Children's Home run by Thunderbolt Mobile Limited in Lancashire

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 make progress from their starting points. They develop an improved understanding into their previous disrupted lives, change their ways and reduce previous risk-taking behaviour.  Opportunities exist to give young people new experiences as they travel around and live in a selection of variable accommodation. For example, camping and bunk house facilities, caravans and cottages as well as a narrowboat and yacht.  Relationships between staff and young people are strong and productive. This enables young people to be fully involved in their daily programme and achieve their goals.  Staff encourage young people to have a voice that enables them to feel confident, valued and respected. Their involvement in planned activities and education builds their social interactions and self-esteem.  Arrangements with professional services ensure that young people’s physical health, emotional, social and psychological well-being are identified and

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The children's home provision is good because:

met.  Daily routines prepare young people well and this enhances their independence skills. Young people leave the service moving positively forward into the community or a planned return to their family.  Young people who live a long way from home remain in touch with their family and friends. Transport is not an issue and supports young people and those significant in their lives to have agreed and planned contact.  All accommodation and each local area is risk assessed. The staff are proactive in raising young people’s awareness of risks, particularly when they are on board the narrowboat or yacht.  The rural locations that young people travel to and stay at remove young people from previous risk-taking behaviours that made them vulnerable to going missing from home incidents, child sexual exploitation and criminalisation.  The management team prioritises the needs of young people well and provides good effective support to staff ensuring that their skills are

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The children's home provision is good because:

developed and suitable training opportunities are provided to them.  The manager is not afraid to challenge other professionals to ensure that young people receive the services that they provide.

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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— The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that promotes their welfare. (Regulation (1)(a)) Ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(c)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

32: Fitness of workers Ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— (a) the level 3 diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’); or (b) a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma. The relevant date is— In the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1 April 2014, the date which falls two years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)) 30 September

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Information about this children's home

 The service is registered to accommodate three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The service is privately owned.  The service provides alternative accommodation from one to 52 weeks, which incorporates activity-based intervention work in order to offer an innovative programme for young people experiencing a period of difficulty or crisis. As written in the home's statement of purpose document.  Locations will vary, as young people will be quite literally ‘mobile’, using a variety of accommodation and facilities including camping and bunk house facilities, caravans and cottages as well as our narrow boats and yacht as outlined 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

1 February 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

2 February 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people make progress in this service and are able to reflect on their past disruptive lives. They settle into placement and adapt knowing that all previous temptations have been removed. As a result, they change their behaviour and often previous risk-taking behaviour reduces significantly. Young people are kept busy and agree a planned programme of intervention, which incorporates education and activities. They are accommodated in a variety of single occupancy facilities as they move around the British Isles and enjoy new experiences. While this service will not suit all young people, most young people adapt and settle into their new surroundings and enjoy the experiences that this service provides. Initially, some placements are planned for short periods but as young people make progress their placing authority, in agreement with young people, extends the placement. One young person says, ‘I didn’t know where I was going,

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Good

but this is much better than the last placement I stayed at, and I am much safer here.’ Another young person commented, ‘They (staff) are like my family. They really look after me well and I’m happy to be here.’ Positive relationships exist between staff and young people. Young people are provided with consistency in their care and staff are good role models, use common sense and act as any reasonable parent would do. Staff are nurturing in their approach and show appropriate sensitivity and understanding. Staff demonstrate a very good understanding of young people’s individual personalities, interests, strengths and needs. They are creative and capture young people’s imagination. This builds young people’s confidence and self-esteem. Young people’s daily routines, agreed at the point of accommodation, incorporate education and activities. The organisation has its own registered school or professional tutors who educate young people within the accommodation that they

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Good

stay at. Education is approached sensitively and considers a young person’s past experiences, which are often characterised by multiple moves that have had a negative impact on their education and attendance. Young people are encouraged to modify their behaviour and are assessed by staff on their ability to interact socially with their peers, during activities and outings. Young people have achieved 100% attendance and engagement in their educational programme. Progress has been made by them and plans are in place for them to be considered to be part of a classroom setting in the organisation’s school. One young person, after being nominated for an award, is looking forward to receiving this from her placing authority. This is to recognise the progress that she has made. Young people confirm that they feel listened to and the staff or the management team act on any questions that they raise. There were good informal interactions

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Good

between young people and the staff during the inspection, which involved educated, social and fun conversations. Formal arrangements are in place involving young people in key worker sessions, weekly meetings with professionals to support a specific need and taking part in team meetings with the staff. All responses to young people following these formal consultations are provided in writing to them. This gives them an opportunity to agree or disagree with the decisions made. Young people confirm that they know how and who to make a complaint to. One young person is satisfied with the action that the manager took following a complaint that she raised. Staff effectively promote young people’s health and well-being. There are good arrangements in place to identify and support their physical health needs. Young people at the point of accommodation are registered with all local health services and their health needs are reviewed by the looked after children nurse. Staff have

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Good

written details about the local health services as they travel around, should young people require medical assistance or to transport young people to their local appointments, such as their own doctor, dentist or when an eye examination appointment has been arranged. Specialist health and professional services support young people’s emotional, social and psychological well-being. Staff are trained to communicate using British sign language and have access to sign language interpreters. This encourages and supports a young person in communication who has a hearing impairment. Access to local mental health services and support workers ensures that young people’s psychological needs are identified and met, as are any support needs for drug and alcohol or sexual health concerns. Staff involve young people from the commencement of their placement and young people contribute to their placement planning and review process. Where young

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Good

people choose not to attend their review meeting, the manager and staff advocate well on their behalf. This was confirmed by an independent reviewing officer who came to visit and consult with a young person prior to their review meeting. She says, ‘I feel staff have done amazing work with the young person and I have no issues only praise for the work the staff have carried out and the significant progress the young person has made.’ Another independent reviewing officer who arrived to chair a young person’s review said, ‘The contribution from the manager and staff is good, they advocate well for the young person and have a clear vision and understanding of her needs and the support she will need over the coming weeks.’ Young people remain in touch with those people significant in their lives. This is comforting to some young people that are placed a considerable distance from their home areas and need to maintain those relationships that are most important

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Good

to them. Staff support and supervise contact or make suitable arrangements for young people’s family to travel and stay overnight in suitable accommodation to ensure that regular contact is maintained. These arrangements are consistent with young people’s contact agreements. Young people’s day-to-day routines involve elements which will support them when they leave the service. Their independence is encouraged and they contribute to routine household tasks. Some young people leave the service moving positively forward into more permanent settled placements in the community or return to their family home.

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Good

All accommodation that young people live in, along with the local area that they are visiting, is risk assessed. This includes camping and bunk house facilities, caravans and cottages as well as a narrowboat and a yacht. The service is able to operate anywhere in the British Isles, as agreed by their conditions of registration and by specific agreement, beyond this, they have a chalet in the south of France. Young people who use the narrowboat or yacht only do so once a comprehensive health and safety assessment and on board competency assessment have been completed. As this is a mobile service where young people travel mostly to rural areas, it can prevent young people from making sustained attachments with their peers. However, social workers agree that this service gives young people the opportunity to break a cycle and reflect and change previous negative risk-taking behaviours. Young people say that they enjoy moving around and this has not prevented them

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Good

from meeting other young people while travelling. Young people confirm that their behaviours have changed and that they feel much safer and are keeping out of trouble. Staff benefit and confirm that they are provided with a wide range of training opportunities provided by the organisation. This enables them to be familiar and up to date in their knowledge of relevant legislation and good safeguarding practice. This includes young people’s safe use of the internet and the dangers associated with young people using social media sites and how to recognise and respond to online grooming and radicalisation. As the length of time differs between young people accommodated on the service, staff have increased their knowledge further in relation to working with young people that have frequently been missing and identified as being at risk of child sexual exploitation prior to their placement with this service. The two young people

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Good

currently accommodated have not been absent or missing from the commencement of their placement and are supervised appropriately to significantly reduce any risks of being exploited or criminalised. Staff understand the procedure to be followed should a young person be absent or missing from the service. Staff are trained in behaviour management and safe restraint techniques and their preferred methods of managing young people’s inappropriate behaviour are by using de-escalation, incentives and positive rewards, which young people respond well towards. Restraint is only used as a last resort to protect young people, staff or property. While restraints are low, one restraint has taken place by an agency staff member who did not follow the correct procedure as identified by this organisation. The young person feels unreasonable force was used and has made a complaint which has been acted upon. Staff who witnessed this incident followed the correct procedures for concerns

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Good

about the safety of the young person. The inspector was aware during this inspection that serious allegations of a child protection nature were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. Actions taken by the setting in response to the incident were considered alongside the other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform the inspectors’ judgements. There are no health and safety concerns, with regular checks on equipment, fire system and evacuations being carried out at all locations that young people live in. There are regular boat safety management checks carried out and all necessary certificates are provided by professional contractors. All visitors to the locations that young people live in are requested to show their identification, sign in and are not left unsupervised with young people. A new staff member confirmed that their recruitment process was robust and that they did not

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Good

commence work with young people until all relevant checks had been carried out and returned. Regular checks on existing staff are carried out and this has been seen during previous inspections. These arrangements protect young people, staff and visitors when using or visiting the service.

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Good

The registered manager has been in post since October 2014. She has completed her level 5 diploma in Leadership and Management and has the relevant experience of working with young people. She is supported by an experienced deputy manager. Together they manage the service effectively. Staff are positive about the support that they receive from them. Regular supervision and annual appraisal enables managers and staff to discuss young people’s needs, set and test objectives and identify future training opportunities for themselves. The management team has a clear understanding of individual goals for young people to achieve. These are recorded in young people’s case files and progress sheets and clearly demonstrate improvements that they have made. Young people’s progress is measured, regularly analysed and reported back to their social worker and family. This ensures that the service is caring for them as agreed in

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Good

their plan. The strengths and weaknesses of the service are known and monitored through the development plan and progress has been made following the last inspection. A business development manager has commenced work in the service and improvements to the quality of training that staff receive have been implemented. More destinations with suitable accommodation have been identified, risk assessed and are now being used. Staffing and retention of staff needs further improvement along with better evidencing of the good work that staff undertake with young people. The service is sufficiently staffed to meet the needs of the young people accommodated and is recruiting to fill a vacant post. There has been staff sickness and when permanent staff have been unable to cover shifts, the same agency staff have been used who the young people know. However, not all staff members are qualified and only four staff members, inclusive of the registered manager and

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Good

deputy manager, have the relevant qualification. While seven of the staff members are enrolled on the level 3 diploma, two staff members have not completed this qualification within the required timescale and one staff member is yet to be enrolled. As a result, requirements are made. This is to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each young person. And, to ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained the level 3 diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’). Regular monitoring systems result in good standards of care. The independent person visits the home each month and produces a detailed, evaluated and effective report. Shortfalls identified in monitoring visits or audits by the management team are discussed during team meetings and supervision and are

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Good

quickly rectified. This sustains the good level of care provided to young people. The service has an updated and revised statement of purpose document. The service is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in this document. Equally, young people have a children’s guide which provides them with good information about external services and the service that they can expect and by whom while they are accommodated in the service. The management team works well with external professionals and agencies and advocates well on behalf of young people. The management team is not afraid to challenge services. This ensures that young people receive all of the necessary support that they need and is in line with their care plans and in agreement with their placing authority.

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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

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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