Children's Home run by New Foundations Care Homes Limited in St Helens

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 benefit from excellent relationships with staff.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff understand and meet the needs of each young person. Staff know each young person‟s strengths and the areas where they need more support.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people are protected and kept safe by effective risk management and safe care practices.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The home is calm and settled. Young people learn to improve, manage and take control of their behaviour successfully.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people make a commitment to education. They attend regularly and make good progress.

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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

(2) (a) (d) The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home after full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. 05/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered provider must appoint, at the registered provider‟s expense, a person (“the independent person”) to visit and report on the children‟s home carried on by the registered provider. 05/09/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Safety measures (alarms etc.) should be consistent with a domestic setting and not create an „institutional‟ impression. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should have a workforce strategy that records the training and continuing professional development needs and achievements of those employed in the home, including the home‟s manager. Such a strategy should include timescales for achieving induction, mandatory qualifications and training, plus commitments to continuing professional development and the procedures for supervision (see Regulations 34 and 35). They should ensure that staff can

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Recommendations

access appropriate facilities and resources to support this. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this children’s home

This children‟s home is operated by a private company, which has another home in the area. It is registered to accommodate up to five young people of both genders 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

26/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people benefit from establishing meaningful and genuine relationships with staff and each other. Staff build trust by working patiently and consistently to secure close, supportive relationships. Staff take a real interest in each young person. Staff understand their individuality and respect their diverse needs. These relationships help young people to feel secure, confident and motivated to express their opinions and work cooperatively. This results in a calm and harmonious atmosphere, as young people and staff work together productively. Young people value their relationships with staff. One young person commented: „The staff care about us,‟ and another said: „They make you feel safe.‟

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Good

Young people‟s health is promoted through engaging with young people and helping them to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and personal healthcare, and making good lifestyle choices. Staff use their training effectively to guide and help young people to learn skills in self-care. All young people understand how important their health is, and appropriately seek the services of their GP, dentist and optician.

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Good

Where young people need additional skills in managing their health, staff use key working effectively to spend more time with them, helping them to develop their own programmes and routines, and to take increased responsibility for themselves.

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Good

Young people benefit from these sessions. They are used to canvas young people‟s opinions, and provide them with an effective platform to voice their opinions. Key- working sessions are themed, and young people and staff negotiate topics and subjects for discussion. This structure ensures that young people‟s care planning goals are considered, along with addressing day-to-day and more individualised matters. Key working is highly valued by young people, demonstrating the importance and value that they place upon these sessions.

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Good

Young people have made greater levels of commitment to their education since they have moved into this home. Young people who had previously refused to attend school or had disrupted attendance now attend education regularly. Staff place great importance on learning and education. Reward systems, key working and the culture of the home drive progress. Attending school and working hard are rewarded by praise and celebration. This has encouraged young people to feel a sense of pride and achievement in their efforts.

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Good

All young people enjoy living in this home and speak very favourably of the care and support provided for them. They are beginning to understand that they need to learn new skills and to take greater levels of responsibility as they move towards adulthood. Staff are helping young people to gain and use these skills through structured programmes where they practise life skills in preparation for independence. Young people who could not cook now prepare meals for themselves and the home. Young people who found budgeting and finance difficult are now able to cost meals and living expenses successfully. Staff have engaged young people effectively through praising, supporting and helping them to build their self-confidence in preparing them for the demands of adulthood.

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Good

The home has an unusual configuration internally and lacks some kerb appeal externally. It is clear from the row of houses in the street which one is the „children‟s home‟. Young people had some good ideas on how to improve the external appearance of the home and to make it more homely internally. This requires some major construction but the manager had listened to their ideas and is making plans to drive the development forward.

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Requires improvement

Young people feel safe in this home. They are confident that staff keep them safe and they also understand their responsibilities for their own safety. Safeguarding training for staff provides them with the confidence and skills to make good assessments of situations. Staff take prompt and effective action when safeguarding concerns arise. Staff understand the vulnerability of young people, and also the individual and more diverse behaviours that can place young people at further risk. Risk management planning is undertaken and exercised with the young people, ensuring that they understand how risks have been considered. This enables them to contribute, in an informed and meaningful way, to changing their behaviour and minimising risk. This cooperative approach enables staff and young people to have a very open and honest appraisal of behaviours. It helps young people to identify times when their behaviour may place them at increased risk.

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Requires improvement

Young people rarely go missing, and those who previously frequently went missing have ceased to do so. This change in behaviour has occurred because one-to-one working with young people has been effective in helping them to work through behaviours that may previously have resulted in their running away. Young people have stopped these behaviours because they understand the risks that they pose, and the impact they have on their progress and goals for the future. Staff use key- working sessions to discuss with young people exploitation and the dangers of going missing, identifying alternative strategies for dealing with stress or difficult situations.

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Requires improvement

Young people spoke about running away as being „in the past‟, and something they have moved on from and left behind. The home has successfully instilled an understanding in the young people of the risks and difficulties that running away can present, and this has had a real impact on how young people now view going missing.

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Requires improvement

Behaviour is well managed in this home through effective engagement with young people. Good behaviour is the norm, with subtle reminders and cooperation successfully avoiding the need for more formal behaviour management strategies. Sanctions are therefore uncommon. When guidance is given to young people, it focuses on the impact of their behaviour and how others are affected, and uses a more reflective and considered approach. This instils an important understanding in young people, helping them to learn how to take responsibility for modifying and developing their behaviour.

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Requires improvement

Physical interventions are uncommon. However, if there is an incident, there are clear and concise records of the circumstances of the event. Young people are consulted at an arranged separate debriefing. Health and safety and fire safety are well managed within the home. Staff carry out regular checks to ensure that hazards are reduced or removed from the home.

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Requires improvement

Staff recruitment is generally safe through thorough checks on new applicants. However, one example sampled found that not all references had been evaluated, making it clear that careful consideration of the applicant had not been carried out. This demonstrated that recruitment practices are not as testing and challenging as they should be to ensure that applicants are able to demonstrate the skills and insights that they possess before a decision is made on their employment. As a result, an applicant who may not be suitable to work with young people had been employed by the home. This could leave young people vulnerable, and a requirement has been made to address this. Judgement grade

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Good

A suitably qualified and experienced manager, who understands and prioritises the needs of the young people, manages this service effectively. Staff have confidence in her. They trust her judgement and feel that they can go to her for guidance at any time. She is described as „hands-on‟ and, as such, has close relationships with young people. She oversees and supports their progress effectively.

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Good

Staff are motivated and dedicated in supporting young people. They talk affectionately about them, understand their needs and individuality, and build good relationships with them. Staff training supports their learning and enables them to gain confidence and knowledge to fulfil their roles. However, the home relies heavily on online training and therefore it is not always practically based to assist each staff member‟s professional development. For example, the first-aid course is completed online with no practical hands-on experience in resuscitation and the recovery position. Although staff feel that training is rewarding and beneficial, in the absence of practical experiences, it is not clear what impact it is having on professional development and practice.

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Good

Staff are supported through regular supervision, and say that this is challenging and beneficial. They say that it provides them with guidance and is a useful forum to develop their professional practice. Staff take their practice issues, case discussions and their personal development to these sessions to reflect on and learn from them.

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Good

The statement of purpose for the home sets out the type of support and the services that are available for all young people. They are making good progress, improving their behaviour, learning social skills and developing their confidence in accordance with the aims of the statement of purpose. Young people are consulted on the review of this document, and it is under regular review by the registered manager.

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Good

There are suitable numbers of sufficiently experienced staff in the home to meet the assessed needs of the young people. Effective shift planning is achieved through the registered manager‟s understanding of the skills of staff, ensuring that there is an appropriate range of skills. Emergencies and staff support are planned for by the manager. There are on-call staff who can be deployed should there be an urgent need for more support for the young people.

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Good

The manager evaluates the quality assurance assessments of practice within the home, using this to monitor and develop the home‟s performance further. Quality assurance evaluates and measures systems and performance honestly and objectively. These assessments reflect the views of stakeholders and lead them to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the service and to form an opinion on the home‟s effectiveness. Feedback from social workers is positive, confirming the professionalism of staff and the positive progress of the young people. When shortfalls are identified by the manager, effective action plans are put into place.

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Good

External monitoring systems linked to Regulation 44 reporting are in place and these support quality assurance. Monthly visits provide a snapshot in time of what it is like to live in the home. However, the Regulation 44 visitor is currently the responsible individual for the home and is employed by the organisation for that purpose and therefore he is not independent. Reports attempt to evaluate and analyse processes and data and are influential in driving forward change, and therefore the lack of independence is having minimal impact on young people. A requirement has been made for the organisation to address this shortfall.

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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 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 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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