Children's home run by Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in Sefton

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people and their families continue to receive a high quality of support that is making a positive difference to their lives. The staff ensure that young people get the space and time, and the personalised support, that they need to think about and start to deal with the difficulties that they may be facing at home, in school or out in the community. Young people and their families are fully involved in the decision to use the service. Invariably, they see it as a positive choice to help them to try and tackle the problems they may be experiencing. Young people feel able to accept the advice and guidance available to them from friendly, experienced, well- trained and skilled staff. One young person said, ‘Staying here has helped me a lot.’ The excellent support young people receive contributes to their becoming increasingly safer, building their self-esteem and feelings of emotional well-being,

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

improving their participation and achievements in education, taking opportunities to join in fun activities that enrich their lives and developing confidence in life skills, such as cooking, baking, shopping and managing money. The manager and staff have created a warm, positive and comfortable environment where young people feel safe and supported. Young people quickly develop trusting relationships with the staff. They feel that staff are friendly, interested in their lives and want to help them. When they are struggling, feeling upset, anxious or frustrated, the staff make every effort to understand the problem and provide them with the support and guidance that they need. The staff help young people to develop the understanding and skills to manage and express their feelings constructively. This includes helping them to understand about socially acceptable behaviour, see other people’s points of view, negotiate and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

compromise. For example, they help young people to understand that adults are not trying to stop them having fun when they are out with their friends, but want to know that they are safe. Staff actively help young people to build better relationships with their parents and other young people, and to develop the skills to sort out disagreements. They have also established strong and trusting relationships with young people’s families to enable them to work together to try to improve things. Effective care planning and strong working relationships with the community adolescent service, mental health, youth justice, health, youth and social workers mean that young people and their families receive the best possible support and guidance. Young people and their families are involved in assessing the problems and planning the support they feel they need. The quality of young people’s short break plans has improved. They now include the young person’s views and a

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

detailed picture of the objective, including what needs to be done to meet the young person’s needs and to tackle the identified problems. They set out clearly the specific work that staff should carry out with young people during their stay and the tools for completing it: for example, using ‘Teen Talk’ exercises to communicate with young people and explore their personal relationships or ways of managing their feelings and frustrations, and a steps to independence programme to help young people build confidence in their life and personal care skills. However, the plans still do not set out the roles and responsibilities of other people working with the family. This deficit means that the young people, families and staff are not always clear about what the other workers are doing, or how their work fits together in a coherent plan. In addition, the young people’s records still do not always provide a detailed account of the young person’s experiences,

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

progress, and the support and guidance they receive. Very few of the young people’s records evidence the direct work carried out by staff, or evaluate either its effectiveness or the progress made against the desired outcome.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people’s plans are now routinely reviewed every six weeks by young people, staff, families and the worker from the community adolescent service to ensure that they continue to get the right support and consider their future. Everyone involved, including the young person, reflects on the progress and effectiveness of the plan, and thinks about what needs to happen next, including future work. These review meetings are an effective means of evaluating progress and outcomes. Information is shared effectively and efficiently between the staff and their colleagues in the community adolescent service. This means that staff can be responsive to family crises and emerging needs and risks. They can ensure that a place is available for young people to stay if life at home becomes difficult. It also means that staff can change the focus of their work with young people to look at the most pressing issue. Young people staying together usually get on extremely well in a friendly

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

atmosphere. They have enough personal space in which to relax and reflect, as well as opportunities to spend time with other young people and staff, playing games, watching television and films, and taking part in baking competitions with each other. They enjoy meaningful activities outside the home, including going to the cinema and the theatre, museums, skate parks, playing golf and a wide range of sports. Some of the activities are linked to helping them to talk about their feelings and lives through play, art and crafts. The staff give a lot of thought to providing interesting and affordable activities that the young people can continue at home. The effective safe care practices of the manager and staff protect young people from aggression, abuse, bullying, self-harm and going missing. Young people feel safe because they know that they can talk to staff about what is happening in their lives, and that the staff will listen to them, take what they say seriously and take

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

action to help them. The staff are interested in promoting young people’s welfare. They are vigilant and use their professional curiosity to recognise when a young person may be having a problem. Then, by asking the right questions in the right way, they enable young people to talk to them about what is worrying them. They are very well trained in safeguarding, recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse, neglect and drug use, and are aware of young people’s vulnerability to sexual exploitation. They respond promptly and effectively to concerns about young people’s safety. They work collaboratively with the police, local safeguarding services and the community adolescent service to successfully promote young people’s safety. This has included dealing with concerns about members of staff thoroughly and fairly in line with the safeguarding guidance. On one occasion, however, the manager did not inform Ofsted that an allegation had been made

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

about a person working at the home, or the outcome of the investigation.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff have a detailed understanding of young people’s needs and risks to their welfare. Young people’s written risk assessments and plans are now more personalised and tailored to the risks relating to individual young people. They set out the steps staff will take to manage and reduce any assessed risks on a daily basis. The staff have established strong links with local alcohol, drugs, counselling and mental health services that help young people experiencing problems. They work creatively to devise ways to provide young people with advice and guidance in fun and accessible ways. Pamper evenings have proved to be a more relaxing way to talk about relationships, understanding consent and sexual health. The staff provide young people with good advice and suggestions for their personal safety, including keeping in touch with their parents and staff when they are out with friends, and always calling for help if they feel unsafe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager routinely monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of the quality of care provided. She has developed a clear understanding of the service’s strengths and uses clear systems to measure the progress young people are making. The reviews of the quality of care provide a reasonably detailed picture of how the home is meeting quality standards. It draws convincing conclusions from the findings to identify strengths and priorities for development, including further training for staff in social pedagogy and improvements in the quality of written records. However, the review of the quality of care does not identify the impact that short breaks are having on outcomes and improvements for young people and their families. This information would provide leaders and managers with a better understanding of the success of the short breaks service in helping families to work through difficulties and stay together.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The external monitoring of the service by an independent person does not provide an in-depth assessment of how well young people’s welfare is being promoted and safeguarded, or recommendations for improvement. For example, it does not evaluate the relevance and quality of staff’s direct work with young people to meet their assessed needs. Also, the reports do not include routine consultation with parents and relatives, social workers and other agencies about the quality of the provision within the home. As a result, it is not taking into account how others view and experience the support provided in order to improve the home.

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides short breaks for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties supported by the community adolescent service. Its main function is to work with young people and families to improve their relationships and enable them to continue to live together permanently. It only provides short breaks and outreach for young people and their families being supported by the community adolescent service.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

28/10/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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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

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40(4)(c)) 03/08/16

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must help the independent person, if they consent, to interview in private children’s parents and relatives, in particular to seek their views about the quality of care the home is providing for their children. Also, the independent visitor seeks the views of social workers and other people supporting the children. (Regulation 44(2)(a)) 31/08/16

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that the home has sufficient information from the child’s placing authority and other relevant agencies to effectively assess whether they can meet the child’s needs; in particular, that each child’s short breaks plan clearly outlines in detail the specific work that the staff and other professionals are expected to carry out. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.5)  Ensure that information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child; in particular, provide a detailed account of the child’s experiences, progress, and the support and guidance they receive. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.3 and 14.4)  Ensure that the review of the quality of care clearly identifies the impact that

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Recommendations

short breaks are having on outcomes and improvements for children and their families. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 64–65, paragraph 15.2)  Ensure that an independent person makes a rigorous and in-depth assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children staying there; and makes clear and relevant recommendations for the improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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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