Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

inspection

The home was subject to four compliance notices following the last inspection. A monitoring inspection was carried out to monitor the compliance notices on 30 June 2016. Two compliance notices were met, and two compliance notices were reissued because they were not met in full. All notices have now been monitored and deemed to have been met.

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Requires improvement

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Managers and staff do not robustly assess and manage all known risks. As a result, managers and staff do not demonstrate consistently good safeguarding practice to ensure that the safety and welfare of young people are maintained at all times.  Managers and staff do not always prepare well for new admissions. Consequently, clear boundaries and expectations are not established from the outset to manage the change in dynamics between young people and minimise risk.  When managers recognise that they can no longer meet the needs of young people, care plans are not progressed quickly. This does not fully promote young people’s welfare, and has the potential to have an impact on their safety.  Clear plans do not underpin contact arrangements between young people and their families to ensure that these are positive and safe.  Not all staff have an annual appraisal of their performance, and this does not fully support their professional development.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 External monitoring systems are not sufficiently robust. Reports lack evaluation of the home’s performance and its impact on young people.  Some aspects of recording contain insufficient detail.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 Young people develop positive relationships with staff. They recognise that staff care about them and share some of their worries with them, confident in the knowledge that they will help them.  Improvements in the quality of key working means that staff work well with young people on issues that are causing them or others concern. They address subjects such as safe relationships, e-safety, self-harm and drug and alcohol misuse. Consequently, staff are now beginning to equip young people with information to help them make different choices about their behaviour and about how to keep safe.  Young people’s health and well-being is promoted. They are registered with primary health services, attend appointments and have access to specialist support to meet their emotional needs.  Improvements to the home environment ensure that young people live in a home that is warm, welcoming, well maintained and safe. A calm and stable

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The children’s home’s strengths

home also helps young people to feel safe.  Improvements in recruitment practice mean that this is safer and prevents unsuitable people from working with children.  Parents and professionals report positively about the home and the care provided to young people. Good collaborative working relationships support young people’s progress.  Managers respond well to disclosures made by young people. They escalate matters with the placing authority to ensure that concerns are investigated appropriately.  Staff encourage young people to engage in different leisure activities, providing them with opportunities to have fun and try new things.

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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

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure—

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a) that staff— (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation (2)(a)(i)) 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

(2)(c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(2)(c)) 31/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered manager must ensure that children—

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Requirement Due date

(1)(a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that strategies are in place to manage risks highlighted at the point of placement, that these are clearly identified in relevant plans and that they are explained to staff and young people. Furthermore, where it is identified that the home can no longer meet a child’s needs, plans to identify a more appropriate placement are progressed without delay. (Regulation 14(1)(a)) 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

33: Employment of staff 31/10/2016 Ensure that staff have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(c)) 44: Independent person: visits and reports

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Requirement Due date

(3) Ensure that the independent person produces a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— (a) children are effectively safeguarded; and (b) the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44(3)(a)(b)) 31/10/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that the arrangements for contact and any contact details are included in the placement plan agreed between the registered person and the child’s placing authority and updated regularly. Specifically, plans must include measures in place to promote safe and positive contact. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.15)  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Specifically, that staff accurately record in daily case notes the actions they take and the decisions they make to safeguard children where necessary. (‘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 children’s home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to six young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home takes emergency placements.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 30/06/2016 Monitoring N/A 18/05/2016 Full Inadequate 07/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 13/01/2016 Full Good 17/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Requires improvement

The experiences and progress of young people are mixed. Some young people make good progress relative to their starting points. For example, one young person’s attitude is improving, and is more consistent. Another young person is benefiting from the calm and stable environment, which is helping him to think about and make sense of his current difficulties.

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Requires improvement

Some young people engage in risky behaviour such as going missing and experimenting with drugs and alcohol, and some are vulnerable to the risk of child sexual exploitation. This has an impact on their safety, welfare and development. Because of a multi-agency approach, young people have access to specialist services to support them. However, such interventions have yet to reduce the risks.

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Requires improvement

This inspection highlights some shortfalls in care planning. Impact risk assessments are completed which consider the needs of new and existing residents. However, in one case, although managers highlighted a potential concern between two residents, the impact assessment did not clearly outline strategies to minimise and manage this. As a result, there has been an increase in the number of times when the two young people spend time away from the home and their whereabouts cannot always be established. This increases their risks and vulnerabilities, does not fully promote their safety and well-being, and is compromising their progress.

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Requires improvement

Staff work hard to develop positive relationships with birth families. Parents report favourably on the home, the communication they have with staff, and the care provided to their children. One said: ‘I have great communication with all the staff, I am very happy and can contact them no matter what time of the day.’ Another said: ‘Staff were available on the phone to support us with X recently, which was really, really useful. We rang them and they gave good advice.’ Young people benefit from seeing staff and families working well together and this is helping to repair fractured relationships. However, clear plans are not in place and do not underpin all contact arrangements. They do not specify what measures are in place to safeguard young people and their families, given the complexities involved in some cases.

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Requires improvement

Young people develop positive relationships with staff. One young person said: ‘Staff are the best, they will do their best to help and support you. They are kind.’ Because of the trust they are developing in staff, young people begin to share their worries and information about past experiences. Furthermore, young people ask staff for support at times of difficulty in the knowledge that they will help them. For example, the inspector observed one young person telephone the staff when she got into difficulty at school and she accepted the support that they offered to her. Positive and supportive relationships provide a platform from which young people can begin to accept help and make progress.

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Requires improvement

Staff meet young people’s physical and emotional health needs. All young people, including those who have recently moved in, are registered with relevant health services and have either attended or are due to attend routine appointments. When necessary, young people access support from the child and adult mental health service to address concerns about their emotional well-being. Staff respond promptly when unexpected health issues arise, ensuring that young people seek appropriate medical attention. A social worker commented: ‘I am very happy with the physical and emotional health of X whilst at [the home]. Every effort is always made to support her at times of crisis, and appropriate services have been sought when this has been needed.’

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Requires improvement

Young people new to the home all report that they are settling in well and that staff helped them with this process. Young people receive a welcome leaflet and guide to the home, providing them with useful information about what to expect. One young person was able to use the picture on the front of the guide to recognise the home when he made an introductory visit. Good introductions help to alleviate young people’s anxieties and enable them to adjust to their new living environment.

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Requires improvement

Staff support young people who are new to the home to maintain their existing school placements. This provides them with continuity in their education. The education champion has arranged meetings swiftly at the start of the new term to ensure that young people’s learning and support needs are fully understood. Furthermore, recent improvements to routines and structures at the home are being maintained, and this promotes young people’s learning.

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Requires improvement

One young person’s education outcomes are mixed and she has struggled to maintain the good levels of progress she made some months ago. Although a plan is in place to support her, including a proposed change to her school placement, fluctuating attendance is having an impact on her learning and progress.

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Requires improvement

Young people’s interests are nurtured and encouraged. A young person said: ‘Staff take me to places like Southport, and they make sure I am able to see my friends and girlfriend.’ Staff support young people to maintain regular leisure activities such as army cadets and a young farmers club. Furthermore, young people enjoy trips out to the coast, magic shows, rock climbing and the cinema. Young people report that they have ‘fun times’, and varied leisure pursuits help them to develop confidence and try new things.

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Requires improvement

Staff encourage young people to make a positive contribution. For example, one young person hosted a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and was rightly very proud of her fundraising achievement. Such events enable young people to start to think about how they can help others.

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Requires improvement

Staff equip young people with some of the skills they will need when they make the transition to independence, and they do this in line with young people’s individual needs and development. For example, one young person is pleased to have learned how to travel to school on the bus independently. This is something that he had not done before coming to live at the home.

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Requires improvement

Individual and collective opportunities to consult with young people ensure that they have their say. Regular house meetings enable young people to contribute to the day-to-day running of the home by providing suggestions for meals and activities. They confirm that they contribute to the care planning process by attending meetings and talking with their social workers about future plans.

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Requires improvement

Safeguarding practice in this home is not consistent enough to be good.

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Requires improvement

Some good safeguarding practice is identified, for example the diligence of staff minimises risks relating to social media. They work with young people on how to keep safe online, and share any information that is a cause for concern with relevant agencies. Staff talk to young people about a range of issues relating to keeping safe, including what constitutes safe and unsafe relationships and the dangers of drug and alcohol misuse. Consequently, staff begin to equip young people with information to help them make different choices about their behaviour and about how to keep safe.

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Requires improvement

Creative work with young people supports their emotional health and minimises the risk of self-harm. Mood cards, a distraction box and a notebook used to write down feelings are all strategies that are employed by young people to help them to recognise their mood, share this with staff, and seek and receive support when necessary. Because of such interventions, young people’s well-being is improving relative to their starting point. A parent said: ‘As far as the staff are concerned, they put X’s safety first. [They are] managing these needs absolutely spot on.’

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Requires improvement

Young people access specialist services to address risky behaviours such as being vulnerable to child sexual exploitation. Regular planning and risk management meetings ensure that information is readily shared with relevant partner agencies to help manage risk. Despite these interventions, the risks for one young person are not reducing and a review of placement suitability is now under way in recognition of this. Any allegations or disclosures of abuse are reported quickly, allowing responsible agencies to investigate. This demonstrates that staff know what to do when such incidents happen. Furthermore, young people have a sense of being listened to and that what they say is taken seriously.

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Requires improvement

All young people report that they feel safe in the home and can identify a trusted adult who they can talk to. Information is contained in the young people’s guide that informs them about how to complain and access the children’s rights service.

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Requires improvement

Risk assessments vary in quality, and even when they are clear, staff do not consistently follow the guidance set out in these documents. This does not fully promote young people’s safety.

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Requires improvement

Leaders and managers have misjudged risks pertaining to two young people spending time together in the community. This means that they have not fully recognised increased vulnerabilities to one young person, and the influence of one resident over another. Subsequently, boundaries and strategies to safely manage their time in the community are not clearly outlined in risk assessments. As a result, staff have not always taken appropriate action when young people’s whereabouts are unknown and they cannot make contact with them. This does not promote young people’s safety and welfare and does expose them to increased risk. This contributes to the judgement of requiring improvement.

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Requires improvement

When young people are reported missing, staff do make efforts to locate them. They liaise with the police, who have on occasion complimented staff about this. On their return, young people have interviews with someone independent of the home. This gives them an opportunity to talk about what has happened while they have been away and about their reasons for going missing.

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Requires improvement

Improvements since the last inspection in the recruitment and selection of staff mean that this practice is now safer and, consequently, unsuitable people are prevented from working with children.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has been in post since 2001, and holds level 5 and 6 awards in leadership and management.

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Requires improvement

At the last full inspection, the home received an inadequate judgement and was subject to enforcement action. Two out of four compliance notices were met at a monitoring visit on 30 June 2016, and two were repeated as a result of this visit because they had not been met in full. Improvements in work with young people about safe relationships and internal monitoring processes mean that these compliance notices have now also been met. The home is no longer subject to enforcement action.

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Requires improvement

Leaders and managers liaise regularly with partner agencies. Social workers report positively about staff communication, and all those spoken to say that they are kept up to date with progress and incidents that occur. The manager escalates concerns when return interviews are not carried out in a timely way and she also challenges the placing authority when their response to safeguarding matters is not sufficiently robust. When young people are not making progress, regular care planning meetings provide a forum to discuss concerns and consider strategies to help bring about change. However, when it is recognised that the home can no longer meet a young person’s needs, plans are not progressed quickly enough. This means that young people’s needs are not always prioritised fully.

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Requires improvement

Training opportunities for staff are variable. All staff hold a level 3 qualification in caring for young people, or are working towards this within the relevant timescales. Some staff have the opportunity to study for a level 5 qualification, demonstrating that succession planning is in progress. Some training courses have been very beneficial, enabling staff to engage in a more meaningful way with young people in key-work sessions. However, specific training shortfalls identified at the last inspection, including bullying, the safe administration of medication and e-safety, have not yet been met. Furthermore, the manager has not identified appropriate training on managing self-harm, given the needs of some young people recently admitted to the home. This means that staff are not equipped with the up-to-date skills and knowledge required to meet the specific needs of young people.

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Requires improvement

Low staff turnover provides continuity and consistency for young people. Staff now receive regular supervision, providing them with time to reflect on their own practice and development needs. Team meetings and development days facilitate group discussions on developmental priorities as well as day-to-day issues. Not all staff have an annual appraisal of their performance, and consequently this is an area identified for improvement.

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Requires improvement

Shortfalls in external monitoring and oversight of the home remain. Reports continue to lack evaluation about whether or not staff safeguard young people and promote their welfare. Some steps are being taken to improve this. For example, independent visitors are receiving additional training and a new report format is to be implemented. The impact of such changes is yet to be realised and a requirement made at the last inspection is repeated to secure the necessary improvements.

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Requires improvement

Some aspects of recording lack sufficient detail. For example, daily case records do not provide clear information about how staff manage incidents that happen. As a result, it is not always evident why they take a certain course of action, or make the decisions that they do. Consequently, this is an area identified for improvement.

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Requires improvement

Appropriate systems are in place to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons of significant events that occur. This ensures that people are kept informed, and this helps to promote young people’s welfare.

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Requires improvement

Improvements in the physical environment enable young people to live in a home that is safe, warm and welcoming. Routine health and safety checks ensure that the home is well maintained. Young people’s bedrooms are individualised, and staff help them to maintain their personal space to a good standard. Photos on display reflect the different activities that young people participate in and show them having fun.

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Requires improvement

Five requirements and two recommendations are raised to address shortfalls and secure further improvements.

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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 0300 123 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

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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