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 provide consistent and reliable care for the young person, which allows her to develop trusted and secure relationships with them.  Staff work collaboratively to provide stability for the young person. They have a sense of shared ownership of their practice and continuously prioritise the young person.  Staff invest their time in developing a detailed understanding of the young person, which allows them to respond effectively to subtle changes in her mood and behaviour and, hence, to avoid difficult situations that require the use of restraint.  The young person is increasingly safe. Staff work in partnership with school and the police to manage missing behaviour, which has now stopped.  Staff are proactive in developing relationships with professional stakeholders. As a result, the young person benefits from consistent and complimentary care from the team around her, and her welfare is promoted.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The young person benefits from opportunities to engage in activities in the local community, such as Girl Guides and going swimming and to the cinema. Staff promote her particular interest in animals and nature.  The registered manager ensures that staff receive appropriate training and support to manage the young person’s complex behaviour. He recognises the emotional impact of the work and manages this well.  There are some shortfalls. Staff do not record restraints with sufficient detail and some low level restraints are not recorded. The registered manager has not ensured that essential information is obtained about staff who come to work in the home or that a staff register or complete rota is maintained. These weaknesses are recognised by the registered manager and he is addressing them.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered persons meet 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the name of the child, details of the behaviour leading to the use of the measure, the date, time and location of the use of the measure, a description of the measure and its duration, details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure, the name of the person who used the measure and any other person present, the effectiveness and any consequences of the measure and a description of any injury to the child or other person and any medical treatment administered. The registered person must ensure within 48 hours of the use of the measure the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so, has spoken to the user about the measure and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. Within five days of the use of

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Requirement Due date

the measure, the registered person or the authorised person must add to the record confirmation that that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)) 5 August 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only allow an individual to work at the home if the registered provider has full and satisfactory information available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(3)(d)) 5 August 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4 and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37(2)(a)(b)) 5 August 2016

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care for one child with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. 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

25 January 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

16 March 2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

The young person in this solo placement benefits from receiving exceptional care from a committed and caring staff team. The core staff team has developed an extremely detailed understanding of the young person’s history, behaviour and needs. They really care about her and are highly intuitive to her needs. A therapist commented: ‘Their attunement to her presentation is fabulous and so they have an ability to recognise shifts in her mood and respond in order to pre-empt and manage potential difficulties.’ This provides the young person with a sense of permanence and belonging. As a result, staff influence increasingly positive outcomes for their young person. The quality of the relationship between staff and the young person is recognised by professional stakeholders. The local police sergeant commented: ‘Staff have built up an extensive rapport and manage her behaviour well. We are guided by them about when our input is needed.’ The young person invests in the home and

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Good

the garden and has developed a thriving vegetable patch. She is able to express her views to her staff, telling them that she loves them, and she feeds back to the registered manager that the staff are ‘kind and polite always’. Staff spend considerable time supporting the young person to make her own decisions and promoting her independence as far as possible, for example, in baking, in learning to make her own bed and to wash her hair. Staff promote education. Staff work effectively with school ensuring that the young person attends and engages well. They encourage educational activities at home and are in daily contact with school. This promotes consistency of care. A headteacher said: ‘The young person is supported fully by the home. The staff go the extra mile to ensure she attends school regularly, punctually and in correct uniform. They actively promote her educational provision and ensure she is in the

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Good

correct frame of mind for education. They support us fully and cannot do enough to make sure she gets her educational offer.’ Staff prioritise the young person’s health. She has access to all universal services that staff support her to attend. They ensure that all specialist referrals are pursued, to obtain a complete and improving understanding of her needs. The looked after children’s nurse commented: ‘Despite her difficulties in communication, I have observed excellent relationships between the young person and the staff I have observed her with. Staff have been easily contactable and have actively promoted her health and well-being. They have sought advice appropriately from myself and have described excellent health promotion, for example encouraging personal hygiene and seeking GP support as appropriate.’ Staff encourage the young person’s involvement in the local community. She attends Girl Guides and a local sensory centre where she benefits from therapeutic

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Good

interventions such as reiki. The young person enjoys the opportunities to spend time with her peers and is beginning to develop skills in understanding positive friendships. Staff promote family contact when it is safe and in the young person’s best interests. She really benefits from this and develops an understanding of her identity. Staff ensure that the young person’s views are central to their care planning. This is evident in the decoration of her room and her choice of activities, for example, visiting petting farms and pet shops, going to the cinema or swimming. They regularly gain feedback from the young person, both on a day-to-day basis and in writing. They ensure that she understands how to complain, although there have been no complaints since the last inspection. Staff ensure that the young person has an independent visitor in place to provide additional support in advocating on her behalf. Staff ensure that they complete life story work, which provides a record

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Good

for the young person and reflects her achievements and progress.

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Good

The staff team is highly skilled in recognising and responding to the young person’s behaviours. It provides clear and consistent boundaries for her that provide her with a sense of security. Staff continually promote positive behaviour to good effect. Staff work tirelessly to reduce the risks of harm to the young person and those around her. They work with therapists and the police in supporting her understanding of the impact of aggressive and sexualised behaviour within the parameters of her understanding. Restraint is used appropriately to keep the young person and staff safe. Staff use de-escalation techniques well, due to their detailed understanding of the young person, which reduces the necessity to use restraint, and this has reduced over time. They complete reflective work with the young person to support her development of self-regulation, and the registered manager supports staff to debrief about the use of restraint.

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Good

Staff ensure that the young person is safe. A headteacher commented: ‘We see progress every day in this matter. Although she is a complex and challenging young person, the home does their utmost to keep her safe and to encourage her to make positive decisions to keep herself safe and encourage her to contribute to the safety of others.’ Staff have proactive relationships with the police. They are in regular contact with them and the police visit the home to support staff in educating the young person about the risks associated with aggressive behaviour. Staff ensure that the young person is not criminalised and they continue to engage her in direct work to develop skills in self-regulation. Staff have effective plans in place, should the young person go missing, although the young person has not gone missing from home since the last inspection. However, the young person has gone missing from school, and the registered

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Good

manager and staff work effectively with the police and school to address this, which has led to her becoming increasingly safe. Staff ensure that return interviews take place and that the information obtained informs strategic planning: for example, the separation of the young person at school from the peer whom she was going missing from school with. As a result, there have been no missing incidents for over three months. Staff understand the risks associated with child sexual exploitation. They complete direct work with the young person and work with the school and police to reduce the risks to her. Staff recognise child protection concerns, and understand how to manage these and allegations against staff. There have been no referrals to the delegated officer since the last inspection, but a positive relationship exists between the registered manager and the designated officer, which promotes young people’s welfare.

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Good

The physical environment of the home is safe. Staff ensure that fire safety checks and evacuations take place regularly. They recognise the dangers associated with the young person’s interest in fire and have requested that the fire service attends, to address this with the young person in addition to the direct work that staff complete.

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Requires improvement

The home is managed by a suitably skilled and experienced registered manager. He has been in post for just over a year and has comprehensively familiarised himself with the young person’s care plans. This means that he is able to support staff in caring for this young person with complex needs. He ensures that her progress is maximised according to her potential and seeks further assessment and diagnosis as any concerned parent would. A therapist said: ‘Staff have been tenacious in ensuring that the young person does not fall through any gaps for assessment.’ The registered manager has challenged the placing authority regarding delays in obtaining child looked after review minutes, personal education plans and up-to-date care plans. This has been with some success, but he recognises that this now needs to be escalated to senior managers in the placing authority. He works effectively with the multi-disciplinary team around the young person,

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Requires improvement

fostering positive and proactive relationships with all the team members. As a result, the young person benefits from consistent care, which promotes her welfare. Staff understand the home’s statement of purpose, and ensure that care is provided that reflects their understanding of attachment theory and the impact of neglect and abuse during young people’s formative years. This demonstrates that staff are able to recognise and respond sensitively and appropriately to young people’s developmental and attachment difficulties. The registered manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He has met the recommendations raised at the last inspection, in promoting a nurturing environment in the home, with plenty of photographs of the young person and her belongings and toys in evidence. The registered manager ensures that health care plans are in place and he reviews how the young person’s needs

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Requires improvement

can best be met by an all-female staff team. In reaching this decision, he has considered the impact on the young person of having her personal care needs met alongside her highly sexualised behaviour, and he keeps this under review. The registered manager regularly reviews and monitors the quality of care provided and is able to identify patterns and trends to develop behaviour management strategies in partnership with his team and the in-house therapy team. As a result, the young person benefits from highly individualised care that is responsive to her complex needs. The registered manager has recently addressed the recording of restraints with staff after identifying shortfalls in this area. Staff do not always record when low- level restraints are used, or with sufficient detail, when there have been prolonged periods of aggressive behaviour requiring repeated use of restraint. The registered manager has not ensured that recruitment of staff meets regulatory requirements,

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Requires improvement

and this does not represent safer recruitment. For example, only one reference has been obtained for a recent recruit to the team. There are other shortfalls in recording which of the temporary staff have worked in the home, and the staff register is not complete. The registered manager is aware of this weakness and has revised processes in place to ensure that, in the future, there are more rigorous checks and recording of temporary staff who work in the home.

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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’.

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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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 that 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 whom 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

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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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