Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Herefordshire

Good

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

p.2

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people make progress in relation to their education, health, and their emotional and social well-being.  Staff encourage young people to develop their level of responsibility to prepare for the transition to adulthood.  Staff encourage young people to sustain positive relationships with their family.  Young people live in a safe environment where staff protect from harm.  Young people’s risk-taking behaviours, including going missing from care decrease as a direct result of living at this home.  Staff develop warm and nurturing relationships with young people.  Staff have the skills and knowledge to meet the young people’s needs.  Staff help young people to have a clear and positive understanding of their identity.  Few shortfalls in practice require some improvement. These include young people’s involvement in their care plans, staff qualifications, and the manager’s supervision.

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 within the given timescales.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered person must ensure:

p.4

Requirement Due date

(1)(f) that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. 29 July 2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification. (Regulation 32(4)) 29 July 2016

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  ensure 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, such as 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).

p.4

Information about this children’s home

The home accommodates up to three young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is run by a private company.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

12 January 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

Recent inspection history

7 January 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

Good

Staff talk positively about young people and have high aspirations for them, such as achieving in education and maintaining employment. Because of this support, young people make good progress in key areas of their lives. For example, their attendance in education increases. For one young person, his attendance has increased from 46% to 84%. This promotes academic achievement and good career opportunities for the future.

p.6

Good

Positive relationships with staff enable the young people to engage in regular one- to-one sessions. These are used to discuss subjects and gain views that are relevant to the young people, including bullying, health and routines. This enables young people to make informed decisions about aspects of their life’s that are important to them.

p.6

Good

Young people take part in meetings and staff respond accordingly to issues and requests raised. As a result, young people feel that their views matter and are important.

p.6

Good

Young people make progress in relation to health, and their emotional and social well-being. For example, relationships develop due to the direct work that the staff carry out with parents. This has enabled a mutual understanding of how to best mange behaviours. This leads to consistency for young people and helps to achieve relationships that are more meaningful with families.

p.6

Good

The presence of the company’s therapist on a weekly basis at the home gives opportunities for young people to access help and support without delay. The therapist also supports staffs understanding and ability to work with young people to gain the best outcomes.

p.6

Good

Staff recognise the importance of healthy activities to young people’s emotional well-being and self-esteem. For example, young people enjoy a wide range of activities such as attending Jumptastic, working on their moped and going to the cinema. These daily experiences help young people to develop a sense of self- worth and to have a positive connection with their community .

p.6

Good

Staff have a commitment to ensuring the home is well maintained. Staff encourage young people to personalise their bedrooms by choosing the colour of the walls and putting up posters of their choice. This gives them a sense of belonging and identity.

p.6

Good

Where it is appropriate to do so, young people are encouraged to develop their levels 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 manage a budget and to cook their own meals. This ensures that they are able to advance their own self-resilience and life skills. A social worker commented, ‘They were really supportive with his semi-independence skills. They got the balance right.’

p.7

Good

Contact arrangements are assessed, safe and in the best interests of young people. This gives young people a sense of identity and helps them maintain links with people who are important to them.

p.7

Good

Young people have clear care plans in place. However, young people have limited understanding of these. This leaves them without sufficient opportunity to express their views and have their voices heard.

p.7

Good

Young people are safe and live in a safe environment where they are protected from harm. The young people arrive with complex needs and challenging behaviour. Staff use their skills and in-depth knowledge of behaviour management to understand young people’s needs. This helps young people to manage their emotions safely and to begin understanding the triggers that can place them at risk.

p.7

Good

Young people who were previously at high risk of going missing have chosen, through discussions and positive relationships with staff, to change this behaviour. For example, there has only been one instance of a young person going missing from the home since the last inspection. The registered manager works effectively with local police and placing authorities to ensure that young people stay protected. For example, this partnership means that every young person has a detailed missing from home plan. This plan specifies the actions to be taken by staff and others to ensure that young people are quickly located and returned to the home. This integrated approach protects young people through good-shared resources that places the best interest of young people’s at the heart of safeguarding practice.

p.7

Good

Staff understand the risks to young people of sexual exploitation. These effective measures ensure young people are protected from risk posed by others.

p.7

Good

Staff promote and encourage a culture of trust and respect for everyone in the home. Staff use their relationship skills and knowledge gained through a variety of training. This includes training on self-harming, ligatures and the freedom project. This means risk taking behaviours such as self-harming and missing reduce significantly.

p.8

Good

Staff develop warm and nurturing relationships with young people by listening to them. Young people build trusting relationships with key staff members, and this enables staff to help to keep them safe.

p.8

Good

The manager has a good overview to ensure the home is maintained to a good standard. This in turn helps to keep young people safe.

p.8

Good

The registered manager took up post in November 2014. She holds a foundation degree in health and social care and a degree in social welfare. All members of staff take a child-focused approach in their everyday practice to enable young people to thrive educationally, emotionally and physically.

p.8

Good

There is a good balance of experience among the staff team, with the vast majority of staff holding their level 3 in residential childcare qualification. This means there is currently one member of staff that has not managed to complete their qualification within the required timeline. This was due to unforeseen circumstances.

p.8

Good

The registered manager understands young people’s individual needs, and ensures that staff have the skills and knowledge to meet them. Staff receive regular supervision and consequently work safely and consistently together. The registered manager receives regular supervision from the head of care. However, this supervision has not been sufficiently reflective with an emphasis on practice and professional development. This hinders the manager’s opportunity to enhance her practice through the aid of reflective supervision.

p.8

Good

The registered manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and has recently implemented processes to improve monitoring further. An independent visitor undertakes monthly visits and produces a report. The registered manager finds these useful. These visits, together with other systems enables the manager to monitor the quality of care. The registered manager has taken time to ensure that there is a good development plan in place for the home. As a result, young people benefit from consistency of care that achieves better outcomes than previously.

p.8

Good

The manager ensures the home’s statement of purpose accurately reflects the services offered to young people, updating when necessary. The statement of purpose is shared with placing authorities and helps social workers to be well informed about the provision of care.

p.9

Good

Partnership working with other agencies remains vital in helping young people to make good levels of progress educationally, socially and emotionally. Staff have access to therapists who play a vital role in aiding staff to have the correct skills and understanding to help young people make good progress across all aspects of their development. A social worker commented, ‘I felt that staff worked well in partnership with me with what was a very difficult-to-manage case. Their work and commitment to my young person was fundamentally the basis for his being able to move forward.’

p.9

Good

Partnership working with parents is excellent. One parent commented, ‘All ’ve got to say is pure respect for them. If [my son] is having a bad day they always tell me, they always come back to me. They give me advice on how to deal with him… I rely on the home to help me.’

p.9

Good

Effective team meetings ensure good communication and consistency of practice across the staff group. All staff and therapists attend these meetings. Mutually supportive and respectful relationships exists across the staff group. These demonstrate positive role models and consistency for the young people.

p.9

Good

The manager escalates any concerns sufficiently to bring about the necessary change in the best interests of young people in a timely fashion. For example, when an education provider was not providing a bespoke package of education as agreed, the registered manager raised this and a meeting took place. The young person, the home and the education provider all attended, enabling the young person to be fully informed and consulted.

p.9

Good

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

p.9

Good

Staff feel valued and supported by the registered manager and each other. They feel listened to, and that their views are valued. This helps the staff to remain highly motivated in their care of young people. A member of staff commented, ‘We have a very strong staff team. We all work together, we all support each other, which helps the young people as we have stability and continuity. The staff have the same outlook which helps the young people to feel safe and provides them with a routine.’

p.9

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