Children's home run by Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings Limited in North Devon

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 home provides very personalised and child-centred care. Good emphasis is placed on really getting to know young people and establishing trusting and respectful relationships. The registered manager is highly motivated to provide young people with a positive residential care experience. Along with the staff team, she is working effectively to meet the objectives of each young person’s placement plan. A social worker who has recently placed a young person at the home said that she was ‘very impressed’ with how well the manager and staff had prepared themselves for meeting the young person prior to his admission to the home. Subsequently, she had remained impressed with how they had responded to her suggestions and how effectively they had helped the young person to settle in.  The manager has taken effective action to respond to concerns raised at the interim inspection, which judged the home to have declined in effectiveness.

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The children's home provision is good because:

For example, she has worked effectively with placing authorities, made considered judgements about suitability and mix of young people and has been assertive in ensuring that placing authorities have a clear plan in place which supports young people’s holistic needs, including their rights to education and therapeutic support.  The manager has a good insight into the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She is working towards developing her staff team and making further improvements that will benefit young people. While there have continued to be significant staff changes, these mostly relate to new staff starting. The manager, with support from the company, has worked extremely hard to make local appointments and the manager now feels in a much stronger position to further improve the quality of the home and the quality of care that it provides. The timeliness of induction has improved and staff feel very

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The children's home provision is good because:

positive about their ongoing training opportunities. The manager is aware of the need to strengthen her senior team and has started to make progress in this area.  Some shortfalls were identified during this inspection. These relate to the frequency of supervision, especially important in supporting new staff to develop good care practices and feel confident in managing diverse and challenging behaviours. Better oversight of some practices and associated records is also required if staff are to have consistently good opportunities to reflect on their practices and seek to make improvements to benefit young people. The manager’s biannual review of quality of care also needs to be more reflective and transparent, about not only what has gone well but what has not, and the improvements that are being introduced as a result that will benefit young people.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to ensuring that the registered manager's oversight of practices and recording process contribute to continuous improvements, the registered person must— (2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 31 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

33: Employment of staff The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience (Regulation 33 (4)(b)). 31 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children's home at least once each month. The independent person must produce a report about a visit which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether children are effectively safeguarded and the conduct of the home promotes children's well-being (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b)). 31 July 2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  The review of quality of care should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home's care, which will be captured in the written report. The reports should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home on how these actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4).

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Information about this children's home

The home is privately owned by a company which has several other children’s homes in the same region. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children. The home provides care and accommodation for 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

14 January 2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

At the time of this inspection, the home was occupied by three relatively new young people. The manager and staff had welcomed them sensitively to the home with careful and considered planning. Good attention has been given to assessing their needs and making informed impact risk assessments. Effective partnership working with each of the placing authorities has established clear planning which means, for example, that individual educational needs are being addressed in a timely way. The registered manager has learned lessons from a previous experience with a former young person whose placing authority was extremely slow in sourcing and providing suitable education, which impacted on the young person and the success of the placement as a whole. The manager and staff are working hard to develop trusting and secure relationships with each young person. They are placing the well-being of each young person at the centre of their practices. Young people are forming positive

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Good

attachments and a sense of their own identity. For example, one young person who enjoys a wide range of exciting activities is creating a large photo-montage in his bedroom, which he is very proud of. Staff are particularly sensitive to respecting young people’s sense of identity and family circumstances and by doing so are helping young people to develop a positive self-view and build emotional resilience. Young people are being effectively supported to maintain regular contact with their family. Expectations from the placing authority are clearly understood and very good arrangements are in place to ensure that young people are supported and have their say. Staff understand how important this is to young people and liaise well with social workers and families to ensure that young people enjoy positive experiences. Really good attention is given to providing young people with a wide range of social and recreational opportunities. Staff are enthusiastic in sourcing interesting

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Good

activities which provide opportunities for young people to take regular exercise and enjoy outdoor space. One young person described how a particular member of staff is ‘great fun’ at the scooter park, joining in with him and learning tricks. Staff also spend quality time with young people at mealtimes. Emphasis is placed on enjoying meals together and spending time chatting over the day and making new plans. Young people are also encouraged to play board games and relax at home together. The comfort and appearance of the environment have improved since the last inspection. Young people are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms and add their seal of approval to the decor in general. The home has a large garden at the front and back of the property. Its maintenance can be a challenge and the manager addressed this at the time of the inspection, ensuring that a gardener is scheduled to visit more frequently.

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Good

Young people live in a nurturing and safe environment. Staff have a very good understanding of the needs and vulnerabilities of each of the young people and this informs their decision making and practices. All young people receive one-to- one support and supervision from a member of the care team. The manager has given careful consideration to the suitability of the young people that she has recently admitted to the home. She has considered other young people, staff skills and the location of the home. This careful planning means that there is a better likelihood that staff can keep young people safe. Young people feel that they can talk to staff and are encouraged to have an open rapport. Any minor concerns or grievances are responded to swiftly to ensure that they do not become serious issues that may impact negatively on the positive relationships that staff seek to establish with young people. For example, a young

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Good

person recently achieved a good resolution in respect of staff accessing his personal space. This approach respects young people’s rights and dignity while maintaining trusting relationships which are key to keeping young people safe. Young people have regular access to a wide range of professionals, including their social worker, teachers, therapists and an independent visitor who visits the home each month. The manager and staff maintain professional and transparent communication with these individuals, which supports good safeguarding practices. Staff have a good awareness of the risks that young people face. They receive good training that is relevant to young people’s lifestyles such as how they can support young people to develop their awareness of the risks that the internet may pose to them. Staff are also clear about procedures that young people must follow if they have concerns. The home has effective links with the local authority and

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Good

where appropriate they take thorough action to investigate any staff conduct concerns, to ensure that practices are safe and child-centred. Positive behaviour is consistently promoted. Staff have a calm and consistent response to young people. Staff seek to engage young people in discussion that broadens their awareness of how to keep themselves safe and why staff have to respond in the ways that they do. This approach was seen in practice during the inspection. Staff responded several times to a young person who was feeling confused and distraught. Their positive and consistent response helped to keep the young person safe and subsequently helped him to feel more settled and willing to engage with staff. During the past year, there have been three physical interventions. These have been low level. Two have occurred very recently and the manager was mindful of the need to thoroughly reflect on these incidents with staff to ensure that staff

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Good

always use effective de-escalation techniques wherever possible. Staff reward young people’s good behaviour and celebrate their successes. Some sanctions are used. Sometimes these are natural consequences or restorative measures to behaviour which work well as they are meaningful to young people. At other times, staff use sanctions that do not feel as relevant or the record of the sanction is not detailed enough. The manager was asked to give more attention to this area to develop good practice further. There have been several new staff appointments recently to increase the staff team appropriate to the needs of the young people. Staff are carefully selected and vetted to ensure that unsuitable appointments are not made. The manager is part of the interview panel and personally signs off references and checks. She is also ensuring that new staff complete their induction in a timely way and before they

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Good

become fully fledged members of the staff team. These practices ensure that young people are cared for by staff who are suitable and well supported to work safely.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has worked in the home for nearly two years and was registered in March 2015. She has been a registered manager in a variety of settings for 15 years and has achieved National Vocational Qualification 4 and the Registered Manager’s Award. She feels well supported by the company and receives monthly practice-related supervision from the responsible individual. The manager is very committed to providing good care and support to the young people in her care. During the past year, a lot of effort has been put into making local staff appointments. This has been successful and the manager feels that she is in a strong position now to develop the staff team and embed good practices. She is aware of the need to establish a robust senior team and has made a request to the company to appoint a third senior carer. This is a sound proposal as it would enable the manager to ensure that in her absence there is always a senior carer on

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Requires improvement

duty leading the shift and supervising less experienced and qualified staff. In fact, several of the staff members are relatively new and inexperienced. Good attention has been given to their induction and ensuring that they achieve a level 3 qualification within the expected two year timescale. Staff were very complimentary about the variety and quality of training that they have had since joining the company. While day-to-day supervision and support is good, not all staff, including new staff, are receiving practice-related supervision as regularly as defined in their supervision contract (namely, two-weekly for staff on probation and four-weekly for established staff). The manager is aware of this shortfall and the importance of making improvements to support staff and benefit young people. Quality monitoring processes are in place and improvements are being implemented. For example, the manager has introduced a weekly senior team

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Requires improvement

meeting to ensure that important matters are thoroughly discussed and a consistent approach taken. The manager’s daily oversight of serious incidents and their associated records needs some further improvement to ensure that both practices and records are of a consistently good standard. For example, some of the young people’s records, including their positive handling plans, need to be more detailed so that staff are clear about expectations. A better evaluation of sanctions would lead to more meaningful and restorative practices. The home’s record of complaints also needs to be more detailed, to include for example the nature of the complaint and the outcome of the investigation. The manager’s review of quality of care for the past six months was thorough, but lacked meaningful reflection on what had not gone well over the period and what as a manager she had learned from this and what improvements were being introduced

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Requires improvement

as a result. In reality, the manager has learned lessons and made improvements to ensure that young people who are placed in the home are better supported to achieve good outcomes. The independent visitor’s report, while thorough, does not clearly state their opinion as to whether young people are effectively safeguarded or their well-being promoted.

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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 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 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

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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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