Children's Home run by Inspire Care (UK) Limited in Staffordshire

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 make good progress from their starting points.  The care that young people receive from staff is personalised and reflects their individual needs.  Young people enjoy warm and trusting relationships with all of the staff, enabling them to make progress in their emotional and social development.  Staff proactively support young people with their emotional well-being.  Highly committed staff keep young people safe, providing clear and consistent boundaries. Staff work with young people to help them understand risks and how to keep themselves safe.  Staff are skilled and trained, and have an in-depth understanding of young people’s behaviour and complex care needs.  The staff are highly effective. They work well together, and receive excellent support and guidance from managers.  The child-focused registered manager ensures that staff understand the ethos of the home and that they prioritise young people’s needs at all times.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people are not attending education. However, staff have worked hard to engage young people and have sourced an appropriate educational placement to allow one young person to be reintegrated into education at the beginning of the next academic year.  The Statement of Purpose has not been consistently applied to the admissions process for young people, leaving the home ill-prepared with regard to the consideration of future admissions.

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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

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the ‘Engaging with the wider system’ standard –

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Requirement Due date

(c) 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. 23/06/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its Statement of Purpose. (Regulation 16 (5)) 23/06/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) 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)) 23/06/2016

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the quality standards as described in regulations 5 to 14 (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2).

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Professionally qualified staff employed by the home, e.g. teachers or social workers, should be provided with relevant professional or clinical supervision by an appropriately qualified and experienced professional (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2).

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home registered to provide care for up to two young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. This is a new company and it is the only home currently in operation within the company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

14 January 2016 Interim inspection Not judged

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Good

Staff take time to get to know young people. They provide good-quality, individualised care. Staff practice is exceedingly warm, considered and skilled. Young people blossom due to their positive attachments to staff. Through young people’s meetings, young people are involved in decisions about the development of the home. They say that they understand how decisions are made and the degree to which they are able to influence them. This enhances their day-to-day experience of living in the home.

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Good

The Young people are not sufficiently engaged in statutory education. However, when young people do not have suitable school placements, staff work with partner agencies to engage them in an educational timetable and where possible reduce disruption to young people’s learning. Staff try hard to encourage engagement with the use of incentive programmes. However, staff are hampered by the absence of personal education plans on young people’s files. This limits the opportunity for staff to develop understanding of individual ability or any barriers to learning.

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Good

Young people are not using substance drugs, are not missing from care and are appropriately protected from sexual exploitation. Previous risk-taking behaviour such as self-harm is no longer evident, due to the emotional support the young people have received from staff. One social worker said ‘I have been nothing but impressed with the quality of care’. Young people benefit from consistent care, as the staff team working in the home is stable. Young people feel safe and secure, as they receive predictable and reliable care.

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Good

Staff celebrate young people’s achievements and special occasions. Staff recognise the importance of healthy activities to their emotional well-being and self-esteem. Staff engage young people and encourage them to be active. Young people live in an environment where their diversity and identity is embraced. They grow in confidence as a consequence of this care.

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Good

Staff ensure the day-to-day progress of young people is well evidenced on an electronic system; this also creates the production of weekly reports. This ensures that all staff are able to record the progress that young people are making. Furthermore, young people are already actively engaged in reviewing and recording their progress, and they contribute effectively to the process. This develops a sense of ownership in young people. It ensures that they are able to articulate their achievements and plans for the future. Regular key-working sessions take place, where progress and future needs are routinely discussed.

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Good

Where it is appropriate to do so, young people are encouraged to develop their level of responsibility in preparation for the transition to adulthood. This is reflected in the key skills that young people have developed. For example, young people are supported to complete their own laundry and help staff cook their own meals. This ensures that they are able to advance their own self-resilience and life skills.

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Good

Staff work with placing authorities to ensure that young people are able to maintain relationships with their families. One social worker said that staff have gone ‘above and beyond to support a young person in maintaining family contact’. When contact restrictions are in place, staff clearly explain these. The young people receive practical and emotional support to attend contact visits. This means that, despite living a long distance from family, young people are not unnecessarily isolated from them.

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Good

Young people’s health and emotional needs are consistently prioritised. They receive primary and specialist services to meet their needs. These include specialist psychological support and sexually harmful behaviour support services. Young people’s health and emotional development benefit as a result of this specialised support.

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Good

Young people are safe and live in a safe environment where they are protected from harm. The young people at the home have complex needs and have in the recent past displayed challenging behaviours. Staff have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of young people. This supports staff to care effectively and provide support to young people in all areas of their lives.

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Good

Young people’s risk-taking behaviours have significantly decreased since admission. Young people who were previously challenging in their behaviours are no longer challenging; nor do they self-harm.

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Good

The young people at this home do not go missing from care. Staff understand the missing-from-care protocols and are aware of how to safeguard young people from going missing. Staff utilise the established positive relationships with the police. The registered manager works in effective partnership with local police and local authorities to protect young people from harm in these circumstances. This solid partnership ensures that local intelligence is shared. Teaching young people to be accountable for their own behaviour is central to the ethos of the home. Staff promote and encourage a culture of trust in and respect for everyone in the home. Staff use their relationship skills, and knowledge gained through training, research-based practice and experience to encourage and reinforce socially acceptable behaviour. Staff are excellent at listening to young people and, as a result, young people’s behaviour problems have been minimised.

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Good

The use of negative sanctions is low, because staff deploy a strength-based approach to supporting young people to take responsibility for their behaviour. Young people are able to make positive decisions about their behaviour. This is demonstrated by the fact that there have been no incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection.

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Good

Robust multi-agency working ensures that young people are better protected by agencies that know young people well. Professionals share information and communicate effectively. Risk management plans are current and individualised. A Youth Offender worker stated, ‘I have been particularly impressed with the registered manager’s capacity to collectively drive professionals forward in the best interests of young people in her care’. Consequently, young people received coordinated packages of intervention and support, tailored to their individual need.

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Good

Staff understand the risks to young people of sexual exploitation. They know the signs and symptoms, and proactively monitor all young people at the home. Staff have engaged with local specialist exploitation provision to raise their individual knowledge base. This integrated approach to protecting young people means that they become increasingly safe.

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Good

Staff develop warm and nurturing relationships with young people. They build trusting relationships with key staff members, and this enables staff to help to keep them safe. However, the absence of local authority care plans and personal education plans leaves staff inadequately informed of the longer-term plans for young people and the basis of their individual care. As a consequence, the opportunity to provided transitional support to young people is hampered.

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Good

There have been no complaints from the young people at the home. Staff ensure that young people receive information about how to make a complaint on their admission to the home. Young people spoken to said that they would be happy to talk to a staff member if they had any problems. They are also confident that staff would take their problems seriously.

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Good

The home is maintained to a good standard. Health and safety and fire risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated. The young people reside in a safe and secure home. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has been in post since September 2015. She has considerable experience and is qualified with a level 5 diploma in leadership and management. In addition, the home has three members of staff who are all qualified with the level 3 diploma in childcare. The home currently has one vacancy. There is a strong team of staff within the home who are child-focused and committed to improving the home. Since the last inspection, the team has worked hard to implement requirement and to make positive changes to the home.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is child-focused in her practice. She understands young people’s individual needs, and ensures that staff have the skills and knowledge to meet them. The crucial importance to young people of having well-supported and trained staff is recognised. Staff receive good-quality and regular supervision, and consequently work safely and consistently together. The registered manager receives regular supervision from the independent person. However, this supervision has not been sufficiently reflective with an emphasis upon practice and professional development.

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Requires improvement

There is a clear Statement of Purpose in place that details the aims and objectives of the home. The document is specific to the process of admitting young people into the home. Unfortunately, the registered manager has not adhered to this process and failed to complete the detailed risk assessment prior to the admission of one young person. The future matching of young people was therefore not sufficiently considered, leaving the home ill-prepared with regard to the consideration of future admissions.

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Requires improvement

Partnership working with other agencies remains vital in helping young people to make good levels of progress educationally, socially and emotionally. With particular reference to young people accessing education, gaps in provision have been highlighted. Despite recognising this, the registered manager has not escalated these shortfalls with the local authority sufficiently to bring about the necessary change in the best interests of young people in a timely fashion.

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Requires improvement

Robust recruitment and vetting processes are in place. Applicants undergo appropriate checks, including criminal history and employment history checks. This reduces the possibility of young people being harmed by those in positions of trust.

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Requires improvement

The manager has not ensured the six-monthly review sufficiently focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of young people and impact of the care upon the young people concerned. The registered manager is, however, aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the service, taking account of young people’s progress and the feedback from the independent visitor. She is receptive to development opportunities and is committed to service improvement in the best interests of young people.

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Requires improvement

Staff feel valued and supported by the registered manager. They feel listened to, and that their views are valued. Their needs, both professionally and personally, are being taken into account. This helps the staff to remain highly motivated in their care of young people.

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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 children looked after 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 that 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 who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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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

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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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