Children's Home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Telford and Wrekin

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 build sound, trusting relationships with young people, which helps to provide good care, support and clear and consistent boundaries.  The manager ensures that placement plans are comprehensive documents that detail achievable outcomes and fully recognise the progress young people are making.  The manager ensures that young people are safe in this home and are protected by trained staff who have established good communication links between the home and agencies responsible for the protection of young people.  Young people’s views and opinions are central to the running of the home and carefully considered in all decision-making.  All young people are fully supported to attend school or college. Staff at the home encourage young people to have high aspirations for themselves and to work hard toward achieving them.  Staff ensure that young people are consistently encouraged and supported to increase their semi-independence skills in line with their ages, abilities

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The children's home provision is good because:

and levels of understanding.  The manager ensures that staff are regularly supervised and have good training opportunities to meet the complex needs of the young people placed.  The manager ensures that there is a wide range of constructive activities for young people to take part in, both inside the home and in the local community.  Staff promote family contact so that young people stay in touch with important people in their lives.  There are a few shortfalls in practice. These include the manager not ensuring consistent recording of restraints and missing-from-care episodes.

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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

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to physical restraint and missing-from-care records, the registered person must (2)(a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. 30 July 2016

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Information about this children's home

This home, run by a private company, is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

23 February 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

12 February 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people spoken with during the inspection reported that they have good relationships with staff. One young person reported, ' The best thing about being here is the staff. They are good to be around.’ Professionals confirmed that they observe positive interactions between young people and staff. One social worker reported, ‘[Name] is very settled. He has built up a good routine and gets on well with staff members.’ This supportive approach ensures that young people develop positive and trusting relationships with staff. The manager ensures that staff complete individualised, detailed care plans in relation to young people's needs and how they will be supported. Staff implement these plans effectively with regular updates and reviews to reflect young people's changing needs and progress. This demonstrates that staff are consistent in their approach and that young people’s daily routines are met.

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Good

Young people are in good health. Staff ensure that they are registered with primary healthcare services. Specialist support is readily available to meet the emotional and psychological needs of young people through individual therapeutic sessions. Staff receive clinical oversight, which provides them with opportunities to discuss any particular issues they have in relation to the care of young people. This demonstrates that staff have the appropriate strategies to support young people. Appropriate arrangements are in place for the safe management of medicines to promote the safety and well-being of young people. Young people attend the organisation’s school. Education is valued in the home and care staff ensure that young people are fully supported to attend and achieve. For example, care and teaching staff work closely together to ensure consistency of practice and, when necessary, provide direct support in the classroom. This

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Good

approach has enabled young people to attend school and to make good progress relative to their individual abilities. Staff ensure that young people are able to maintain contact with their families and friends. Staff facilitate contact, regularly providing transport, so that these important connections are maintained. Staff support young people’s friendships in the local community. Staff regard it as crucial that young people maintain meaningful relationships with those important to them, because this is part of their individual identities. Staff ensure that young people are supported to develop independence and life skills that are appropriate to their age and understanding. This includes development of self-care skills, such as independent travel on public transport, shopping and preparation of meals. Staff ensure that eligible young people have pathway plans, setting out how they will progress into independence. Staff work in

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Good

partnership with the placing authority to ensure that there is a stable transition to independent living. Young people benefit from making a positive contribution to their home and their care plans through a variety of forums, such as key-worker sessions, regular consultation and statutory reviews. Young people join local clubs and take part in activities in the wider community, socialising with others of a similar age. This enables them to have new experiences and develop hobbies, skills and interests.

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Good

Young people say that they feel safe. A social worker validated this, reporting, ‘They do a good job safeguarding him and staff at the home have a good relationship with him.’ The manager ensures that staff receive safeguarding training and that they have a good understanding of their duties in promoting young people's welfare. Staff work with young people individually to address any vulnerabilities and risks. Young people’s behaviour management plans and risk assessments all contribute to meeting young people's needs for safety and protection. Young people have the opportunity to express their views through key-worker sessions, informal discussions and young people’s meetings. They know how to make a complaint, and any complaints that are made are dealt with appropriately, with the outcome communicated to the young person. The manager ensures that young people benefit from living in a safe environment.

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Good

Staff make sure that the home is kept safe by doing regular health and safety checks and making sure that equipment is serviced. They also practise the home's fire evacuation procedure and test the system on a regular basis. Young people participate in fire evacuation so that they know what to do in the event of a fire or other emergencies, which helps to keep them safe. The manager ensures that young people are protected by the organisation's robust recruitment practices. Staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These procedures promote the safety of the young people by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them. The home is a large spacious farmhouse set in a rural location. It is well furnished and decorated. There is ample comfortable living space, with large communal rooms for young people to get together and other rooms for young people to have privacy should they wish. Young people can personalise their bedrooms to reflect

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Good

their individual tastes and personalities. The manager ensures that challenging behaviour is well managed. Behaviour management strategies, together with staff knowledge, training and understanding of the young people, enable difficult behaviour to be managed well. The use of restraint is only used as a last resort to protect young people from harm, accident or injury and is proportionate to their behaviour. Records pertaining to physical intervention are not consistent and some of them contain the wrong information. This means that future scrutiny of the records is compromised. The manager ensures that staff know how to implement and follow the local authority’s’ joint protocol and procedures for reporting young people missing from care. Staff take appropriate action to locate young people quickly and promote their safe return by means of keeping in touch with the young person and liaising closely with the police and other agencies. There is also a process in place for

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Good

young people to be seen by an independent person on their return. However, the recording of whether this has taken place is not clear and does not give the full picture of the missing episode. This leaves a missed opportunity to strengthen child protection procedures that help to reflect community risks on young people’s safety and welfare.

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Good

The home has an appropriately qualified registered manager in place. The manager has been in post since July 2014 and holds a diploma in leadership, health and social care at level 5. The manager ensures that all staff receive regular supervision that provides the opportunity to review young people’s care and considers their professional developmental needs. Training records show staff benefit from a diverse range of appropriate training to develop their knowledge, skills and professional practice. This means that staff are well trained to meet the needs of young people. Most staff are qualified. Those who are unqualified are within regulatory timescales, at present, to obtain their qualification within those timescales. The manager ensures that the statement of purpose document clearly demonstrates the aims and objectives of the home. This makes it possible for parents or placing authorities to have a clear understanding of services available.

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Good

Young people are provided with a children’s guide, providing them with information that is important for them to know and understand, such as available resources and how to make a complaint. The manager ensures that an independent visitor calls at the home once a month, in line with legislation, to monitor and report on the quality of care. The visitor speaks to young people, parents and professionals. This provides an effective check for compliance with regulations and standards, ensuring that young people's needs are met and that they are well cared for. The manager ensures that communication between agencies is prompt and effective in ensuring that all parties are kept well informed of young people’s progress. A social worker reported, ‘Communication is good. I get weekly reports and prompt communication if there are any significant incidents.’ This demonstrates that young people are better protected due to this multi-agency

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Good

approach. The manager has in place a detailed development plan that is under review, to help drive forward further improvements to the service. In response to the requirement and recommendation made at the last inspection in February 2016, the manager has updated the specific child protection policies and has a system in place that enables independent return-home interviews to take place.

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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

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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