Children's home run by North East Lincolnshire Council

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 provision is outstanding because:

 The manager is an exceptional leader, and is successful in empowering young people to become ambitious and succeed in life.  Young people benefit enormously from their positive experiences of life in the home.  Excellent care helps young people to make outstanding progress and move into independent living arrangements.  Young people are valued as individuals, regardless of their needs, and they come to value themselves and make positive choices about their lives and future.  The caring and nurturing environment helps young people to overcome past difficulties. They build strong, trusting relationships with staff, and this helps their development.  Young people receive very enriching care from a highly motivated manager and staff team.  The drive and commitment of the manager and staff put young people‟s well-being, safety and progress at the heart of all that they do.  The manager is highly effective in building relationships with young people‟s

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

friends, relatives and other professionals. This gives young people robust and holistic care.  Young people are safe, and creative risk taking is pivotal to facilitating their progress.

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Information about this children’s home

The local authority has registered this home to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 01/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good 03/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/09/2014 Full Outstanding

p.4

Outstanding

Exceptional care planning focuses very effectively on young people‟s strengths and needs, and facilitates creative risk taking. Over time, this empowers young people to make successful transitions to independent living from circumstances in which professional workers had not previously considered it possible.

p.5

Outstanding

Young people mature and grow in resilience due to the high quality of care, caring staff and nurturing environment that they experience. They engage positively with staff and the community. Their higher sense of security and self-confidence leads to positive lifestyle choices and a significant reduction in levels of dangerous risk- taking and offending behaviour. A social worker commented, „Staff are very good at responding to needs and managing behaviour.‟

p.5

Outstanding

The emotional health and well-being of young people improve immensely as they make very positive changes in their lives. Highly effective integration with local mental health services is a crucial part of the excellent care. As part of a strong evidence-based practice, this contributes thoroughly to young people thriving. Past patterns of crime, aggression, property damage and unsocial behaviour disappear. Instead, young people develop their own aspirations, succeed at school, progress to further education, move back to live with family members or set up their own homes.

p.5

Outstanding

The education of young people is also a high priority for the staff team. The support from staff and their close working relationships with education settings help young people to make exceptional progress in their attendance and achievement in education. This includes successful transitions from a pupil referral unit to mainstream school and college. Y oung people successfully achieve qualifications and continue on their career paths.

p.5

Outstanding

Staff are very proactive in promoting and developing young people‟s support networks and relationships with friends and family. Relatives and friends are very welcome at the home. Young people enjoy having their friends at their home for sleepovers and equally enjoy staying at their friends‟ homes. Levels of family contact increase and the quality of these relationships improves so that requirements for staff to supervise contact are no longer needed. The commitment to involving significant others pays dividends for young people. There are high levels of continuity in their lives, a strong boost to their identity, and an enrichment of their social life and social support. Moreover, it helps in finding young people when they are missing or absent and is pivotal to the very successful transitions on leaving the home. Staff ensure that the well-planned and finely tailored transitions meet the needs and wishes of young people. The high levels of support that young people receive

p.5

Outstanding

are also given to their relatives and partners, who play a key role in the transition process. The strong multi-agency approach and creative risk taking, driven by staff, empower young people to take the next step towards complete independence. Staff provide designated outreach support that is a big part of the support that young people receive after moving. A young person who recently left has decorated his new accommodation, improved his garden and made a home for his partner and son to visit as part of a transition to them being a family. At the same time, he continues to achieve at college. Given the young person‟s behaviours at the time of admission to the home, this is exceptional progress.

p.6

Outstanding

Young people benefit significantly from having an overwhelming influence on their care and the running of the home. They are involved in writing their „Signs of Safety‟ plans, have one-to-one time with staff and take an active part in residents meetings. Their strong inclusion underpins the high levels of respect for and positive relationships with staff. A young person commented, „Staff do their best to get to know and understand us. They say “no” sometimes and explain why. We can be demanding, but understand that we can‟t have everything.‟ There was one outburst from a young person during the inspection, which is very rare, and it was followed quickly by an apology. This is reflective of the homely, settled atmosphere at the home.

p.6

Outstanding

Young people enjoy diverse activities and rely on staff to promote their individual interests and talents. One young person goes to cadets, another has a season ticket to his football league club and staff arranged trials for a particularly skilled football player. Young people go on holidays abroad. Last year they went to Turkey and this year to Majorca. One person, who did not want to go, was supported to go to Notting Hill Carnival instead. Young people grow in confidence from such new experiences, and this helps them to develop ambitions and be open to a wider range of opportunities.

p.6

Outstanding

Young people feel safe in the home and local community, irrespective of their backgrounds and lifestyles. They are respectful and tolerant of each other‟s differences, for example in age, gender and sexuality. Staff are vigilant to any signs of bullying, name calling or even banter that could be construed as harmful.

p.6

Outstanding

Risk management is exceptional, stems from the robust use of „Signs of Safety‟ model and is highly individualised to each young person. For example, one young person has made very positive changes to his hygiene and appearance. This has not only boosted his self-esteem but also reduced the risk of negative comments from peers at school. For another young person, the focus is on reducing the number of missing from home incidents and risks of child sexual exploitation.

p.6

Outstanding

There has been a number of missing from home incidents by young people recently admitted to the home. Staff are persistent and determined in their approach to looking for them. This includes contacting known relatives and friends and repeatedly going out, knocking on their front doors, until the young people are found. This excellent practice is already reducing the frequency of missing from home incidents. Prior to this, there had been no missing episodes since before the last full inspection. Young people who moved out of this home in the spring and early summer did have a history of a significant level of going missing from home prior to admission, but this was reduced to zero while living here.

p.7

Outstanding

Staff use their wealth of experience and well-developed practice to support the new young people in their care. They undertake direct work with young people through key-working sessions and promote young people‟s interests proactively to prevent incidents in the first place. A social worker commented, „Staff got to know her well, and promote relationships and communication.‟ Friends and relatives are welcome at the home and are invited out on activities with young people. This wholly inclusive approach reduces the risks further and assists staff when they need to look for young people.

p.7

Outstanding

Staff are instrumental in supporting young people to manage risks. For example, staff supported a young person to build up her parenting skills and knowledge, and successfully to manage a pre-birth assessment. Effective work with partner agencies led to having somewhere safe to live. Staff support extends to her partner, with help to claim benefits and to uphold his responsibility as a father. This has helped them to live together as a family, which they both wanted, and the baby is meeting his developmental milestones. Staff continue to provide outreach work as part of the current family support. On admission, this young person was at high risk of child sexual exploitation and her risk-taking behaviour was significant. This is a complete turnaround in her life.

p.7

Outstanding

Staff receive training in safeguarding matters such as radicalisation, self-harm and child sexual exploitation. Along with input and support from other professionals, the staff help young people to reduce levels of risk-taking behaviour. Over time, aggression, offending behaviour, damage to property and other behaviour stemming from past trauma all decline significantly. This is reflected in the successful transitions that young people make on leaving the home. Judgement grade

p.7

Outstanding

The manager provides excellent leadership. He has a wealth of experience to draw on and is appropriately qualified for the role. He took over management of the home in August 2013 and has a successful record of accomplishment in providing young people with good or better outcomes. The manager is supported by two very able senior staff and a competent experienced staff team, who are a highly effective force in driving positive change in the lives of young people.

p.8

Outstanding

The manager is inspirational, ambitious and confident. He leads by example and is influential in developing his staff to be creative and contribute significantly to the positive experiences and progress of young people. For example, by using skills and experience gained from work in a fostering team, staff have supported a young person to move on from the home to live with his grandmother. This included staff assessing his relative as a „friends and family‟ carer and providing ongoing support. In this case, the young person was ready to leave the home, yet the options were severely limited until staff successfully considered and implemented this solution.

p.8

Outstanding

The staff team is enthusiastic and has high aspirations for young people, who benefit immensely as a result. Staff are very positive about their work and talk about their job satisfaction. The manager ensures robust support to staff through supervision, team meetings, core and specialist training. All staff, bar one, are suitably qualified, and the last one aims to achieve this within a reasonable timescale.

p.8

Outstanding

Staff practice is thoroughly rooted in a solid base of research-informed practice, such as the integrated „Signs of Safety‟ model that is used across the local authority‟s children‟s services. Direct work with young people is informed by theories and models of child development, attachment and trauma. In combination with the regular input of a mental health professional, the staff team is instrumental in making an exceptional difference to young people‟s lives. A social worker commented, „We all know in our team that, if we have a child placed in this home, it will work out.‟

p.8

Outstanding

The „Signs of Safety‟ model is used very effectively in assessment and planning. These plans are easily understood, include young people‟s views, are shared across agencies for better communication and multi-agency working, and focus on what is important in young people‟s lives. The manager ensures that these plans are regularly reviewed, promotes young people‟s strengths and takes action to address any risks. He knows all the young people in his care very well and is pivotal to delivering a service that is highly proactive in meeting their needs. This empowers young people to make and sustain exceptional progress. The manager robustly and comprehensively monitors the standards of care. He is respectful of and responsive to young people‟s views and staff comments. He also regularly consults other professionals and young people‟s relatives. Any concerns are promptly addressed, and his evaluation and analysis of the quality of care help

p.8

Outstanding

to maintain very high standards. He is assisted by an independent visitor who undertakes monthly checks of the running of the home. Earlier by the independent visitor did not have the rigour to contribute to continuous improvement, but have recently improved in this respect. The registered provider is taking further action to strengthen the role of the independent visitor.

p.9

Outstanding

Relationships with partner agencies, social workers, schools, police and mental health services are highly effective. Along with the inclusion of friends and family, young people receive outstanding „wraparound‟ support that helps them to thrive.

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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‟. 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 looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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 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, 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

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

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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