Children's home run by Sherico Care Services Limited

Requires improvement

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 The home has been without a manager since June 2015 and this has had a detrimental effect on service development.  Staff new to the home do not promptly receive child protection training to ensure that they are able to provide safe care to children.  Staff team meetings do not include all members of the team. This does not promote effective team working and the collective sharing of service development ideas.  Independent monitoring visits do not routinely include meeting with children.  Staff do not consistently obtain written medical consent from the appropriate adult to ensure that children can receive prompt medical attention if required.  The home’s sensory room is not sufficiently equipped with sensory play materials.  The premises are not homely and some areas of the home require redecoration.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 Children very much enjoy working and spending time together with staff and they share very positive relationships.  Children feel safe with staff and they do not exhibit challenging behaviour.  Children have excellent access to, and make good use of, social and recreational activities that they enjoy. Staff are aware of children’s preferred activities and use these as incentives to promote positive behaviour. They participate in activities that they would otherwise not experience.  Children’s support plans are clear about goals and targets. Staff ensure that the service is able to meet identified needs well.  Children receive support to help them develop independent living skills in preparation for adulthood.

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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

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

appoint an individual to manage the children’s home if: (a) there is no registered manager in respect of the children’s home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 01/12/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are alert to the possibility that children may be at risk from relationships, including friends and others outside the home. In particular, that staff make appropriate checks regarding children’s friends prior to them visiting the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.13)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that each child has permission for staff to administer first aid and non- prescriptive medication from a person with parental responsibility for them recorded in their relevant plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.14)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff make suitable arrangements to manage and administer medication. In particular, to ensure that records are clear and include two staff signatures that confirm they both witness the administration of medication at the time medicine is given. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff gain skills in safeguarding. In particular, that newly recruited staff promptly receive child protection training. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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Recommendations

 Ensure children with disabilities have appropriate opportunities to have fun. In particular that the home improves equipment available in the sensory room. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 32, paragraph 6.10)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing, homely, domestic environment. The registered person should review the home’s decor and redecorate areas that appear worn. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the home’s care. In particular, that visits coincide with when young people are present at the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. In particular, to arrange team meetings so that all staff members are able to attend. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with learning disabilities. One placement is specifically available for a child who is physically disabled. The home is wheelchair accessible and offers a short break service.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Requires improvement

Children receive personalised care that meets their specific needs. At the time of the inspection, one young person was accessing the service on weekends for a short break experience. The staff team meets the individual needs of children well, paying good attention to identified placement goals to promote their skills development and opportunities for social interaction.

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Requires improvement

Staff ensure that they receive comprehensive information from the local authority in order to make informed decisions about presented referrals. Senior staff are careful to ensure that the home is well prepared to meet the needs of young people and that accepted referrals are in the best interest of children.

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Requires improvement

Children feel welcome at the home and share good relationships with staff. One young person says of the staff team, ‘They are proper nice people here. My key worker is good, she works well with me.’ In turn, the staff team is enthusiastic and shows interest in young people’s progress. Staff treat young people with dignity and respect and they receive support to help increase their confidence and self- esteem.

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Requires improvement

Children have good opportunities to share their views and opinions about the service. Their key work and 1-to-1 sessions regularly explore their satisfaction with the service. Distributing feedback forms is another way to gauge how young people feel about the home. Children are very much involved in the day-to-day planning of their care and routinely make choices about a range of issues. For example, children make decisions about the type of leisure activities they wish to participate in. They have a choice of bedroom and are very involved in meal planning. This is important to ensure that young people have influence on the nature of care they wish to receive.

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Requires improvement

Parents of children accessing the service for short breaks remain responsible for their children’s education. Staff maintain good working relationships with educational professionals to ensure that care provided is consistent with support received in school/college. This is particularly important in relation to the development of communication skills and behaviour management.

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Requires improvement

Children enjoy a range of social, educational and leisure activities Staff offer children an exciting choice of activities that they might otherwise not have experienced. For example, one young person with a very strong interest in nature accompanied staff on a trip to London’s National History Museum. Other trips include regular outings within the community to the local car showrooms, the skate-park, for meals out at restaurants and to the Olympic Park.

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Requires improvement

Children receive support to help them to lead healthy lifestyles. They eat nutritious, well-balanced meals and regularly participate in outdoor exercise. Staff are sensitive to the impact of children’s disabilities and tailor the care they receive accordingly. For example for children who have learning and communication difficulties, staff amend the speed and tone of their speech, sometimes repeating information so that children understand messages.

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Requires improvement

Staff are responsible for the health of children when they are staying at the home for a short break experience. Children benefit from staff receiving training in first aid. However, staff do not consistently obtain appropriate written consent to administer medication or provide first aid. This is important to ensure that staff have the authority to provide medical attention if required.

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Requires improvement

Staff receive training in the safe administration of medication. However, staff’s recording is sometimes unclear. In particular, medication records are not clear that staff witness the administration of medication at the time it is given. This is not consistent with safe medication practices.

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Requires improvement

Children receive support to help them to take care of themselves independently of others. Staff monitor young people’s daily practical skills and support them to develop in areas in which they are less confident. For example, staff support young people’s understanding of road safety, prompt them to improve upon their personal hygiene and assist them with shopping tasks. This is to help young people prepare for adulthood.

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Requires improvement

Staff pay attention to children’s identity needs, particularly in relation to issues of disability and gender. Children can attend places of worship if they so choose and staff are mindful of young people’s communication needs. For example, key information about the service is available to children in pictorial form, and some staff are skilled in the use of Makaton. The home’s sensory room, however, is not well equipped to provide children with good opportunities for sensory play.

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Requires improvement

Children are well behaved and staff are aware of potential triggers that might lead to unacceptable behaviour. Children benefit from staff’s clear boundaries that help them to take responsibility for their actions, most recently young people’s use of offensive language.

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Requires improvement

Children are able to contact friends and family members. Staff encourage family members to visit the home while children are staying there. Children’s friends are welcome to visit. However, staff do not always conduct necessary checks with parents and involved professionals to ensure that such visits are appropriate and do not pose any risks to young people. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

Staff protect children from harm, abuse and neglect and children feel safe. The admissions procedures are effective in identifying how the service will best meet the needs of children receiving a short break service. The children’s introduction to the service is gradual and is conducted at their pace.

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Requires improvement

Children have good access to information about making complaints. Information is available in the written word and pictorial form. This is to ensure that young people with differing modes of communication have appropriate access to key information about the home. The service has received no complaints since the last inspection. The independent regulation 44 visitor is another avenue for children to express their views about the care they receive. However, visits by the independent visitor do not coincide with when the current young person is present at the home. This prevents the young person from sharing his views about the service with independent personnel. This is not in the best interests of children.

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Requires improvement

The quality of the relationships between children and staff is positive. Children say that they enjoy being with staff and that they attend to their needs well. Staff are equally committed to ensuring that placements are successful and that the service meets identified needs. A staff member comments, ‘The best thing about my job? Interacting with B. We talk about his life, what he likes and supporting him. I like teaching him things. He’s a nice boy.’

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Requires improvement

The staff team is largely new to the service and works effectively to meet children’s needs and keep them safe. This has not always been the case for the service. Children benefit from staff’s access to revised, comprehensive child protection guidance and safeguarding training. These include guidance about neglect, emotional and physical abuse, the prevention of radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. New staff participate in an induction, which they find useful.

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Requires improvement

Staff are vigilant in their supervision of the children, none of whom exhibit challenging or risk-taking behaviour. Critical incidents do not happen. Since the last inspection there have been no episodes of children going missing or being absent without permission. No child has been involved in, or suspected of being involved in, child sexual exploitation. Staff do not impose sanctions or use restraint. Staff receive guidance about anti-bullying and the prevention of cyber bullying. They are vigilant in their supervision of children’s use of the internet and social media. This helps to keep them safe. Staff receive guidance about sensitive, intimate care practices that promote the dignity and safe care of children. There have been no allegations made against members of staff. Managers and leaders ensure that recruitment of staff is robust and in compliance with safe recruitment practices. This helps to confirm that staff are suitable to work

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Requires improvement

The home’s premises are safe and secure and support the service’s aims as outlined in the statement of purpose. Children living with physical disabilities are able to make use of the home’s adapted bedroom downstairs. This bedroom has adapted en suite facilities to support staff in safely caring for children who require assistance with their personal care. This bedroom is accessible to wheelchair users.

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Requires improvement

The home is adequately furnished and is reasonably comfortable. The decor of the home, however, is not homely and some areas do not appear clean. A completed feedback form from a local authority representative states, ‘The home has a nice feel. Some parts of the home are a little tired looking.’ Some rooms require redecoration to ensure that children live in pleasant surroundings.

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Inadequate

The home has been without an appointed manager since June 2015. The provider’s subsequent attempts to identify and secure the manager’s position have failed and currently there is no manager in place. In line with revised Ofsted guidance, this has resulted in the automatic ‘inadequate’ judgement for the leadership and management outcome area.

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Inadequate

The home’s current acting manager is new to the organisation, and has extensive experience of working with children and young people living with disabilities. This is of benefit to children staying at the home who are also living with complex health issues and disabilities.

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Inadequate

The staff team is largely new to the service. All staff undergo an induction and probationary period to assess their competency to work effectively with children. They receive regular and meaningful supervision. This ensures that staff have a formal opportunity to discuss their work with children and other pertinent issues. The service does not routinely hold team meetings that involve all members of the staff team. This is important to ensure that staff receive consistent information about the home’s development and to ensure that new staff have an opportunity to share their views and ideas about the service collectively.

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Inadequate

Staff have access to appropriate training to support them in offering safe, quality care. Recent training for the team includes safeguarding, addressing challenging behaviour, first aid, child sexual exploitation and child trafficking. Managers must ensure, however, that all staff receive child protection training promptly following their recruitment into post. This is to ensure that they provide safe care, in line with policies and procedures. Having established a core staff team, forthcoming staff training now has a specific focus on disability. The service plans to offer staff training on autism, ADHD, epilepsy, and moving and handling this autumn. This is important to ensure that staff have a good understanding of caring for children with disabilities and to support them in offering safe and effective care.

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Inadequate

Leaders have some understanding of the service’s strengths and weaknesses and monitoring systems are adequate. The provider employs a quality assurance manager to assist with service development. The regulation 44 visits are another means of quality assurance that provide an overview of the home’s operation and functioning. An independent consultant completes monthly monitoring visits and subsequent reports are appropriately detailed. These visits, however, do not coincide with when children are present and so do not include children’s views of the home. This is important to ensure that children have an influence on service development.

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Inadequate

The home’s statement of purpose is a detailed document that accurately outlines the aims and objectives of the service. Children have access to the home’s children’s guide, available in both the written word and symbolically. The guide provides children with information about the service and the nature of care they can expect. The registered provider is financially viable and is able to meet the service’s stated aims. The service has an adequate development plan in place.

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Inadequate

Staff work closely with key agencies, such as local authority social workers and school personnel. Staff communication with involved professionals is consistent and effective. This is to ensure that co-ordination of children’s care is appropriate and that services meet their needs.

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Inadequate

The inspection finds that in some areas the leadership and management of the home requires improvement. The lack of an appointed manager has significantly contributed to the outcome judgement. This situation requires prompt resolution if the home is to demonstrate effective improvements to service provision.

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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 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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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