Children's home run by Cheshire West and Chester Council in Cheshire West and Chester

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged as requires improvement at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness . The home has made significant progress in meeting the requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection, and, although there is more to be done, there is a clear indication of good, all-round improvement. All of the previous requirements have been met, and the home has gone a long way to meeting all of the recommendations. This demonstrates the home’s increased capacity to improve and that leaders and managers are ready to address shortfalls and to take action to improve the quality of the service. Senior managers maintain scrutiny of the home’s operation through regular review of independent, monthly monitoring reports. The local authority senior management team has reviewed the arrangements for the management and staffing of the home and is making changes to strengthen its leadership. Staff

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

report that the manager is more visible in the home and that support has improved through a change in rotas, which ensures that, during office hours, there is always a manager or senior on duty to provide advice and guidance. A review of the premises is underway, with consideration being given to alterations that will enable the manager to have an office at the home. Better arrangements are in place for the recruitment and induction of staff. One new member of staff has been recruited and has undergone a thorough induction that has supported her to develop the skills that she needs, quickly. She said, ‘They have been brilliant with me. There has been a lot to learn, and that’s been a challenge, but everyone has been very supportive and helpful. They checked how I was getting on every day at first, and I had meetings with the manager or senior every week. Now I have monthly supervision, which is really helpful.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager reviews incidents in a more timely way, so that she is up to date and able to monitor the operation of the home and staff actions more effectively. She comments appropriately on the use of sanctions and is developing a culture where sanctions and financial reparation are reducing, and there is greater emphasis on incentives and the use of reparation through actions. She audits the records and children’s files and is introducing new tools to further assist with this. This is leading to improvements in record-keeping. However, it is not yet fully embedded, and some shortfalls in records remain. For example, the home could not easily identify how many young people have had independent return interviews after missing incidents. This information was not held on individual young people’s files. The home did not have a transition plan for one young person, even though the meeting had taken place. Evidence that the home had requested the plan could not

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

be found. Team meetings are well documented and demonstrate a good focus on young people’s progress and development, which promotes consistency of care and a shared understanding of each young person’s needs. Guidance from a psychotherapist who attends the meetings is helping staff to have a better understanding of children’s behaviour and of how to build strong and supportive bonds. Staff supervision records have improved and show more details of discussions, including discussions about children’s progress. Some forums are still lacking in reflection and guidance, but the content of more recent sessions is much better, highlighting the positive impact of the supervision training completed by senior staff. The manager now plans to improve the supervision tool and further improve the quality of supervision to staff. This is work in progress. Staff help children to manage their behaviour through developing supportive

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

relationships with children, and in most cases this is successful. There have been no restraints since the last inspection. The home has reviewed the behaviour management policy and has changed its method of behaviour management support to ‘therapeutic crisis intervention’. The staff team has attended a five-day course, which has helped it to review its practice and reinforced the importance of intervening early and effectively. Staff are appropriately and often successfully using distraction and diffusion techniques to prevent the escalation of challenging behaviour and the need for restraint. Staff have had training in caring for children at risk of child sexual exploitation and report that this has raised their awareness of the dangers that the children whom they look after face. They have taken appropriate action and promptly raised concerns with the police and in safeguarding strategy meetings when children have

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

been at risk of sexual exploitation, and this has led to action that has reduced those risks. When a young person has continued to go missing, despite the positive safeguarding action of staff, the home has requested a review of the placement. The manager and staff have successfully advocated for the young person to move to a placement where she is happier and safer, as her missing behaviour has dramatically reduced. Partnership working has improved. In particular, the home has developed a good relationship with the virtual school, and the manager and staff have a much better understanding of the role of the virtual head and of how the virtual school supports young people’s education. Staff have appropriately sought advice from the virtual school, which has given them confidence in dealing with schools that are not meeting their obligations to children. Young people’s progress since the last inspection has been variable. One young

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

person had a successful transition home after a positive experience of living in the home. During her time at the home, she became increasingly safer. She learned how to stay safe in the community, and her dangerous, risk-taking behaviour and self-harm stopped. She became less vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Her self- esteem and confidence rose, and she began to take better care of her own health and welfare. Immediately following the last inspection, the home worked swiftly and effectively with the virtual school to enable her to sit GCSE examinations at the home, and this enabled her to attain five good GCSE passes. This further boosted her confidence and has provided her with a good springboard for future education and employment. The home supported increasing levels of contact, which contributed to a successful transition home. Another young person moved to an adult placement after making extremely good

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

progress across all areas of her development. Transition planning by the placing authority was poor, which meant that the young person was notified of the move only a week before her leaving date and 18th birthday. This caused her unnecessary anxiety and enabled only one visit to the new placement, which was insufficient to ensure a smooth and successful transition. No consideration was given to extending the placement at the home, to enable a better transition. The new placement was disrupted within a matter of days. There was a lack of planning and foresight by all professionals involved, who failed to take proper account of the young adult’s emotional needs. Although the manager and staff at the home felt that the transition was rushed, they did not advocate effectively for the young adult and did not provide sufficient challenge to the placing authority’s poor practice. Another young person’s safety was increasingly at risk when incidents of going

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

missing rose rapidly in the late summer. Staff tried hard to maintain phone contact with her and encouraged her to return. They searched for her and worked closely with the police and others, passing on information that identified the dangers and helped to promote her future safety. The home was fully engaged in safeguarding strategy meetings and proactive in raising concerns about her safety and welfare. The young person became increasingly disengaged from the home, and her relationships with staff deteriorated, so that their influence over her was minimal. Despite the home’s efforts to help her secure employment, education or training, she made little progress. Recognising that the home could no longer keep her safe, the manager worked collaboratively with the social worker and others to promote the young person’s safety until a new placement was identified, and she moved. Key staff at the home have maintained supportive contact with her since the move,

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

and she has visited the home to say ‘goodbye’ to staff and other young people. This helps the young person to recognise that staff still care about her. Another young person has made limited progress, and her emotional well-being and high levels of aggression remain a concern. Her school placement is at risk because of her unacceptable behaviour. The home continues to support her and work with a range of professionals to ensure that she receives the support and services that she needs. Staff offer her a range of opportunities and encourage her to engage in fun activities with them. Her engagement remains variable, and she is negatively influenced by factors and relationships outside of the home. A psychotherapist advises staff on how to understand and manage her behaviour and to build supportive bonds. This has not yet resulted in greater emotional stability, but the home continues to provide a safe and supportive environment.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager is not yet qualified to level 5 in the management of a social care provision but is currently undertaking an appropriate course. She has completed a six-monthly review of the quality of care, which provides a fair and reliable overview of the home and children’s progress. It identifies what has gone well and where improvement is needed and forms the basis for the home’s development plan. The manager is in the process of completing a further review, which is due to be submitted to senior managers and Ofsted at the end of October 2016. Although independent visitor reports are much improved, they do not always show the author’s assessment and view of the home’s safeguarding practice, and there are delays in submitting the reports to the manager and to Ofsted. This results in the manager having little time to address identified shortfalls before the next visit and does not ensure that the regulator is kept up to date with any concerns about

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Information about this children's home

This local authority children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for four children 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

02/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

30/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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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 records are kept up to date, and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  Ensure that supervision and performance management of staff enable staff to reflect upon their practice and the needs of children assigned to their care, and that supervision records demonstrate this. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  Play a full part in promoting the best interests of the child, proactively advocating for the child to ensure that others play their roles and deliver the high-quality support that is needed. Evidence what you have done to achieve engagement, including any actions taken to escalate concerns. Such partnership working should always take place before a child arrives, while the child lives at the home and when the child prepares to return home, move to another setting or leave

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Recommendations

care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraphs 2.3, 2.4)  Ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home's care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)  Ensure that all managers working in a children's home have the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare (England) (‘the level 5 diploma’) within the relevant timescales listed in regulation 28(3), namely three years after the date on which that person started managing a home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12)

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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 whom 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

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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