Children's Home run by Moonreach LTD in Kent

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 who have complex needs are able to develop positive and resilient relationships with a caring staff team.  Young people feel secure and develop insight into their behaviours as a result of the thoughtful, appropriate and consistent boundaries enforced by staff.  Young people who have traumatic backgrounds and make steady progress from their starting points.  The well-being and progress of young people lie at the heart of staff motivation and effort.  Young people benefit from an approach to care that seeks to maximise opportunities for increasing resilience, developing independence and becoming safer.  Young people profit from the strong relationships that staff establish and maintain with external agencies that contribute to their well-being and progress.  Staff strive to understand and learn about the individual needs of young people and seek ways to improve the standard of their care.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered persons meet 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that all procedures are followed when restraint is applied in the home. (Regulation 35 (3)) 30/10/2016

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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 statutory guidance regarding children who go missing from the home is fully applied, with particular reference to the offer of independent return home interviews. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.25)  Ensure that record-keeping in the home is consistently carried out in accordance with a clear policy and to a good standard. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for a maximum of two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The organisation has two other children’s homes.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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people living in the home are

Staff are able to deliver care that has young people at the centre of practice. Genuine warmth and interest, coupled with structure and consistency enable young people to build trusted relationships with staff. Optimism and ambition characterise staff attitudes towards the progress and achievement of young people. A placing social worker remarked, ‘They really get this girl, and she has made such progress.’ Young people are able to increase their understanding of themselves, improve their self-worth and make progress in regulating their behaviour, as a result of the care provided by the home. Young people with troubled relationships with their families and anxiety about the future are helped, with patience and persistence, to make sense of their circumstances. They are able to come to terms with the challenges that they face. Young people profit from the quality of relationship that staff establish and

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people living in the home are

maintain with professionals, agencies and stakeholders outside the home. Young people are able to express their views and frustrations; they know how to complain and do this. Staff listen and take complaints seriously, regardless of how minor they might appear to be. Young person’s meetings are regular and they contribute to the daily planning and running of the home. Structured activities to promote independent living are readily available to young people. These include resources to support learning about budgeting, cooking and tenancy agreements. The educational and vocational progress of young people is a high priority, and staff make strong and consistent efforts to support their access to learning. Since moving in, one young person rapidly progressed from chronic non-attendance to daily school attendance and is now hoping to go on to further education. Strong efforts are being made to facilitate appropriate employment or training plans for

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people living in the home are

the other young person. Staff support young people’s range of health needs in a comprehensive and dedicated manner. When specific needs arise, staff response is immediate, and services, including specialist services such as therapy, are effectively accessed. Young people are supported in maintaining appropriate contact with their families. This is done in close partnership with placing social workers and families. The home fully recognises the significance of parents and seeks to foster positive and cooperative relationships with them. One mother gave the home eight marks out of 10 for the way in which the home is caring for her daughter and for staff communication.

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people are helped and protected

Staff’s understanding of and implementation of regularly updated and well- considered risk assessments keep them vigilant about emerging and risks to young people. Focused training on issues such as internet safety, child sexual exploitation and radicalisation equip staff to understand, anticipate, recognise and address threats to the safety and well-being of young people. Young people who need to develop their independence are supported by staff who enable and empower them to keep themselves safe. Potential risks and hazards in the area are understood through a comprehensive locality risk assessment, as well as from lessons learned. This helps staff to plan any free time offered to young people and to take effective and decisive action when emergencies arise, such as when young people go missing. One young person, at significant risk of self-harm, was quickly located and protected as a result of staff’s knowledge of the area and past experience.

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people are helped and protected

When young people go missing, staff take comprehensive and determined action to locate and return them, the duration of these events is usually short. There has been a significant reduction in instances of young people going missing since the last inspection. The home has used the input of the local police missing person’s coordinator to inform its information-gathering process for new referrals. This ensures the availability of key information to reduce risks when young people go missing. Procedures for when the young person has returned need to be improved. The risk of harm to young people is reduced by the application of a considered approach to safeguarding. This combines rules and boundaries, supervision and monitoring, education and awareness building. There are opportunities for young people to become more confident and learn how to combine freedom with responsibility. Strategies and activities that are aimed at building the self-esteem

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people are helped and protected

and self-worth of young people enable them to recognise possible exploitation and to make more self-protective decisions. One young person was frequently missing and highly vulnerable to child sexual exploitation before coming to the home. This risk-taking behaviour has substantially reduced. One young person with high self- harm risks benefits from a regular review of her care by the group of professionals who meet to consider her needs. The actions taken so far in response to incidents of self-harm have been immediate and effective. Multi-agency follow-up arrangements have been good, and this practice has helped to keep the young person safe. The occasional use of physical restraint in the home is proportionate and follows reasonable efforts to defuse the situation. The most recent interventions have been aimed at preventing young people self-harming. The recording of restraint, however, needs to be made clearer and more meaningful for review. Although staff

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people are helped and protected

say debriefing and review activities are within timescales, the actual dates and times are not always specified. This makes it difficult to review what would have been the best time to gain the young person’s perspective on what took place and thereby reduce the likelihood of recurrence. The registered manager and staff are responsive and well equipped to deal with safeguarding incidents. The registered manager and her deputy have a good knowledge and awareness of the procedures to be followed when there is an allegation against a staff member. They liaise immediately and appropriately with the relevant external safeguarding agencies, and they maintain a close and proactive working relationship with the police. Staff’s caring attitude towards young people, and their motivation and focus to provide safe care are bolstered through training, supervision, mutual support and a shared sense of purpose. Young people are protected as far as possible from exposure to unsuitable carers

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people are helped and protected

through a thorough vetting process that includes the required elements of safe recruitment. There is a clear commitment to protect the health, safety and well-being of young people. This is demonstrated by having a designated person employed by the home to advise and audit health and safety practice.

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leaders and managers

A stable and motivated staff team, led by a dynamic and committed registered manager, are strongly invested in providing the best possible quality of care for young people. The registered manager has achieved the level 7 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare and has good experience. Her deputy is qualified to the level of registered manager. The remaining staff have either attained the level 3 diploma or are engaged in the process. There is a strong culture of learning in the home, and the comprehensive range of training provided is valued by staff. Mandatory training is systematic and appropriately prioritised. A newly appointed support worker felt adequately prepared to start her first shift and is enthusiastic about her further training. She said, ‘This is so different from what I did before. I am really looking forward to the rest of the training.’ The registered manager and her staff display a healthy attitude towards change

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leaders and managers

and improvement; they reflect and learn from their experiences and value stakeholder feedback. They respond quickly to any specialist needs that present and are proactive in providing focused training to equip staff to meet the individual needs of young people. Risk assessments are reviewed following incidents and in response to any significant changes. Bespoke training on autism was immediately commissioned to equip staff when the need arose. Records in the home evidence close managerial oversight, and the registered manager applies a range of monitoring activities in order to understand the quality of care being provided and how this can be improved. The most recent regulation 45 report shows rigorous reflection and clear action planning to address shortcomings and to make improvements to the quality of care. The registered manager and her staff champion the needs of young people and do this in close cooperation with external agencies. They support young people to

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leaders and managers

participate in their reviews and planning meetings. The home has devised its own feedback report for young people to complete before reviews, in order to make their participation meaningful. Detailed care plans focus on key issues and are appropriately prioritised according to risk and need. Planning is kept current and proactively seeks to address the future needs and progress of young people. This helps young people to make the best of their time in care. The stability and quality of care for existing and new young people moving into the home have been improved by the development of impact and matching assessment procedures. These help staff to be proactive in ensuring continuity of care and reducing possible disruption for young people. The home has improved the way in which it works with neighbours and the local community: relationships are better and communication is improved. This follows a spate of antisocial behaviour by one young person, now moved on. This progress

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leaders and managers

contributes to young people’s feelings of belonging. Staff benefit from regular team meetings, formal supervision, ad hoc and peer supervision and individual mentoring for new staff. The registered manager is mindful of sustaining the long-term viability of the home and succession, and development plans are in place. These include opportunities for staff promotion and moves into management roles.

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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 that 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 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, 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

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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