which: include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)). 10 June 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):

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Recommendations

 Ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting welfare of the children in the home's care („Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 65, paragraph 15.5).

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to their behaviour. Homes must also meet children's basic day to day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child's basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual („Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.7).

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people with emotional and behavioural needs.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

15 February 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

3 November 2015 Full Requires improvement

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Recent inspection history

12 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people describe the home as „a joyful house‟. They report feeling safe, settled and happy with the care and support that they receive from their staff. This is evident in the progress that they have made since the last inspection. One young person has re-engaged with his education, and his school attendance has improved significantly. He is excited to start his apprenticeship once he has completed his GCSEs in June. Another young person is receiving support with his emotional health and well-being. Staff have successfully encouraged him to attend his therapy sessions with the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) and the in-house therapist. Consequently, through therapy and staff support, he is learning how to cope more effectively with difficult feelings, and is managing his emotions in a safer way. Young people are proud of their achievements and value the support that they receive from their staff. This is reflected in a young person‟s comments: „I have

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Good

come so far – I was a little bit like “I didn‟t care about anything”. I didn‟t care about my future, but now I am going to college and doing my GCSEs. I am in a different frame of mind and the staff have helped me to get there.‟ This demonstrates staff‟s ability to build positive, trusting relationships with young people which, in turn, enables staff to guide and support them to make the right choices. Young people benefit from maintaining contact with their families. Staff ensure that contact arrangements are safely planned and agreed with the placing authority. Staff fully understand how important it is for young people to keep in contact with their families. They ensure that safe and suitable arrangements are in place for young people who live a distance from their families to maintain contact and sustain important relationships. Staff work hard at forging good working relationships with family members, which

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Good

supports consistency in care and partnership working with parents. One parent said: „(young person) has his head screwed on now and knows what he wants to do. I am happy with everything. We have a great relationship with the manager and staff, they always keep me informed and are good at communicating with me.‟ Staff ensure that young people have a strong voice. They are fully involved in making decisions about the day-to-day running of the home, such as planning menus and activities as well as choosing the decor of their bedrooms. A good range of activities, including going to the gym and playing golf, support young people to engage in their local community, and to keep fit and healthy while having fun. Young people enjoy spending time with their staff, who fully support them with their hobbies and interests by participating with them. One young person is looking forward to going on holiday abroad with a member of the team.

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Good

Not only is this showing young people that they are valued by the team, it is providing them with new opportunities and experiences to enrich their lives and build their confidence. Care planning has clearly improved in the home. This is evident in the positive progress that young people are now making. However, not all young people fully benefit from having clear and detailed education plans in place. One young person is not yet attending full-time education and there is still no plan in place to state how the home intends to address this. Furthermore, his statement of special educational needs has not been reviewed since 2012. Consequently, he is not being effectively supported to realise his full educational potential. The physical home environment can improve. The home was not cleaned to a good standard, and some bedroom furniture was in a poor state of repair. In particular, one young person‟s bedroom did not have sufficient storage to accommodate his

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Good

clothes and belongings. His wardrobe had been damaged and removed, and it had not been suitably replaced. Another young person‟s bed base had a hole in it, and some bedroom furniture was covered in cigarette burns. Consequently, poor home maintenance is undermining the making of a warm, welcoming and nurturing home environment.

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Good

There have been marked improvements in how the team responds to and manages safeguarding concerns. Staff are more vigilant, and safeguarding issues have been appropriately recorded and reported to all relevant professionals, including notifications to Ofsted, as required.

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Good

Staff receive ongoing training on a range of safeguarding matters, including child sexual exploitation and, more recently, radicalisation. Staff now follow comprehensive and up-to-date individual risk assessments. These assessments provide staff with clear guidance on how to manage risk and minimise harm. For example, young people‟s Internet use is monitored more closely, and this is preventing them from accessing inappropriate material at the home. The registered manager has taken appropriate action when staff have failed to follow safeguarding procedures, including disciplinary measures and referrals to local designated safeguarding officers. As a result, young people are safer because their staff are more knowledgeable, and have a greater awareness and understanding of their safeguarding roles and expectations.

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Good

Young people are fully supported by staff to reflect on their behaviour and learn better coping strategies. In addition to this, staff successfully encourage them to engage with relevant services, such as CAMHS and youth offending teams. Effective partnership working between young people, staff and specialist teams is helping to reduce self-harm and offending behaviours.

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Good

Incidents of missing have been significantly reduced. When such incidents occur, staff respond swiftly and appropriately to support the young person‟s safe return home. Furthermore, „missing from home‟ return interviews are providing young people with the opportunity to explain to an independent person the reasons why they went missing. These interviews are helping staff and other professionals to identify and respond to any associated risks, such as offending, exploitation, or drug and alcohol use.

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Good

Staff‟s consistent use of praise, incentives and rewards is helping to promote positive behaviour within the home. Staff have fostered trusting relationships with young people and this is enabling them to have a positive influence on young people‟s behaviour. All staff have attended behaviour management training that promotes and teaches de-escalation strategies. As a result, the use of restraint is minimal and is used only as a safeguarding measure. All such incidents are clearly recorded, as required.

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Requires improvement

The home is managed by a suitably experienced registered manager who knows the young people extremely well and has a „hands on‟ approach to running the home. A young person said: „(manager) always keeps her promise. I know that staff care about me. It‟s a proper home like a family, it doesn‟t feel like a care home at all.‟

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Requires improvement

The manager ensures that the home is sufficiently staffed and that the use of agency workers is minimal. This means that young people are consistently cared for by people whom they know, trust and get along with. Most of the team have a suitable qualification. New members of the team are enrolled onto the relevant course, the diploma level 3, once they have completed their probation period. Staff report feeling well supported by the manager. They all receive monthly professional supervision, annual appraisals and ongoing training. All of this is providing staff with ample opportunities to reflect on their practice and to develop greater knowledge, skills and confidence to fulfil their role effectively.

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Requires improvement

The majority of the shortfalls raised at this inspection are process related, and have minimal or no impact on young people‟s care and safety. For example, the home‟s statement of purpose has not been reviewed or updated, and contains inaccurate information. It states that the home employs a young person‟s advocate, but this service is not in place. Furthermore, it fails to explain clearly the company‟s arrangements for accessing educational psychologists.

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Requires improvement

Some essential documents, including statutory care and education plans, were missing from young people‟s files. The manager was unable to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that she or the team had followed this up robustly with the relevant professionals. Consequently, the home does not hold all the information for each child with regards to their individual needs, as required by law, including consent for medical treatment.

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Requires improvement

Neither internal nor external service monitoring are fully effective yet. The registered manager‟s monitoring has not identified gaps in the home‟s records such as: missing dates and signatures in young people‟s pocket money records; dates missing from the home‟s placement plans; and information omitted from room search reports. Additionally, her monitoring has not ensured that the home has a current statement of purpose which accurately reflects the service.

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Requires improvement

The independent monitoring reports still do not provide a rigorous evaluation of the care and protection provided to young people living in the home. At times, these reports have stated inaccurate information. This recommendation has therefore been repeated. Although areas of leadership and management require improvement, the registered manager demonstrates a commitment and capacity to drive the service forward. She undoubtedly has the young people at the centre of her practice. This is evident in young people‟s measured progress, and their positive comments about her and the team.

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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 „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 0300 123 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, work- based 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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