Children's home SC443549

Good

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

p.2

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Children and young people are experiencing consistent care in a safe and protective environment.  All of the children and young people are in full-time education placements, with good and improving attendance records. As a result of daily communication between school and home staff, each child’s and young person’s education experience is enhanced.

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Children and young people enjoy a range of leisure activities in the community. Some participate in after-school clubs and some contribute to voluntary work and fund-raising. This is well supported by staff.  Staff and managers regularly liaise with the child and adolescent mental health services to ensure that they are continuously assessing children’s and young people’s emotional and mental health needs.  All of the children and young people have reduced risk-taking behaviours as a result of living in the home. There have been significant reductions in missing behaviours and in aggressive, challenging behaviours. A recommendation is made to improve practice further by maintaining a chronology of concerns about threats to self-harm or incidents of self- harming behaviours, to ensure that there is easily accessible, up-to-date information.  There are good quality, child-centred placement plans that track each child’s

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

and young person’s progress. However, this inspection identified that there were inconsistent records from the placing local authorities for some children and young people. A requirement is made to ensure that the home has up-to-date relevant care plans for all of the children and young people to inform the placement plans and the individual work being undertaken.

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

14: (1) The care planning standard is that children receive well- planned care from the home and have a positive admission and transition experience. (2) In particular the registered manager ensures that: (c) each child’s relevant plans are followed. 01/09/2016

p.4

Recommendations

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

p.4

Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5.)

p.4

Recommendations

This is with specific reference to maintaining a chronology of any concerns regarding threats to self-harm or incidents of self-harm by children and young people living in the home

p.4

Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home, which provides up to three placements for children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

10 February 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

Recent inspection history

4 March 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

Good

Children and young people are experiencing consistent care in a safe and protective environment. They are developing trusting relationships with a skilled and stable staff team. As a result, they have made good, and in some cases exceptional, progress from their starting points.

p.6

Good

One child said: ‘I like living here. There isn’t anything I would change. I like playing football with my friends. We get to choose what activities we want to do and we have a good time with the staff.’

p.6

Good

Children and young people living in the home have a range of vulnerabilities and complex needs. Staff and managers review each child’s and young person’s needs when they are considering new admissions to the home. They complete a matching matrix to assess carefully the impact on the current residents.

p.6

Good

All of the children and young people are in full-time education placements, with good and improving attendance records. One young person is taking GCSE examinations and is predicted to do well. One of the children is attending and making progress in a local mainstream school, having previously experienced many gaps in education attendance and a number of placement changes. There are excellent arrangements in place between the home staff and school staff for daily communication. Because of good liaison, each child’s and young person’s education experience is enhanced.

p.6

Good

A member of school staff said: ‘This young person is extremely vulnerable, but they have made great progress since living in this home. There are boundaries and staff are consistent. As a result, attendance at school, social skills and relationships in school have improved.’

p.6

Good

Staff help to progress care plans. Staff have listened to one child’s views and wishes and worked closely with the case-responsible social worker. He is now having breaks with foster carers. Staff are supporting one young person’s planning for adulthood, helping them to develop independence skills and life skills. This young person has also been supported to apply to, and has been accepted for, a citizenship course over the summer holidays. This includes taking part in group activities and voluntary work in the community. This will be excellent experience in preparation for the transition from school to college.

p.6

Good

All of the children attend local youth clubs and after-school activities, such as football. One young person supports a local dog-rescue charity, raising funds and helping to walk the dogs. Carers are proactive in building good relationships with staff responsible for leisure and community activities, to ensure that essential information is shared.

p.7

Good

Staff promote and support safe contact arrangements for children and young people with their families. Staff are sensitive to, and take account of, each child’s history and their views, wishes and feelings. As a result, there has been significant progress in developing and maintaining a range of family relationships.

p.7

Good

All of the children and young people have experienced significant loss and change. Carers have ensured that referrals have been made to relevant specialist services to address emotional health needs. Staff have monthly consultations with the child and adolescent mental health team. They use this opportunity to seek advice about children’s and young people’s needs and behaviours.

p.7

Good

Children and young people have detailed health plans and they attend preventative health appointments. They are all encouraged and supported to develop healthy lifestyles. This includes individual sessions providing sensitive, age- and ability- appropriate advice from staff.

p.7

Good

The home is a comfortable, safe environment. The children’s rooms reflect their interests and personalities. There are many photographs around the home celebrating achievements and positive group activities. The children and young people spoke about being proud of their home and having opportunities to make decisions about their routines and what activities they do. During the inspection, the children and staff were planning for the two summer holidays they have booked. This included a discussion about practising French, as they will be visiting France. They all have saving plans for spending money.

p.7

Good

The children and young people have weekly meetings to discuss their choices and views about a range of things, such as menu planning, activities and films they want to watch. They have information shared with them and are regularly reminded about how to make a complaint. They also have regular visits from an independent advocacy service. Carers support young people to contribute their views, wishes and feelings in any planning meetings. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

The children and young people have settled placements and have established positive relationships with staff and peers. As a result, there have been reduced missing incidents, reduced physical interventions and reduced sanctions. There have been no formal complaints. However, the inspector reminded managers of the need to record children’s and young people’s concerns and grumbles, and how they have been addressed when children say they do not want to make a complaint.

p.8

Good

There are detailed behaviour and risk-management plans that are regularly reviewed and updated. Placement plans show the progress that children and young people have made in reducing risky behaviours. For example, two young people have significantly reduced aggressive behaviours because of consistent boundaries and the reinforcing of positive behaviours. Staff are trained in the safe management of challenging behaviours, and successfully de-escalate and distract young people. This prevents the need to intervene physically, to prevent children and young people from harming themselves or each other. Children and young people report that they feel safe in this home.

p.8

Good

The children and young people understand that there are clear routines and boundaries in the home that help them to keep safe. One young person stopped smoking and has an improved night-time routine, having previously struggled with routines.

p.8

Good

One young person has written a letter about living in this home and said, ‘This is a good place to live. The staff are very nice but there are rules. Stay healthy, do not smoke and stay safe.’

p.8

Good

There have been significant reductions in self-harming behaviours and in threats to self-harm. However, the inspector recommended that staff should continue to maintain a chronology of any incidents about self-harm, to ensure that there is easily accessible, accurate information.

p.8

Good

Where there has been an identified need, preventative and protective work is undertaken with children and young people. This involves targeted work by staff or the referral of children and young people to appropriate specialist services to assess and manage risks. A specialist service worker said that the young person he had been working with ‘had definitely reduced risks as a result of living in this home. This young person had responded positively to the boundaries in place and was settled.’ He also said that he has observed ‘a relaxed, calm home environment and positive interaction between staff and young people.’

p.8

Good

All staff have received training in respect of understanding allegations against adults who work with children, and managers have received training regarding safe recruitment. There are robust policies and procedures regarding staff practice, staff conduct and whistle blowing that all staff are familiar with. Managers refer to, and consult with, the Designated Officer appropriately. As a result, staff and managers are confident of maintaining a safe environment for children and young people.

p.9

Good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has worked with children and young people for over fifteen years. She continues to develop her own skills and practice. She has recently attended bereavement training and will be attending training on life story work. This manager has a track record of championing the needs of children and young people in her care. She attends, with relevant staff, all planning meetings, contributing to assessments and influencing decision-making. The managers and staff are able to demonstrate the impact of the care that children and young people are receiving in this home. This is captured in the progress tracked in placement plans and in weekly summaries to social workers.

p.9

Good

The manager describes all of the staff as resilient and reliable. There is an up-to- date workforce development plan, which details the training record and planned training for each member of staff. Staff are suitably qualified, and recently recruited staff are undertaking the relevant care qualification. Staff receive regular supervision, there are explicit expectations of the staff and supervisor, and all staff have performance reviews that inform the workforce development plan.

p.9

Good

There is an experienced independent visitor undertaking monitoring visits, which meet the regulatory requirements, reporting on the safety and welfare of children and young people. The manager reports that the visitor’s findings do add value to the development of staff practice within the home. The registered manager also reviews the quality of care and reports six monthly. In addition, there is a monthly evaluation of all management information that is shared at provider meetings. In these ways, the progress of children and young people and the performance of staff and managers are reviewed. Managers are able to identify any patterns or changes, such as an increase in notifiable incidents, and respond to them in a timely way.

p.9

Good

Children’s and young people’s placement plans are detailed and child-centred. However, this inspection identified some inconsistencies in the records for each child and young person. Some of the responsible placing authority care plans and education plans were out of date. The registered manager has identified the need for more effective systems for the auditing of children’s information. She also recognises the need for a more robust challenge to placing social workers and local authorities to ensure that there are current plans in place and that staff receive relevant plans in a timely way.

p.10

Good

Partner agencies report that staff and managers communicate well about the needs of the children and young people. Progress summaries are shared with social workers and significant others weekly. Where the needs of a child or young person have changed, the manager has requested that multi-agency planning meetings be convened to consider their safety and emerging needs.

p.10

Good

The management team is made up of the registered manager and two deputy managers. They believe that the whole staff group works together to ensure that the children and young people feel safe, cared for, listened to, and that they experience secure relationships.

p.10

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’.

p.11

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

p.11

What the inspection judgements mean

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

p.11

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

p.12

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 .

p.12

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 children looked after 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,

p.13

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.13

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.13

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

p.13