Children's home run by Care Afloat Ltd in West Lancashire

Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 Staff have built very effective and robust relationships with the young people. These are evident from the young people’s perspectives, their investment in the home and their considerable progress from their starting points.   Young people are making excellent progress with their education. Staff support has motivated them to attend school regularly. Young people demonstrate an interest in learning and understand how this will increase their life chances and opportunities for their futures.   Staff have created a culture of support through meaningful engagement with young people. Staff understand the young people and this enables them to target and shape the support that is most beneficial to them.   Consultation and participation with young people is excellent. It has meaning day-to-day, and leads to young people knowing that they are listened to and that their views matter.  Young people enjoy healthy lifestyles and a good quality of life, including

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

stimulating experiences through varied activities and holidays with each other and their staff.  Young people accept and engage in direct therapeutic support. They acknowledge the benefit of this and learn strategies to manage their behaviour, and their emotional and psychological well-being.  Well-managed and planned safeguarding strategies enable young people to grow up and to thrive in an environment that keeps them safe. Young people gain insights that will keep them safe now and in the future.  Young people’s risks are clearly defined and recorded. Their involvement in recognising and reducing risk is apparent. Over time, they have significantly reduced all of their risks and have developed maturity and responsibility.  Staff are dedicated and very positive role models to the young people. They aspire to achieve the very best for the young people in the home, including young people who have moved on from the home.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 The registered manager has high expectations of care and practice. She encourages and supports staff to provide the young people with highly individualised levels of guidance and support. Staff feel very supported and have all of their training needs met.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned. The home’s mission, from its statement of purpose is: ‘To ensure that every young person is safe and free from harm. We aim to make a positive difference to the lives of young people who may have experienced significant trauma in their lives, resulting in emotional, behavioural and social difficulty. The past is something that you will endeavour. The future is something we will work on to create memories together.’

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 11/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/09/2015 Full Outstanding 19/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/11/2014 Full Good

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Outstanding

Young people continue to make excellent progress as a result of living at the home. They benefit from well-planned care that is closely monitored by the management team and staff. Young people benefit from very strong trusting relationships that have been built prior to, or on their admission to, the home. The consistent care shown by staff has been resilient to challenge and continues to show the young people that staff genuinely care for their well-being.

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Outstanding

One young person says, ‘I have been in loads of care homes but never been in one as good as here, I get loads of support. I used to self-harm, drink and do drugs, but now none of that is me, I am so happy.’ Another says, ‘I am happy here and all of the staff are very nice.’

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Outstanding

This stability is the result of intensive, thoughtful strategies, carefully planned and implemented to target risks and meet young people’s needs. For example, specialist healthcare arrangements are in place, supported by weekly therapy sessions. This emotional and psychological input offered to the young people has enabled them to change behaviours and make significant progress from their starting points and is a particular strength of the home.

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Outstanding

Staff work in partnership with health services to promote young people’s well- being. Close monitoring of their physical and psychological health ensures that their specific health needs are identified and met. Young people are receiving the specialist support they need to promote their development. Their physical, emotional and psychological needs are being met.

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Outstanding

All medication in the home is checked daily, recorded and signed as accurate. Individual, secured storage medication boxes are in use, and staff have completed training in the safe handling, administration, storage and disposal of medication. Medication is only administered as prescribed and there are no shortfalls in these systems or the procedures that staff follow.

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Outstanding

Staff prioritise educational attendance and achievement extremely well. Successful strategies, such as rewarding attainment with privileges, work very well. Some young people took their mock exams prior to the summer holidays and all have achieved very good attendance. Extra tuition is provided to young people. For example, one young person is being supported by a professional tutor to increase her grade in mathematics. Young people value education and demonstrate really well how important this is for their futures. Young people’s hard work, dedication to and participation in learning is rewarded. All enjoyed a holiday together with their staff during the summer holidays, which was enormously successful. They are looking forward to another planned holiday in October 2016 to the south of France. Young people’s individual hobbies and interests are catered for and promoted. They are proud of their achievements, all

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Outstanding

of which are displayed throughout the home, within professionally designed photo frames and albums and in young people’s memory boxes. Memories of their time and progress in the home will go with them and benefit them when they are older.

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Outstanding

Young people demonstrate really well the opportunities that they have had and the changes they have made while living in this home. They have been involved in local charity events and fund raising for those not as fortunate as themselves. Young people raised £250, which was sent to a school in Nepal, and have received a thank you letter from the sponsor.

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Outstanding

Staff support young people to acquire independence and daily living skills as they prepare for their transitions to adult life. Independence plans and key work sessions introduce young people to the notion of taking responsibility for themselves at a pace and level appropriate to their stages of development. Young people who have moved on from the home, and who remain living in the local area, regularly return and befriend other young people living in the home. This provides young people living in the home with ambition and support.

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Outstanding

Messages from young people who have moved on from the home include, ‘I am doing really well and it’s down to the staff for sticking with me and showing me the way, so I could understand some of my issues,’ and, ‘I can’t thank the staff enough, and although some of their messages were difficult, I certainly have learned and I am doing really well.’

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Outstanding

Extremely positive feedback about the services that the home provides and the progress that young people have made is evident. Professionals confirm that the home works in partnership with them, keeps them regularly informed and involves young people in all decisions about their lives.

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Outstanding

Young people play a full part in the day-to-day life of the home. They attend regular young people’s meetings and contribute their ideas and comments to key documents and plans, as well as engaging creatively in key work sessions. One young person assisted the manager with the completion of her risk assessment, which now has considerably reduced risks since her admission into the home. Young people confirm that staff listen to them, value their views and young people are confident, knowing that their contribution to the home matters.

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Outstanding

Young people know how to complain and who to complain to. There has been one complaint made since the last inspection. The young person has signed the action letter from the registered manager in response, showing that they are happy with the way their complaint has been handled and concluded. Young people have positive contact with their families, some of which is supported by staff. This helps them to maintain relationships with important people in their lives and helps them to understand their background and culture. The manager is eager to promote safe contact in the home, if assessed as appropriate, or in the locality of their family, as necessary. Transport is not an issue and ensures that young people and their family can see each other, regardless of any distances involved.

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Outstanding

Parents and a social worker are complimentary about the home. Their comments include: ‘Staff suggested and facilitated contact at a seaside bed and breakfast recently for one young person and her mum,’ ‘My daughter, the home and staff are a credit to how much change has been made for the better since she came to live in the home. I think they (staff) do a fantastic job,’ ‘I am 100% satisfied with the home, staff are very friendly and listen and look after her really well.’

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Outstanding

Staff and young people contribute to comprehensive placement plans that include information about how to support the young people and meet their needs. Young people’s placement plans link well with detailed risk assessments that identify how risks are to be reduced. Young people are clearly involved in the development of their placement plans and risk assessments. They fully understand the strategies that staff will follow.

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Outstanding

Staff have completed and attend refresher training in safeguarding, child sexual exploitation, how to be safe and what to look for online. They are knowledgeable in research-formed practices and fully understand the vulnerabilities of the young people. Staff know and demonstrate very well what to do and who to contact in the event that they have concerns about the young people’s welfare. This training and staff knowledge has been applied effectively in practice. As a result, initial concerns of young people placing themselves at risk have completely disappeared. This success is down to the staff working in partnership with other professionals, and educating and building up solid and trusting relationships with the young people.

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Outstanding

Young people’s welfare and safety is clearly and operationally paramount. Staff are conscientious and diligent in ensuring that young people fully understand the risks and dangers to them when away from the home. Through trust and agreed plans young people enjoy time with their friends and family, and staff are secure in the knowledge that young people keep in touch and inform staff of their whereabouts. These arrangements allow young people to take appropriate risks, secure in the knowledge that staff will respond to them, if needed.

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Outstanding

Staff make every effort to ensure that moves into the home and out from the home are well planned where this is possible. The manager leads the team in actively seeking information from others involved with the young people and from the young people themselves. This provides them with the information necessary to keep young people safe from the beginning of the placement and when they move out to their next placement.

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Outstanding

There has only been one missing from home incident since the last inspection. This was in relation to a young person from this home protecting another young person from another home. The young person used her knowledge gained from the staff to ensure that the other young person returned home, and then she returned to this home safely, providing staff and the independent person with her reasons for taking this action. Young people were able to explain what preventative and reactive strategies are available to them in potentially unsafe situations. For example, they have knowledge of local unsafe areas and know how to contact the home if they are in danger.

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Outstanding

Positive and nurturing relationships between young people and staff underpin the home’s approach to behaviour management. Staff are motivated, good role models, committed and work very well together as a team. They consistently reinforce boundaries and reward and promote young people’s positive behaviour. There is a warm and friendly atmosphere in the home, and this is evident through observation and is confirmed by all staff and young people. Physical intervention is extremely rare, and the last recorded restraint took place four years ago.

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Outstanding

Rewards feature far more than consequences and young people inform and agree to the strategies that staff deploy to address any inappropriate behaviour. This enables young people to understand the expectations of them and to be supported to develop and sustain socially acceptable behaviour.

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Outstanding

All staff appointments are subject to safer recruitment guidelines, ensuring that appropriate measures are taken to appoint appropriately qualified and suitable staff. The manager plans to involve young people in staff recruitment, although this home has had few, if any, changes to the staffing structure. However, young people do contribute their views as part of the annual staff appraisals and the manager’s performance feedback form. This reinforces their sense of responsibility and ownership of their home.

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Outstanding

The management team and staff undertake regular health and safety checks in the home. These ensure that the equipment works well and poses no risks to young people, staff and visitors. All staff and young people are conversant with the fire drills and the need for full evacuations from the home from time to time to maintain vigilance and safety for all. All visitors are required to produce identity, to sign in and out of the home and are not left unsupervised with young people.

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Outstanding

Young people and staff have created a very welcoming and personalised home. The young people are actively involved in the decoration and layout of the home, both internally and externally. Ideas are being discussed with young people in relation to a graffiti wall and enchanted fairy garden. Part of the garden area has been converted into a farmyard style area. Young people have personalised their bedrooms and are proud of their environment and respect their surroundings.

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Outstanding

The registered manager has over 10 years’ experience of working with young people and has completed her level 5 diploma in leadership for health and social care and children and young people’s services. She has been the registered manager in this home since 2012. She is supported by an acting deputy manager who is more than competent to cover in the event of the registered manager’s absence.

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Outstanding

The management team provides strong, clear leadership to the staff team. They are ambitious for the young people and have high expectations of the young people and their staff team. This has embedded a culture where all staff are united in their efforts to improve the life chances of the young people. Staff demonstrate very well the individual personalities, strengths and needs of the young people.

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Outstanding

Staff confirm their satisfaction and say that they receive a wealth of good quality training, which ensures that they have the skills and knowledge to work with the young people. One member of staff says, ‘We all take important messages from training and we pull together as a team to implement these consistently, ensuring our young people receive high quality care.’ Another says, ‘You know the journey our young people have been on. Their outcomes and achievements make us all proud, it is such a satisfying feeling. I really enjoy working in this home.’

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Outstanding

Regular staff supervision, both one-to-one and as part of a therapeutic process with the whole team, underpins practice. The group sessions are attended by all who work in the home and are regular. The impact on the staff of these sessions is such that it builds their resilience and determination and enables them to provide high-quality, consistent care to the young people, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

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Outstanding

Staff work well together as a team, and all but one have completed their level 3 or higher qualification. They provide a consistent approach, contributing to young people’s sense of emotional security. Staff are further supported through appraisals, where objectives are set and met. This includes reading research materials and applying consistent models of practice. Arrangements to manage and support staff ensure that young people receive a very high quality of care and the staff are knowledgeable about their needs and are committed to meeting these.

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Outstanding

The registered manager responds promptly to the independent visitor reports and swiftly addresses any shortfalls or actions suggested in their reports. The independent visitor reports provide scrutiny of all aspects of the care provided in the home and seek young people’s, their families’ and social workers’ views. In addition, the management team prepares monthly self-monitoring reports and submits these to Ofsted within the required timescales. These reports outline patterns and trends, show young people’s journeys in the home and include proposals to meet any deficits that they see in the running of the home. This ensures that the service continues to evolve, to maintain high standards of care and develops to meets the needs of young people living there.

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Outstanding

The registered manager will challenge, and has robustly challenged, placing authorities or other agencies in order to promote young people’s welfare and ensure that they receive the services that they are entitled to.

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Outstanding

The home is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in the statement of purpose document. The home’s mission statement is to ensure that every young person is safe and free from harm, and, that the home aims to make a positive difference to the lives of young people who may have experienced significant trauma in their lives, resulting in emotional, behavioural and social difficulty. Outstanding outcomes have been achieved and young people, past and present, have benefited greatly from living in this home.

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Outstanding

Young people have devised their own statement of purpose document, a children’s guide, and there is a young people’s working development plan running alongside the home’s development plan. This ensures that young people are fully involved in their home and greatly benefit from the services provided to them. They look at their files regularly and sign sections with their key workers. This helps them to understand what staff are doing and what targets they are aiming for. Their successes are clearly summarised in ways that they understand.

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Outstanding

No requirements or recommendations are made at this inspection.

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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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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