Children's Home run by After Care (NW) Limited in Sefton

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.

p.2

The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Young people do not benefit from consistent care, routine or boundaries. Some staff do not follow individual placement plans and this undermines continuity in care and weakens team working.  Young people do not develop positive relationships, based on mutual trust and respect, with all staff. At times, some staff struggle to guide young people away from harmful behaviour.  Staff do not consistently follow risk assessments or take swift action to reduce harm. This compromises young people’s welfare and safety.  Managers and staff do not recognise all child protection incidents. They have failed to differentiate between a complaint and safeguarding concern. This has led to a delay in getting a child protection concern investigated by the relevant bodies.  The home’s safeguarding policy does not provide staff with clear or effective guidance. This policy lacks clarity around how to respond to a child

p.3

The children's home provision requires improvement because:

protection concern.  Safer recruitment practice can be strengthened to ensure that all references provide sufficient details to support the assessment of prospective staff members’ suitability to work at the home.

p.3

The children's home strengths

 Partnership working with the police, social workers and specialist safeguarding team is helping staff to reduce incidents of young people going missing and child sexual exploitation.  Young people benefit from support from the in-house therapy and education services.  Incidents of going missing from home have reduced for young people, which is down to effective partnership working with safeguarding professionals.  A range of fun activities is helping young people to increase their confidence and self-esteem.  Staff support young people to have planned and safe contact with their family and friends.

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

11: The positive relationships standard In order to meet the positive relationships standard, the registered person must ensure that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— (1)(a) mutual respect and trust; and (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour. 02/12/2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must, in particular, ensure that staff: (2)(a)(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; and (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare. 02/12/2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must: (2)(b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and (e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child. 02/12/2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

Ensure to notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(b)) 02/12/2016 Ensure to keep under review and, as necessary, revise the home's child protection policies. (Regulation 34 (6)) 02/12/2016

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:

p.5

Recommendations

 Ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks. Particularly with regards to obtaining references that provide sufficient information to assess all applicants’ suitability. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

p.5

Information about this children's home

This privately owned home provides care and accommodation to three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.6

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 01/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 04/01/2016 Full Good 16/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/07/2014 Full Good

p.6

Requires improvement

Some young people make progress from the start of their placements. For example, one young person’s school attendance significantly increased and, in her final year, her attendance had risen to 100%. Since leaving school, she has successfully gained a full-time apprenticeship in a local hair salon. Two young people have moved to the home, from another area, on an emergency basis. Due to the geographical distance, they have had to change schools. There has been a significant delay in securing new school placements for these young people, which is due to lack of suitable provision to meet their specific needs within the local area. The company’s education service is providing some daily tuition, complemented with daily structured activities facilitated by staff. The home is continuing to work with virtual heads, schools and social workers to challenge these barriers to young people’s education. School placements have been identified

p.7

Requires improvement

and plans are now in place for their full-time education to resume. Staff promote young people’s physical and emotional health by ensuring that they have access to a range of health services, including a dentist, opticians and sexual health clinics. The in-house therapist provides weekly sessions to young people, which helps them to address difficult emotions and manage their feelings in a safer way. However, staff do not benefit from regular consultation with the therapists to support how they respond to young people’s emotional and behavioural needs. For example, staff routinely lock the kitchen at night to manage one young person’s behaviour. This does not address the routine of the behaviour and imposes restrictions on all young people’s access to this area of the home. The home’s placement plans and risk assessments are comprehensive. They provide a detailed account of young people’s individual needs and vulnerabilities.

p.7

Requires improvement

However, some staff do not follow these plans and fail to implement the identified strategies to support young people. Not only does this have an impact on the continuity of care provided to young people, it undermines effective team working and prevents the home from promoting consistent boundaries and care. Although most staff strive to develop positive relationships with young people, young people are still not benefiting from establishing trusting relationships with all members of the staff team. Consequently, young people are sometimes unwilling to cooperate with some staff and refuse to take on board their guidance and support. At times, staff have struggled to redirect young people from unsafe behaviour and this has led to them placing themselves and other young people at significant risk. Young people have access to a range of social and recreational opportunities, such as, attending youth club and trips to the company’s caravan with staff. This is

p.7

Requires improvement

helping them to improve their self-esteem, build confidence and make new friends in their community. Some young people live a long way from home. However, staff support them to keep in contact with their family and friends. When difficulties arise, staff work with placing authorities to resolve issues and revise contact plans. This has resulted in young people resuming contact with their siblings and gaining permission to have overnight stays with their friends. Additionally, staff support young people’s social workers to undertake life story work. As a result, young people benefit from developing a positive self-identity and a genuine understanding of their backgrounds and life journey.

p.8

Requires improvement

An independent person routinely visits young people when they return from being missing. The visitor supports young people to explore the reasons behind their behaviour and helps to identify any additional risks. This has resulted in a significant reduction in young people going missing since the last inspection. The person who undertakes these visits said, ‘The home is good at communicating with our team. They escalate child sexual exploitation concerns when necessary. I have had good feedback from my colleagues about the home.’ Young people identified to be at risk of child sexual exploitation are developing a greater awareness and understanding of their vulnerability. They benefit from specialist services that support them to build their self-esteem and emotional resilience. Staff complement this work with regular key work sessions that encourage young people to reflect on their behaviour. This is helping young people

p.8

Requires improvement

to recognise risk and learn how to keep themselves safe. This is reflected in an independent reviewing officer’s comments, ‘The home has supported her to be as safe as possible and make strong, informed independent decisions wherever possible, while balancing safeguarding and the need to ensure the stability of the placement. I find the manager very professional and she always demonstrates the highest level of understanding of (young person’s name) needs.’ Young people are fully aware of the home’s complaints procedure. When they make a complaint, they are kept informed of the actions taken and any outcomes. This demonstrates to young people that their views are important and they are listened to. Although there are elements of sound safeguarding practice, some areas continue to require improvement. At the last inspection in March, shortfalls were found in staff’s safeguarding practice and a requirement was raised to improve young

p.8

Requires improvement

people’s safety within the home. Some staff are still not following young people’s risk assessments or implementing the strategies identified to keep everyone in the home safe. For example, despite risk assessments and placement plans clearly stating that individual young people require one-to-one supervision, there have been times when staff have not ensured that this level of supervision and support is available. As a result, both young people and staff have been placed at risk of significant harm. The home’s safeguarding policy does not provide staff with clear direction on the action to take when child protection matters arise. The policy fails to differentiate between a complaint and a safeguarding concern. Consequently, a child protection concern was not referred to all relevant professionals and this prevented a prompt investigation into a serious safeguarding matter. The company personnel officer is responsible for ensuring that safer recruitment

p.8

Requires improvement

practice is routinely implemented. Although staff are routinely vetted, including police checks being carried out prior to them taking up post, some staff’s references lacked sufficient detail to enable a rigorous assessment of their suitability to work in the home. Regular reviews of the home’s health and safety and location are ensuring that the home remains a safe and secure environment.

p.9

Requires improvement

A suitably qualified and experienced registered manager leads the home. A newly appointed deputy manager, who was promoted within the company, supports her. Several changes in staff have had an impact on the continuity of care and effective team working. Over the past year, new members have joined the team and staff have moved between the company’s homes. The manager acknowledges that this has affected young people’s care and is determined to secure a stable and consistent staff team. This is supported in her comments, ‘The team needs to stabilise and I plan to achieve this over the next 12 months.’ Although the manager arranges sufficient staff cover for each shift, at times, staff have left the home or gone to bed, leaving only one staff member in charge, despite some young people requiring one-to-one supervision and support. Consequently, young people have not been provided with the level of care and

p.9

Requires improvement

supervision that they require. Staff feel fully supported by the manager. They benefit from regular professional supervision and structured team meetings. This is providing them with sufficient opportunities to reflect on their practice and identify new strategies for supporting young people. Ongoing training on a range of important matters, such as around child sexual exploitation, safeguarding and substance misuse is further supporting them to successfully carry out their role. The manager has developed useful links with a range of services that provide support and guidance to young people. As a result, young people are supported through a range of services, including the in-house therapy and education team. The home’s statement of purpose provides a complete and clear picture of the home’s aims and objectives, detailing how young people are supported. Although the manager has ensured to keep this regularly updated to reflect changes in the

p.9

Requires improvement

service, she has not provided a copy to Ofsted as required. This has prevented the service regulator from evaluating the changes made within the home. Improvements have been made in service monitoring. A newly appointed independent person is providing monthly quality assurance visits to the home. The visitor highlights the strengths of the home as well as identifying areas for development. Effective independent monitoring supports service improvement and development. The registered manager acknowledges the shortfalls and has already begun to implement measures to improve young people’s safety within the home. For example, she has increased staffing levels and reviewed the home’s and young people’s risk assessments.

p.10

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’.

p.11

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

p.11

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.

p.11

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

p.12

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 .

p.12

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,

p.13

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.13

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.13

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

p.13