Children's home run by Salford City Council in Salford

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 supports young people well. The consistent staff team provides young people with opportunities to explore their past and strengthen their resilience. This enables young people to grow in confidence.  There is a core group of stable, experienced, qualified and diverse staff members who young people have trusting relationships with.  Young people make progress from their starting points in the home. Positive outcomes for young people are at the core of staff practice. Consultation with and involvement of young people in their own care are priority areas.  Seeking the views of young people and acting on their wishes is central to how the home operates and gives them a sense of belonging.  There is a strong focus on education. This supports young people to continue with their learning, and the achievements that they make are celebrated.  Partnership working is effective and supports young people’s health,

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The children's home provision is good because:

emotional, social and psychological well-being.  Young people are involved in the daily routines of the home. Preparation and planning for their future is considered and incorporated in their care plan.  There is a clear understanding of any risks associated with young people. Boundaries are distinct, with reward schemes and praise helping young people to develop acceptable behaviour and self-regulation skills.  Going missing from the home and absences have decreased. As a result, young people’s previous risk-taking behaviours have reduced.  The home is managed effectively with young people’s needs being prioritised well. The management team and staff have a clear understanding of the progress that young people are making in respect of the plan for them.  The management team has a good understanding of the home's strengths and they tackle identified weaknesses to secure improvement. The manager communicates high expectations to her staff. She is energetic and ambitious

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The children's home provision is good because:

about continuing improvement, and the support for staff is strong.

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Statutory Requirement

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: The registered person is required to ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(d)) 26 August

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Information about this children's home

 The home is registered to accommodate five young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The home is operated by a local authority.  The home’s overall aim is to provide high-quality care in a safe, warm and welcoming environment where young people are supported to reach their potential. We seek to promote well-being and self-esteem by building positive relationships based on respect and understanding, as written in the home's statement of purpose document.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16 March 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

11 February 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

Good

Positive, trusting relationships with staff allow young people to develop confidence and a sense of belonging. The staff team is diverse, skilled and qualified. They know the young people very well and demonstrate a sound understanding of young people’s individual personalities, interests, strengths and needs. Staff are creative and capture young people’s imaginations, enabling them to engage and secure long-lasting relationships. This builds young people’s resilience and self- esteem. Young people confirm that their relationships with staff and with each other are strong. They engage and contribute to shared ideas about the day-to-day running of the home. Their imaginations are captured and they have a sense of ownership about the practices that staff follow. For example, creative ideas in relation to the incentive and reward system in place, which encourage young people to focus on individual goals and achievements. Engagement and contributing to how the front

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Good

and rear garden area has been transformed has strengthened young people’s and staff’s relationships. This has given young people responsibilities in attending to the plants, flowers and vegetables that they have planted. Comments from young people include ‘they (staff) are sorted, and care for me really well’, ‘I am listened to and staff go out of their way to provide me with everything I need’ and ‘when I go on holiday my friends can come with me, which is really good’. Observations during the inspection demonstrate how staff are interested in young people, they spend time with them daily and are interested in their arrangements as they get ready to go off to school and plans that they have after they return home from school. Most young people are in school and arrangements are in place to secure appropriate education provision for one young person. This ensures that young people do not drift and fall behind academically. Young people have maintained

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Good

regular attendance in school. Two young people have now completed their examinations and are being supported by staff in identifying their preferred choice of training at college or by considering an apprentice course. Young people’s achievements have been recognised and celebrated and they are prepared and looking forward to their respective prom nights. The home has access to a holiday caravan close to the seaside where young people can enjoy short breaks and holidays with the staff. Arrangements have been made for one young person to spend time on holiday with their family, while another young person is taking her friend on holiday with the staff. Activities, hobbies and interests are individual to young people, such as horse riding and group activities at local community events. Young people know their plans for contact with their family and any reason why contact has to be supervised. Their friends and family are welcome to visit the

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Good

home. This keeps them in touch with significant people in their lives. Effective partnership working with external agencies and support groups, for example drug and alcohol workers, advocacy services and children’s rights, provide young people with any professional support that they need. Staff consistently work alongside any agreed strategies or interventions to support and meet young people’s specific needs. This improves young people’s psychological, social and emotional development, and contributes to the progress that they make. Young people are registered with local health services and all of their physical health needs are met. Detailed health plans show routine appointments are attended. Procedures followed by staff ensure that any medication brought into the home is stored securely, administered safely, recorded and returned to the pharmacy. These arrangements ensure that all medication in the home is

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Good

accountable and young people receive medication as prescribed for them. Young people did not raise any concerns about the care that they receive in the home. They have information about independent organisations and demonstrated well what they would do if they needed to raise a concern or a complaint. Planning for admissions is carefully considered to assess any compatibility issues that may have an impact on a young person or the resident group. These arrangements contribute to a settled home where young people get on well and support each other. Where young people are of an age to move on, planning for independence in line with agreed plans is in place. Staff accompany young people when looking at next placements, support them and work with their family if they are to return home, and when risks are identified within the local area, ensure that young people are moved appropriately to another placement to secure their needs and keep

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Good

Young people are safe in the home and say that they feel safe. From their starting points in the home, young people’s previous risk-taking behaviour has reduced. When incidents have arisen, safeguarding arrangements are managed well. Multi- agency meetings and collaboration with other homes in the local area have disrupted negative friendships and allowed young people to recognise the dangers that they place themselves in and change their behaviours. This has been achieved by providing young people with specific support in relation to the dangers of drugs being offered to them in the local community, and the harmful effect that drug use causes as well as the negative impact on their health. Young people have responded well to these messages and progress has been made in relation to young people’s risk, where initially those categorised as high risk have now reduced to low risk. This is evident within the individual risk

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Good

assessments for young people. Equally, support provided to young people about staying safe when away from the home has reduced the number of episodes of going missing from the home. Staff are proactive and follow young people, they visit and disrupt possible addresses which are deemed unsafe for young people to be at and pass information onto the police. Detailed records are maintained, which outline the efforts that staff have made to ensure that young people return to the home safely. These include return home interviews by a person independent of the home who passes on any intelligence to staff, which further contributes to keeping young people safe. The management team and staff work effectively with the missing from home team, local police community support officers and placing social workers, who visit the home regularly. Two police community support officers confirm that they have no concerns about the young people living in the home. The missing from home

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Good

team worker said that communication between the home and themselves is effective in keeping young people safe, and two social workers report that the home is very good at communicating and sharing information with them about young people and that young people do make progress in the home. Staff are trained to recognise or manage potential or actual child protection concerns. This includes grooming, internet safety, bullying, radicalisation and whistleblowing. Reflective practice and refresher training keep staff up to date with relevant legislation and guidance and how to manage risk. Young people say that they feel confident to talk to any member of staff about anything and know that they will be listened to. The home is settled and there have been no incidents of restraint for some considerable time. Consequences for inappropriate behaviour are rarely used, with only two being imposed since the last inspection. Staff are good role models for

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Good

the young people and have completed training in relational skills and self-efficacy and apply these through discussion, practical activities and role play with young people. This encourages young people to self-regulate their own behaviour. Young people’s views are listened to and acted upon and this enables them to achieve their goals from the incentives set and agreed by them. The majority of staff have worked at this home for a considerable time and all are vetted regularly. A new staff member confirmed their recruitment process was robust and he was only able to commence work in the home once all checks had been returned and verified. This is overseen by the manager and prevents any unsuitable people being recruited and having the opportunity to harm young people or place them at risk. Visitors to the home are required to show proof of identity and sign the visitors’ book. They are informed upon arrival of the fire evacuation procedure and

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Good

assembly point. All appliances are checked regularly and there are no health and safety concerns inside or outside of the home. These arrangements ensure that young people, staff and visitors are protected and kept safe in the home.

p.9

Good

The registered manager is qualified and has 24 years’ experience of working with young people. She is supported by an experienced deputy manager. Together, they share their knowledge and skills throughout the staff team. This creates an environment that provides young people with consistency and well-planned care that enables them to progress. Management oversight is effective. Regular supervision from the manager and deputy manager enables staff to discuss individual young people and their own professional development. The registered manager is supervised by her senior manager. Staff report that their access to training is good and focused on the young people that they care for. They say that training completed has changed the way that they work and this is having a positive impact on young people. All staff in the home are qualified as required by regulation. In 2011, the Department for Education commissioned the National Implementation

p.9

Good

Service to develop and pilot a practice-based, adolescent-focused programme with a whole-team approach. All staff have now completed 10 weekly half-day sessions, plus two half-day supervision sessions for managers, helping them to incorporate the learning into practice. While the management team and staff report that this has had a positive impact on how they approach young people, it is too early to evaluate the impact that this is having on young people. This will be looked at during the next inspection. The home is currently recruiting to fill two vacant posts. This has had minimal impact on young people as the home is not operating to full capacity and staff are covering the shortfall in hours. As a result, a requirement is made. This is to ensure that when the home is operating to full capacity that there are sufficient numbers of staff to provide care for each young person and to reduce the impact

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Good

on those staff currently working extra hours. The home’s strengths and weaknesses are known and the registered manager and deputy manager are delegating staff tasks to ensure that all paperwork and administration systems in the home are completed and up to date. Some minor shortfalls in records looked at during this inspection where actioned by the registered manager. For example, the statement of purpose document now reflects the actual staff working in the home and how the home is achieving its aims and objectives. Quality assurance monitoring takes place regularly, with the manager and deputy manager overseeing the records that staff complete. Each month, a registered manager from another home is accompanied by a local councillor to look at and report on how the young people are effectively safeguarded and how the conduct of the home promotes young people’s well-being. An independent person has been

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Good

employed to carry out this work starting in July 2016. This will provide a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of young people in the home’s care. Information within young people’s case files and placement plans is readable and accurate and works together with key work sessions and external professional support on specific areas for development. They are reviewed regularly by staff and young people and updated monthly or as and when changes take place. The management team and staff work proactively and effectively with outside agencies, such as police, local safeguarding unit, missing from home team, social workers, independent reviewing officers and education. Challenges to these services are carried out if the team considers any responses not to be in the best interests of young people. This secures positive outcomes for young people. No requirements or recommendations were made at the last inspection.

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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 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

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

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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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