Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

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:

 Staff develop positive relationships with the child. They spend time getting to understand his wishes, feelings and behaviour.  Staff ensure that they provide effective individualised care with consistent boundaries. This improves the outcomes for the child.  The child develops skills to manage his own conflicts, leading to improvements in self-regulation.  Staff encourage the child to attend school. They promote educational activities in the community and the home, when the child is not attending school.  Staff promote healthy living. They support the child to develop positive hygiene routines, and to attend for medical and dental treatment.  The registered manager develops positive relationships with professionals and family members to ensure that there is consistency in the planned care provided.  Staff support contact for the child with his family which is meaningful and safe. This promotes his sense of identity.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The registered manager gives priority to the security and safety of the current child in placement. He ensures that no new placements are considered until the child is ready to live with others.  The child becomes increasingly safe as the number of incidents is reduced, including those in which physical intervention is necessary.  There are shortfalls which the registered manager has identified. These include the impact of the continuity of care provided by temporary staff working in the home, delays in ensuring that damage to the property is repaired in a timely manner and an allegation by the child not being recognised as such by staff. Staff’s recording of incidents lacks clarity at times, including the recording of physical intervention and debriefings with the child.

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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

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered provider must— (2)(e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered provider must— 2(d) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health; 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered provider must ensure— 2(a) that staff— (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; 29 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(s):  Staff should be familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4).  Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable. In some cases children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60).

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care for two children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home forms part of a large social care company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

22 March 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

11 November 2015 Full Requires improvement

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Recent inspection history

10 February 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

The home is currently operating as a solo placement for one child. There have been no children admitted or discharged to the home since the last inspection. The child develops positive relationships with his core staff team, and said: ‘I wish I could stay here forever. I love my staff.’ He receives highly individualised care, because staff have a detailed understanding of him. This ensures that they are able to develop reward systems which are relevant to the child and, as a result, he engages and makes good progress with his personal hygiene and behaviour. The child understands how to complain, and does so about the use of temporary staff in the home: ‘I don’t like it when agency and reserve staff work with me and I am naughty.’ The registered manager endeavours to provide continuity of care for him, but this is not consistently achieved. The registered manager has a robust action plan in place to tackle this issue. This ensures that the child can receive

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Good

The child makes progress in most areas, despite the shortfalls in the continuity of his care. Staff recognise that this progress could be greater with better consistency in care. His progress is evident in his improved self-regulation. For example, incidents of aggressive behaviour have halved since January 2016 and there has been an 80% reduction in sexualised behaviours since October 2015. This represents excellent progress from the child’s starting point, and means that staff are able to re-introduce homely furnishings such as pictures, cushions, photographs and throws.

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Good

Staff promote healthy living. The child engages well in the reward system to develop good personal hygiene practices. Staff support him to attend appointments and, when he requires, medical and dental treatment. They ensure that a varied and healthy diet is offered. They complete direct work around health issues to good effect, with improved outcomes. Staff encourage the child to engage in activities in the local community which keep him physically fit. He enjoys boxing, riding his bike and going to the park. He selects specific rewards for his positive behaviour, such as a trip to a theme park. He said, ‘I love going to Alton Towers.’

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Good

Staff support the development of emotional resilience. Staff encourage the child to engage in weekly therapy sessions. The therapist attends staff team meetings to discuss behaviour management strategies and to support staff in managing his challenging behaviour. Staff support the child to have meaningful contact with his family, where that is safe and in his best interests. This promotes his identity. Parents recognise the difference that staff make to their child’s progress: ‘Staff are good at communicating with me and are all nice. I see positives for my child, His education is better than it was before.’

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Good

Staff ensure that the child’s well-being is at the centre of everything in the home, irrespective of the challenges that he may present. His wishes and feelings are sought regularly regarding day-to-day living and also regarding care planning. For example, he adds his comments to his placement plan and is prepared for his looked after child’s review with a list of his wishes, and he is able to remain throughout the meeting.

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Good

Staff support the child to engage in education. His education plan is kept under review. The current plan is ineffective. He struggles emotionally and is unable to engage in the structured learning environment that the current school provides, resulting in a period of exclusion. The registered manager recognises that the plan is ineffective and has sought a review with the placing social worker and the virtual school head to consider alternatives. Staff engage the child in education within the home and also in educational visits, which he enjoys, while he is not attending school.

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Good

Staff support the child to become increasingly safe. The core staff team understands his behaviour and triggers well. The staff ensure that clear strategies are in place to protect him from harm. Staff are skilled in de-escalation techniques and, together with their positive behaviour management, are effective in ensuring that the child becomes safer. For example, staff use tokens to provide a clear, visual record of his achievements. Staff provide consistent boundaries which enable the child to develop positive relationships with staff. As a consequence, there is a reduction in the number of incidents and a significant reduction in the need to use physical intervention. This has reduced from 23 incidents of physical intervention in October 2015 to just three in May 2016. This represents exceptional progress.

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Good

The child rarely goes missing. Staff understand what to do when he is missing, and respond promptly and effectively. They report him missing to the police and British Transport police, and keep looking for him in the area where he has gone missing. As a result, he is missing for the minimum amount of time and returns to the home with staff. Staff are aware of the importance of the police undertaking ‘safe and well’ checks and of an independent person conducting a return interview to inform strategic and care planning. Staff understand the risks associated with child sexual exploitation and remain vigilant for any indicators.

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Good

Staff develop proactive relationships with the police. This results in opportunities for the child to develop positive relationships with the local police officer. Staff make child-centred decisions about reporting behaviour within the home to the police. They make good use of restorative justice, thus ensuring that the child is not unnecessarily criminalised. Staff ensure that the child is able to take age- appropriate risks. They listen to his views and support him to take small steps towards independence safely.

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Good

The registered manager ensures that safer recruitment practices are followed for permanent staff members who are recruited to work in the home. This monitoring prevents unsuitable people from being recruited and having the opportunity to harm children. Staff and the registered manager notify Ofsted when significant events occur. This enables the regulator to monitor and review the care that is provided.

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Good

Staff receive safeguarding training. However, some staff do not understand what constitutes an allegation and, on one occasion, there was a delay of nearly two weeks in investigating and reporting an allegation. This does not safeguard the child or staff. The registered manager has managed this robustly. He has addressed the subject of the management of allegations in team meetings and individually in supervision. He identifies this as a training need for the team.

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Requires improvement

The home is managed by a suitably experienced registered manager who has been in post for almost a year. He is working towards the level 5 diploma in residential childcare leadership and management. He has addressed two of the three requirements raised at the last inspection. He ensures that the child has access to appropriate toiletries in the bathroom and that no dangerous cleaning materials are accessible. He ensures that he responds to the issues identified by the independent visitor.

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Requires improvement

One requirement has not been met, regarding providing continuity of care. This is part of a wider issue within the company. The registered manager does understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home, and is taking robust action to address the shortfalls. However, some staff have needed to be moved to work in other homes, for their own safety, and others are off sick, leaving shortfalls in the core staff team. The registered manager is addressing this and one new member of staff has started in the last month. The transfer of two members of staff from within the organisation has been agreed for the end of this month. In the period since the last inspection, 19 temporary members of staff are recorded as having worked in the home. However, the rota has not been maintained to record all the people who have worked in the home and records have not been maintained of all the temporary staff, such as details of a current Disclosure and Barring Service

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Requires improvement

(DBS) check. This lack of managerial oversight of who is working in the home does not safeguard the child or staff members.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager provides informal and formal support to staff. They receive regular supervision and have individualised development plans in place to ensure that their personal development, and that of the team, progresses. All staff benefit from training which reflects the needs of the child in currently living in the home, for example autistic spectrum disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder training, and refresher courses in the use of physical intervention.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager develops positive relationships with professional stakeholders and families. This includes school, the virtual school headteacher and therapists. As a result, the child’s plan is progressed consistently by all those involved in his care. The registered manager challenges the placing authority when plans are not progressing as expected or required. This promotes the child’s welfare.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager monitors and reviews the quality of care provided. He seeks the views of parents and professionals, as well as the child, so that the quality of care is consistently improved, for example changing staff’s shift patterns so that the same member of staff can take and pick up the child from school. He acts to address weaknesses in staff’s report writing, but recognises that this is an area of further development, particularly in recording physical intervention and subsequent debriefings with the child. Some repairs required in the home have not been completed in a timely manner. This has left brickwork and insulation exposed in the child’s bedroom for four weeks. This represents a risk to the child and does not promote a homely environment.

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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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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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