Children's home run by Family Care Associates Limited in Preston

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:

 Young people progress well at the home and enjoy positive relationships with the staff team. They have developed well with their involvement with education and have decreasing concerning behaviours.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Contact with young people‟s families is consistently supported. Regular reports go to families and social workers to advise on their progress.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people learn about both their physical and mental health, and various ways that these can be improved.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people are kept safe through well-known child protection procedures and a consistent approach to safeguarding. Staff have a good awareness of how to respond to incidents of self-harm and young people going missing.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff support of young people enables them to modify their behaviour and make safer decisions. As a result, young people are generally well behaved, and incidents of restraint are extremely rare. Consequences for poor behaviour are linked well to restorative justice.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Records relating to placement planning, medication, consultation and staff recruitment require some development, but do not affect the welfare of young people.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The home is well led by an experienced and suitably qualified manager. Staff feel well supported and work consistently to meet the needs of the young people.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager ensures that the home is constantly developing and that young people are receiving a high level of care from staff.

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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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

(2)(b)(iv)) provide personalised care that meets each child‟s needs, as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans, taking account of the child‟s background; 29 July 2016

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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 person must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

(2)(f)) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3, specifically details of any medicines kept for the child in the home, including details of any medicines which the child is permitted to self-administer, and the administration of any medicine to the child; (Regulation 36 (Schedule 3, 25(a)(b)) 22 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.(Regulation 32(3)(d)) 31 August The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16.3 (a)(b)) 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):  ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home's care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child's cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 22, paragraph 4.11)  ensure that the children in their care understand their rights as a looked-after child, or child living in a children's home. Children must be informed of how to contact the Office of the Children's Commissioner for advice and assistance about their rights and entitlements. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards', page 23, paragraph 4.19)  assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately owned children's home. The home accommodates up to four young people 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

10 March 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

16 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people progress well while being at the home. They state that they feel that they have „improved‟ in areas such as education, behaviour and their mental health. An increase in friendships with their peers has helped to support their self- esteem. Relationships between young people and staff are consistently positive. Young people state how well they get on with staff and enjoy being there, all saying that „it‟s just like your own home‟. Staff show a high awareness of the differing needs of the young people, and are positive about their achievements and developments while they have been in residence.

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Good

Young people are involved in different activities, primarily led by their own interests but supported by the staff team. They have a range of friends who often visit the home, increasing their feeling that the home supports their relationships with their peer group.

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Good

Care planning is in place for all young people and links well to the children looked after documentation, from the point of their admission and subsequent reviews. Some areas of planning need updating so that staff are fully aware of current care practices, including medication and education.

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Good

Staff support relationships with young people‟s families well. There are clear arrangements within care planning and staff often travel significant distances with young people to ensure that family relationships continue. Records show that staff consistently keep families up to date with their child‟s progress through regular phone calls and monthly summaries.

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Good

Staff ensure that regular health appointments support young people‟s physical and mental well-being. Good links are in place with specialist mental health support, which also offers guidance to the staff team regarding ways to work with young people. The administration of medicines records are highlighted by the monthly visitor as an area requiring improvement. Some controlled medication records are not actually recorded and there has been a small number of instances of incorrect auditing of tablets. This could have a negative impact on the well-being of young people if this is to continue.

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Good

All young people have educational placements and are at differing points in their educational careers. The registered manager has fought hard to ensure that all are receiving education that is appropriate to their needs. An independent reviewing officer, who stated that the home „has done everything that it could to make sure that education is being completed‟. Staff are involved in supporting educational placements, and work has been completed within the home to allow young people to keep up to date with some subjects.

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Good

The home is a pleasant and comfortable environment. Young people have personalised their own rooms well. There are pictures around the home of holidays and day trips showing staff and young people.

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Good

Although staff ensure that they consult regularly with young people, the records of these, including key-working discussions, are not sufficiently robust. Young people themselves state that there is no regular formal structure for them to talk to key workers. Young people‟s meetings are held regularly, but do not consistently feed back to young people the outcomes of discussions with the staff team following specific requests made in these meetings.

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Good

A complaints system is in place, and on young people‟s admission to the home information is available on what to do if they are unhappy. No complaints have been made since the last inspection. The young people‟s guide to the home includes some information about complaints, but does not include the contact details for the children‟s commissioner. A consistent approach is given to the development of young people‟s independent skills and awareness of their „journey‟ within care. Young people are expected to be involved in planning and cooking their own meals, as well as looking after their own clothing and bedrooms. Differing tasks are signed off as part of their development into adult life. Good life-story work includes records of their time at the home, including the activities and the individuals whom they have met while being there. This help to enhance individual‟s identity and sense of belonging.

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Good

The manager ensures staff implement safeguarding procedures in protecting young people. When concerns relating to safeguarding are raised, they are responded to swiftly and the registered manager involves all pertinent organisations, including social workers and the local safeguarding board. Records relating to such incidents are detailed, giving a clear chronology and showing the effectiveness of the home in promoting young people‟s safety.

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Good

Staff carry out regular checks regarding health and safety issues, protecting both young people and others within the home. The staff ensure risk assessments relate directly to information regarding young people and support their welfare, both within the home and during activities. This ensures that staff are aware of the risks regarding the young people and how these can be overcome.

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Good

Incidents of young people going missing from the home have decreased since the last inspection. When incidents occur, they are well recorded and show staff being proactive in both searching and involving relevant authorities. The registered manager ensures that local authorities take responsibility for offering independent meetings on their return. These actions help to support the young people and to decrease the likelihood of future „missing‟ events.

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Good

Young people have been involved in self-harming behaviour. The manager has in these instances made sure risk assessments are in place to respond to these and give guidance to staff, enabling them to support young people. However, some practice issues regarding the use and storage of razor blades are inconsistently followed. This could affect the safety of young people.

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Good

Young people are generally well behaved, with an absence of any restraints since the last inspection. Sanctions are being used in line with restorative justice principals. This helps young people to be aware of how their behaviour could affect others. The manager has a good overview of records of behaviour management to ensure these are appropriate. No young people highlighted bullying as a problem at the home, with one stating, „surprisingly, we seem to get on pretty well with each other, at least most of the time.‟

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Good

The managers unable to show its recruitment procedures clearly, other than a basic spreadsheet relating to standardised checks. The home has a stable staff team, and the manager states that checks are completed by the human resources section of the organisation after shortlisting and interviews. The lack of sufficient information for the registered manager could affect their awareness of the background of staff.

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Good

A registered manager manages the home, and is trained up to level 4 Diploma in Leadership and management of care services, and has a wealth of experience with regard to residential care and young people. She works well with staff, often in evenings and weekends to support her team. She has a strong awareness of the way that staff work, including their strengths and areas in need of development.

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Good

The home‟s development plan is detailed, including a range of ideas for moving the home forward. The six-monthly assessment of the home gives a good summary of the development of the young people and suggests areas that could be developed further. A clear amalgamation of the developmental points within differing assessments could help to support staff progress further, especially if linked to individual staff development targets.

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Good

A locality risk assessment is in place and is being developed further through an increased awareness of other children‟s homes within the immediate area.

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Good

The manager ensures that home has a statement of purpose that clearly sets out the role of the home and the way that the young people are worked with. Recent changes in the therapeutic model used as support are not incorporated within the statement, due to this being updated on a six-monthly basis. This lack of information means that parents and social workers may not be fully aware of the new ways that staff work with the young people.

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Good

Staff feel well supported by the management team, and highlight the manager‟s „hands on‟ approach as being especially positive in their working relationship. Supervisions are completed monthly and are well recorded. Annual appraisals help staff to assess their own working practice and look at ways in which they could develop further within the home, increasing their responsibilities. Staff meetings help staff to share information and good practice.

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Good

Staff receive training in all basic mandatory courses, and have recently undergone training in the new supportive package for young people. Those who have not completed training up to Diploma level 3 are involved in the course, and are due to complete within the coming months.

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Good

Staff are aware of the need to inform differing organisations when significant events occur within the home. These are completed appropriately.

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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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