Children's home run by Cherish Children’s Care Limited in Fylde

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 receive care and support from a consistent staff team, enabling them to form positive, trusting relationships.  Stability of placement for young people who have previously experienced multiple changes within their lives is central to practice. This enables young people to develop positive connections and to access resources to improve their overall outcomes.  Educational attendance is encouraged well. This enables young people who historically have had limited school attendance to increase this, thereby increasing the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and qualifications that contribute to their future life chances and experiences.  Staff support young people to feel increasingly safe by working in partnership with the police, placing authorities and the young people themselves to reduce incidents of going missing from home. Although these still occur, their frequency and length are decreasing, with staff proactively

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The children’s home provision is good because:

following detailed strategies to support this reduction.  Staff receive training, guidance and support to help them understand and manage young people’s complex behaviours.

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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

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure—

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Requirement Due date

(2)(d) that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. This is with particular reference to damage to a young person’s bedroom wall. 31/08/2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the statement of purpose covers all matters as identified in Schedule 1 of the children’s homes regulations, in particular with regard to the age range, number and sex of children for whom it is intended that accommodation be provided. (Regulation 16 (1), Schedule 1 (3)(b)) 31/08/2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of the matters in Schedule 2. This is in particular reference to a full employment history, together with a satisfactory explanation of any gaps in employment, in writing. (Regulation 32 (3)(d)) 31/08/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19)

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Recommendations

 Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private social care company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children and 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

25/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people experience positive care and support from a caring, committed staff team. Staff have developed a good understanding of the young people and their individual needs. They provide nurturing, caring and consistent support to young people to develop trusting relationships that enable them to feel safe. Young people said that the staff treat them with dignity and respect. One young person said: ‘I’m happy here and want to continue to live here until I am ready to move into my own home.’ Another young person said: ‘Staff are interested in me, the things I like and what I want to do in the future.’ Another young person who had recently moved into the home was experiencing difficulty settling due to its being their first experience of a children’s home. Staff show empathy and understanding of the impact of moving into a new home. They provide support and structure to enable young people to settle in and to feel safe.

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Good

Staff promote educational outcomes for young people and are aware of the difficulties that some young people have in attending school when they have previously had limited attendance. School hours are built up in accordance with agreed education plans. Where young people continue to struggle, the manager and staff are proactive in sourcing alternative resources to supplement their education. This includes apprenticeships and alternative school placements. Activities further contribute towards this, with one young person commencing theatre workshops. One placing social worker said: ‘This has proved exceptionally positive for the young person and supported the young person to commence education on a regular basis.’ Where a young person does not have a school placement, tutors have been arranged to support their education. The home has a room that young people can use for education, and which has educational books

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Good

and activities available. A computer is also available. However, access to the internet is currently unavailable due to damage by a young person and this is yet to be repaired. This could impact on some access to additional educational resources if the repair is not completed.

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Good

Young people’s healthcare needs are identified clearly within care plans. All young people are registered with healthcare professionals and are supported to attend appointments as required. However, some young people decline to attend these, and therefore staff undertake specific key-work sessions on health and well-being to encourage future engagement with healthcare professionals. Some young people have issues with substance misuse. The home ensures that referrals are made and support is provided to undertake work with substance misuse workers. The staff provide additional support with this.

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Good

Young people are encouraged to take part in activities within the local community. Some young people use the local gym and sports facilities, whilst other prefer to use community resources, for example the cinema. Arrangements are in place for some young people to go camping and to take part in outdoor activities during the summer holiday.

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Good

Information about the home is provided to young people verbally and within a children’s guide. This document enables young people to have an understanding of the home and what to expect. Professionals and other interested parties are provided with the home’s statement of purpose, which sets out the aims and objectives of the home. However, this document, which has recently been amended, does not contain information about the age of young people for whom the home caters. This is a minor shortfall.

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Good

Young people are consulted and included within all aspects of their care planning to ensure that their views contribute to the home. They have individual choice for their activities, and opportunities to personalise their bedrooms by choosing the décor and posters and making it their own place for relaxation. They are encouraged to take pride in the home and are involved in contributing their views on how the home is decorated. Since the last inspection, damage has been repaired and there continues to be a maintenance programme in place. However, the manager has identified further redecoration to be undertaken and young people are currently contributing their views to the colour scheme they would like.

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Good

Young people are supported by staff who have a good understanding of how previous experiences and trauma can impact on individuals and their behaviours. They are good at recognising and responding to each young person’s behaviours by implementing clear and consistent boundaries. This enables young people to feel secure and they are responding positively to this. One young person said: ‘Staff tell me that they care about me and want me to be safe and happy living here. I have settled in well and feel safe. If I didn’t, I would let staff know.’ Another young person said: ‘It’s good here. I know staff want the best for me and talk to me about things if they think I am doing something that isn’t safe.’ This is also reiterated by placing social workers, who say that a strength of the home is providing stability and making the young people feel that they are cared for. One social worker said: ‘Staff have showed great empathy and tenacity when the young

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Good

person has tested boundaries and presented some very challenging and destructive behaviours. The support he is receiving is helping him to understand that staff care about him, want him to enjoy his childhood and feel confident and happy in the home.’

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Good

The home develops and implements detailed risk assessments for all young people. This enables individualised responses to known behaviours with the aim of minimising the risk of harm. This includes when young people go missing from home. Although this still occurs, the strategies implemented are supporting these incidents to decrease. Staff work in partnership with the police and local authorities. The lead police officer with responsibility for missing-from-home episodes and child sexual exploitation said: ‘Staff are proactive in looking for children and young people. They communicate any areas of concern to the police and follow local procedures well.’

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Good

Expectations of behaviours are consistently implemented by all staff. Where young people’s negative behaviours are heightened, staff follow plans to de-escalate these. Physical interventions are used only if there is a risk of a young person harming themselves or others. When this occurs, detailed recording of the event is reviewed by the manager, and, where appropriate, behaviour strategies are amended to meet current behavioural needs.

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Good

Positive behaviour is encouraged and supported, with young people having the opportunity to gain additional rewards, for example, additional spending money or participation in an activity they wish to do. This helps them work towards these goals. They understand that consequences of negative behaviours are implemented. Again, these are recorded and the young person is invited to record their views. However, this is not always completed and there is no explanation as to why this is. This does not evidence that their views are routinely sought in respect of these matters.

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Good

Overall, the environment is maintained to a good standard. However, recent damage to a young person’s bedroom wall has yet to be repaired to reduce the risk of harm to the young person.

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Good

Recruitment and selection are, in the main, robust. They are undertaken in accordance with the organisation’s recruitment and selection policy. Some staff work additional hours for the adult service and have two recruitment files. However, some information has not been duplicated in their file in connection with the home. For example, one staff file did not have a current photograph as required. Another recruitment file did not contain the full start and finish dates of previous employment on the application form.

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Good

The home’s manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2015. She is currently undertaking a level 5 diploma in management, and has experience of working with young people in residential settings. Since her appointment, she has brought stability to the home following a number of changes within the management and staff team. She has demonstrated clear leadership and management and has a staff team in place that has a good understanding of its roles and responsibilities in providing support to the young people. This stability of staffing has impacted positively on young people and provides them with consistent levels of support.

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Good

The manager has effective monitoring systems in place, enabling her to review the progress the young people make and to take action to address any shortfalls. Independent monthly monitoring provides further scrutiny of the home and outcomes for the young people. The manager is responsive to recommendations raised.

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Good

Placing authorities confirm that the manager and staff communicate well with them, providing updates and progress reports on a regular basis. They confirm that the manager will challenge when resources are not in place as required. Examples of this include requesting and following up on educational resources to support the integration of young people into educational provision to meet statutory requirements. In addition, the home has established good links with other professionals to enable cohesive ongoing support, for example with drug and alcohol services to support young people who have a history of substance misuse.

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Good

Staff receive regular supervision to support them in their roles and to reflect on practice. They have access to training and development, with a core training programme delivering mandatory training, including in safeguarding and child sexual exploitation. This helps them to understand potential safeguarding concerns and to promote the safety and welfare of the young people. The home supports a therapeutic model of care, although it is not a therapeutic service. Staff receive attachment training to help them understand the issues young people may have in forming and sustaining relationships. Only four members of staff hold level 3 qualifications in working with children and young people. Although some have additional qualifications, the manager is aware of the need to ensure that all staff obtain this qualification within the statutory timescale. Enrolment of staff is currently ongoing.

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Good

The home is situated within a residential area. There have been previous concerns raised by neighbours about the behaviour of young people. However, there have been no recent reports of this and the home engages well with the neighbourhood community police team to ensure that any potential concerns are addressed in a timely manner.

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Good

The manager has ensured that the requirement and recommendation made at the previous inspection have been met with regard to ensuring that physical interventions are clearly recorded and monitored.

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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 the ‘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 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 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, 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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