Children's home run by My Choice Children’s Homes Limited in Mid Sussex

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:

 Leadership and management of the home are strong. The registered manager ensures that young people remain at the centre of good practice. There is a culture of continuous improvement.  Staff value young people and have established trusting relationships with them. A culture of open communication enables young people to share their concerns with staff and to receive advice and support.  Young people are enthusiastic about their education. They all have 100% attendance, enjoy learning and are making good academic progress.  Staff enable young people to make progress and achieve sustained improvements in independence and life skills. They use incentive charts to motivate young people. This effectively promotes a sense of taking responsibility.  Inter-agency working is strong. Excellent professional relationships exist, which result in highly effective multi-professional working. Young people have access to therapeutic support as identified in their care plans.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Shortfalls in relation to some aspects of monitoring, consultation feedback to young people and staff supervision logs are described within the body of the report and are reflected through one requirement and two recommendations.

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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 leadership and management standard the registered person must: (2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home, particularly in relation to consistency in paperwork. (Regulation 13 (2)(h)) 30/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. The registered person should evidence any feedback that he gives to children following children's meetings. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The record of supervision should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with Regulation 33 (4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Information about this children's home

This is a home for four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is run by a private company with education offered on-site.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 22/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/07/2015 Full Requires improvement 13/02/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/11/2014 Full Adequate

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Good

Young people make good progress in all areas of their lives. Through verbal encouragement and guided support, staff help young people to achieve their agreed targets. Incentive charts are used to measure when young people have attained their goals, for which they are rewarded financially. Young people’s personal independence plans are written with their age and specific abilities in mind. For example, one young person is now able to plan and cook meals for herself and another young person is applying for part-time employment. Staff regularly review young people’s targets to ensure that they remain relevant. Close supervision by staff and well-planned activities help young people to develop good social relationships while learning to interact positively with each other. Staff address any relationship problems between young people in key work sessions and young people’s meetings. Young people say that they enjoy positive relationships

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Good

with staff. Young people enjoy a range of activities both inside and outside of the home. Cooking is a favourite activity. Young people are encouraged to be active in the community and to keep fit and healthy. They attend a gym, go swimming and horse riding. Young people have increased fitness levels and are generally healthier as a result. Young people’s engagement in education is excellent. All young people have 100% attendance. Due to the patient understanding of staff, those young people with a history of disruptive education re-engage in education. They successfully focus on their education and enjoy learning. Young people attend workshops on subjects such as child sexual exploitation and safe use of social media. One young person was able to accurately recount the reasons why the use of some social media sites are restricted. Staff demonstrate a good awareness of young people’s needs and opinions through

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Good

engaging with them. Young people participate in group and individual meetings, including key work sessions, young people’s meetings and debriefs following incidents. The registered manager evaluates the recordings of these meetings to look for patterns, trends and what needs to improve. He feeds back to young people regarding any actions from the young people’s meeting but this is not evidenced. The staff work collaboratively with a range of professionals to support young people’s progress. These include local police community officers, health specialists and the child sexual exploitation team. A social worker reported that one young person ‘attended a dental appointment, this hasn’t been achieved in previous placements’. Another social worker said, ‘She has changed for the better. The staff chat to her and calm her down. She is happy there.’ Plans for young people to move on from the home are clear. One young person

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Good

was unable to fully engage in the support offered. However, he remains in contact with the home and has since been offered financial and emotional assistance. Staff have enabled other young people to make successful moves to new placements or back home. Staff liaise closely with professionals and parents to ensure a positive move. Staff maintain contact with young people once they have moved. One parent said, ‘They are still in touch with my daughter. It was a positive placement. She trusted the staff.’ Young people who have recently moved to the home have settled in well. A young person, who has recently moved in, said that she had a welcome pack, including the children’s guide. Therefore, she had all the information she needed before she moved in. Young people appreciate the homely environment. A young person said, ‘It is a big house, there’s plenty of space and it’s like a family home.’ A parent said,

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Good

‘My daughter likes it. She has settled in well. I can see how she is improving.’

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Good

Staff implement clear and robust safeguarding policies and procedures. Young people are well protected. Specific training in relation to child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and gang culture are facilitated by a specialist external provider. Lessons learned from such training are discussed in team meetings to transfer learning to the home situation. Where relevant, young people are included in these sessions. Such learning improves their own understanding of potential risks and their ability to protect themselves. Staff work closely with the local child sexual exploitation team to support and monitor young people who are at high risk. Some of the young people who had a history of absconding now rarely go missing. Staff follow the company’s missing from home policy and risk assessments to ensure that young people are found as quickly as possible. Staff liaise with professionals to ensure that return interviews

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Good

happen in order that they can work with the young person to prevent a reoccurrence. Staff work with young people to help them to manage their time in the community safely. Staff effectively identify, understand and manage risks. Written risk assessments are reviewed and updated following any changes or identified issues, for example, fire evacuation plans and the use of door alarms at night are personal to specific young people. Physical interventions are rare because staff intervene quickly and effectively, helping young people to manage their behaviour appropriately. The registered manager closely monitors incident records to ensure that the intervention was necessary and any lessons learned are shared with staff. The registered manager has completed an informative location review. He has consulted with external agencies including the police. The registered manager updates information in this document as he becomes aware of any issues to ensure

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Good

that it remains current and effective. Recruitment files demonstrate that care staff are suitably vetted and checked prior to appointment. A thoughtful interview process asks questions which also explore candidates’ suitability and motivation to work with young people. The registered manager is committed to finding high-quality staff. Young people are involved in the recruitment process. This ensures that they have a say about who is working with them. Newly appointed staff have an effective induction period allowing them to learn about the service and young people prior to working directly with them.

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Good

The registered manager has been in post for 11 years. He has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management for residential childcare. There are two experienced deputy managers in post, who support him to provide the good-quality care for the young people. All current staff have the level 3 qualification in childcare or are enrolled on the course, including agency and relief staff. Young people know that their views are valued by the registered manager. One young person said, ‘If I want to talk to him, I always can.’ Young people were observed to seek out the registered manager, who responded positively. A member of staff described him as, ‘Having an open door policy.’ The staff team receives regular training, supervision and appraisals that allow them to identify any development needs. Supervision records evidence staff discussion regarding their responsibilities as key workers and how to complete paperwork

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Good

effectively. However, the log of when supervisions have taken place is not up to date. This restricts the manager’s ability to audit their frequency and regularity. Staff are confident to care for young people in line with their care plans. These are generally effective. However, one young person’s strategy document was not consistent with his care plan. Staff are not being given accurate information to follow this aspect of the young person’s care plan. The registered manager acknowledged that this needs addressing and set to work on this during the inspection. All staff are made aware of young people’s plans during daily handovers and team meetings, which help to reduce risks. Excellent professional relationships exist between the registered manager and professionals involved in the young people’s care. A social worker reported, ‘The staff seem to have changed her for the better.’ Another social worker said, ‘The

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Good

placement is, on the whole, positive. She is doing very well there.’ Parents are generally positive about the home. However, one parent said that although she was happy that the young person was making good progress, she felt that communication could be better, for example, by receiving more regular reports. The registered manager agreed to improve this practice by increasing the frequency of reports. The registered manager is clear about the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He takes action where necessary and aims for continual improvement to ensure a sustained high level of care and protection for the young people.

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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 looked after children 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 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 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

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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