Children's home run by The Place Young People’s Company in Rushcliffe

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 make good progress and have positive experiences. A key strength of the home relates to the therapeutic parenting models used by staff to support and care for young people. Young people’s holistic health needs are met to a high standard by suitably trained and competent staff.  From their starting points, young people make good progress in relation to their education. Their attendance and attainment levels have improved since moving to live at this home, and staff regularly celebrate their achievements.  Staff and managers ensure the well-being and safety of young people. Risk assessments reflect the current and changing needs of young people. Highly competent staff work closely and positively with all involved agencies to ensure that young people feel safe and are kept safe from harm.  Young people enjoy a range of fun and stimulating social activities, fully supported by staff. They also enjoy regular contact with family members

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The children's home provision is good because:

and others significant to them. Staff place great value on family contact and on supporting young people to make positive transitions from the home at the appropriate time.  Young people form positive and meaningful attachments with staff and managers in this home. They feel listened to and able to influence the day- to-day running of the home. Their needs, wishes and feelings are seen as central to the care provided by the staff team at all times.  The two recommendations set at the last inspection have been fully met. A new policy and procedure is in place to ensure that staff do not carry or use their personal mobile phones during shifts. Detailed work has been undertaken with young people to assist their understanding of the impact of bullying and various forms of discrimination.  Shortfalls identified as a result of this inspection relate to staff recruitment checks, risk assessments of the location of the premises, and ensuring that

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The children's home provision is good because:

young people have up to date care plans.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered person/s meet/s 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

Review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children's home at least once in each calendar year, taking into account the requirements in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46(1)) 14/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to each individual employed in the children’s home, in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2 (Regulation 32(3)(d)). This is with specific reference to written references and their verification and employment histories. 14/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

5. Engaging with the wider system to ensure children's needs are met standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the engaging with the wider system to ensure children's needs are met standard, the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

(c) ensure that if staff consider, a placing authority's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, that they challenge the placing authority to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans. 14/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Ensure that, as the home has a day-to-day understanding of young people's capabilities and needs, staff make a valuable contribution to the pathway planning process. They should actively seek to make the fullest contribution, working with other relevant persons. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.28)

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Information about this children's home

This privately run home provides care and accommodation for up to four children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

03/12/2014 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

From their starting points, young people make good progress, and their overall experiences improve. This is attributable to the highly skilled care and support that they receive from the staff team and managers. Specific therapeutic parenting models are used, with placing social workers reporting significant improvements for young people in relation to their emotional and psychological well-being. One placing social worker commented: ‘This is a truly therapeutic placement. The staff work using models which have led to significant improvements for my young person. This is the longest placement the young person has ever had, and concerning behaviours have reduced noticeably.’ Young people form positive and close attachments with staff and managers. A key care team of staff works together to assess, monitor and work on identified areas of need for each young person. Regular team around the child meetings take

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Good

place, with the full engagement of involved agencies. Young people know and understand the models of care used and accept these. Staff and managers use detailed systems to track and evidence the improvements made by young people in all areas of their lives. Staff assist them, over time, to consider their concerning behaviours and emotions and to self-regulate them. One local authority worker commented: ‘I would never previously have been able to take the young person out in my car as they were too risky. This is not the case now, and they have learned so much from the staff team.’ All young people have education or training provisions in place. Their attendance is excellent, and education staff report positive progress and attainment for young people. Several young people currently attend the same alternative education provision locally, with local authorities reporting high levels of satisfaction. As one

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Good

social worker commented: ‘My young person would not even put pen to paper before. He is now writing and signing things. This is significant progress for him, and the educational placement is definitely the right one for him just now.’ Young people take part in a wide range of social activities, which increases their self-confidence and sense of worth. A parent praised the staff in supporting their child: ‘Staff are always keen to encourage any positive activities my child wants to participate in. This has included horse riding, singing, roller skating, swimming, cinema and spending time socialising.’ Staff use the regular young people’s meetings to discuss and consider activities with young people, fully taking into account their ages and individual likes and dislikes. Young people enjoy regular and positive contact with family members and significant others. Staff fully support contact plans by providing transport and

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Good

emotional and practical support. Placing authorities praise the staff team for its strong commitment to contact arrangements. Staff and managers also fully support and advocate for young people, when the eventual plan is for them to either move to foster care or return to family members. Local authorities spoken with during this inspection were consistently positive about the staff team’s ethos of wanting young people to be able to move out of residential care, when this is deemed safe and appropriate. Young people understand their rights and know how to make a complaint. There is an area in the home where young people can record any concerns they may have confidentially and post them in a secure box. Senior managers then consider these on a regular basis and respond to young people. There have been no formal complaints or concerns recorded from young people since the last inspection. Young people feel listened to. They are confident that any concerns or issues they

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Good

may have will be responded to positively and promptly by staff and managers. Young people also have access to independent visitors and advocates, who visit the home on a regular basis. Information is provided to young people about whom they can contact for advice or support. This promotes a real sense of young people’s wishes and feelings being important and valued by the staff team. Young people receive support and guidance in preparation for their eventual transition to adulthood. Staff demonstrate a detailed knowledge and understanding of their individual needs and risks. Over time, staff support young people to take age-appropriate risks so that they have opportunities to acquire new skills. However, the pathway plan for one young person is out of date and does not reflect the current placement. It has not been updated for several months and is not relevant to the young person’s needs. The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard. Young people personalise

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Good

their bedrooms to a high level and take pride in their personal spaces. Communal areas are warm and welcoming and provide them with places to socialise and eat together. There is ample outdoor space and areas for young people to explore and enjoy. Staff encourage young people to use outdoor spaces, and one young person has recently built an outdoor pod. Such activities promote confidence, team work and a sense of value. Young people clearly take great pride in their home and how it is presented. A key strength of the home is the excellent way it supports young people to consider and manage any concerning or potentially risky behaviours and emotions. The staff ethos is based on a therapeutic parenting model approach, focused on nurture. Regular monitoring and evaluation are undertaken, and targeted work is set for each young person. This informs the therapeutic plan and goals for each young person. The staff team also use other research-informed models of care and

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Good

practice to support young people. Baseline and progress scoring takes place regularly, with reports being provided to placing authorities. There is clear and systematic evidence of the progress and improvements made by each young person during their time living in this home. Placing authorities report high levels of satisfaction of the therapeutic models used and the demonstrable progress made by young people.

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Requires improvement

Young people feel safe and are being kept safe by the actions of the staff team. Staff demonstrate a well-developed knowledge and understanding of how young people’s vulnerabilities make them susceptible to exploitation in all its forms. Staff have particular skills in relation to the protection of young people from sexual exploitation. Regular meetings are held with relevant agencies, including the police, to consider and implement plans for any young person deemed to be at risk of sexual exploitation. Staff have clear risk assessments and regularly reviewed and updated plans in place for young people. Stakeholders involved report real confidence in staff members’ ability to protect young people at all times. Risk is well managed through detailed and comprehensive risk assessments. Risk- taking behaviours for young people are decreasing, reported by several placing authorities during this inspection. Staff consider the known and potential risks

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Requires improvement

posed by young people, and work as an effective multi-agency team with other agencies to reduce such risks. Staff also work to support young people to take age- appropriate risks. This includes working towards their having increased free time and using public transport alone. This reflects the commitment of staff and managers to preparing young people for their eventual move from this home. Therapeutic models of practice are firmly embedded and used to support young people with their concerning and risky behaviours. Appropriately trained staff use therapeutic parenting models in all of their work with young people. Consequences for concerning behaviours are appropriate and include the full engagement of young people. Over time, they learn more suitable coping mechanisms and take pride in their ability to self-regulate their behaviours. Direct work is undertaken by staff with young people on a regular basis, to

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Requires improvement

consider any specific areas of risk or need. Work has been undertaken to consider such issues as bullying, racism and other forms of discrimination. There is clear evidence of staff considering and working closely with young people and other agencies to address any concerning behaviours or attitudes in young people. This will greatly assist young people to develop positive relationships and for their eventual transition from this home. The recruitment and selection processes for staff at this home are currently not sufficiently robust. Records for one member of staff considered during this inspection identified some concerns. Managers have not fully considered the written references to ensure that they were from the most recent employer. Verification of such references has also not identified incorrect and potentially misleading information that was provided by an applicant. Gaps in employment history are not always clearly considered or recorded during the selection and

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Good

The registered manager has been in post for some considerable time and has the skills and qualifications necessary for the role. She is supported by equally competent and confident deputy managers and staff. The manager provides effective leadership to the well-established staff team. Team morale is high, and staff clearly take great pride in their work and support of young people. Staff spoken with during this inspection presented as happy, confident and clear about their roles and responsibilities. They all receive regular and good-quality supervision, annual appraisals and a wide range of training and development opportunities. Training undertaken, and on offer, covers a wealth of areas, all relevant to the complex needs of the young people placed. This provides young people with care and support from well-trained and competent staff. A strength of the home is the positive way in which the progress of young people is

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Good

monitored and recorded. The staff team and managers have extremely detailed systems in place to assess, evaluate, plan for and review each young person’s progress in relation to their emotional and psychological health. Such systems provide a very clear and detailed analysis of the journey of each young person since moving into this home. Staff and managers set clear targets and goals for each young person, through the use of the key care team approach. Young people take pride in their progress and in being able to reduce concerning or risky behaviours more safely over time. Placing authorities also report high levels of satisfaction in how well staff and managers support young people and in the quality of the reports and feedback provided. Placing social workers spoken with during this inspection were extremely positive about the quality of reports provided to them and the preparedness of staff for meetings and reviews.

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Good

Managers place high value on multi-agency working, to support young people’s holistic needs. Agencies such as child and adolescent mental health services and the police report close working relationships with the home. Communication and information sharing are consistently reported to be strengths of the staff team and managers. Regular multi-agency meetings consider relevant plans for young people and provide an opportunity for all involved agencies to share key information and any concerns or issues. The manager has a comprehensive development plan in place. This includes issues identified by young people. This followed a recent team development day, when staff met as a team and then with young people to formulate the plan. This provides further evidence of the commitment of managers to the full and meaningful inclusion of young people in all aspects of their care.

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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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