Children's Home run by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in Blackburn with Darwen

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:

 Young people enjoy settled placements and make good progress from their starting points.  Staff have created a very nurturing environment in which young people are very well supported. This enables them to build trusted and secure relationships with their caregivers.  Staff are ambitious for each young person. They are nurtured as individuals with talents, strengths and capabilities that can develop over time. Staff make every effort to ensure that young people are helped to develop self- belief.  Young people feel very safe and are protected by skilled and proactive staff who prioritise the safety and well-being of young people.  Young people with a history of risk-taking behaviour, such as anti-social behaviour, self-harm and going missing from home, are well supported. In the main, risk-taking behaviour has either stopped or significantly reduced.  The manager provides effective leadership to the staff team and

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The children's home provision is good because:

demonstrates a commitment to driving forward improvements in the home. Robust internal and external arrangements for monitoring practice ensure that there is good oversight of the care that is given to young people and the progress they make.  This inspection has identified some shortfalls in the quality of risk assessments, recording of staff supervision, and care planning with respect of one young person.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered person/s meet(s) 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

14: The care planning standard In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to ensuring that children receive care that is well planned, the registered person must ensure (2)(e) that the child's placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child's relevant plans is requested, if (i) the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet his or her needs. This relates to ensuring that risk management is robust. (ii) the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission . 28/10/2016

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. When there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. This specifically relates to ensuring that risk management strategies are clearly recorded on each risk assessment. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  A record of supervision should be kept for staff including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. (‘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 local authority-run home. The home provides care and accommodation for up to six young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

23/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

19/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Staff establish high-quality care-giving relationships that drive positive change and improved outcomes for young people. The environment is extremely caring and nurturing, and staff treat each individual young person with unconditional positive regard at all times. An unquestionable strength of the home is the staff team’s ability to create an environment that replicates family life. This was clearly evidenced throughout the inspection. For example, staff and young people were engaging in activities as a family, eating together and exchanging mutually respectful banter with one another. These experiences reinforce the message that the adults closest to the young people care for them and enjoy spending time with them. Parents speak highly of the service offered by staff. They say that communication is good and that they are kept informed of all issues. Parents say that they ‘trust’ staff to keep their children safe and they feel that their children are making good

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Good

progress. Professionals are equally positive about staff and the progress that young people have made. One social worker said, ‘the young person has settled in very well. I actually can’t believe how settled he is. He has a good rapport with staff and he appears very happy in his placement. In comparison to where he was, he is certainly more relaxed here. In my opinion, staff at this home have a can-do attitude. They are more than happy to help and go above and beyond for young people.’ Staff are imaginative in identifying activities, and young people are well supported to undertake a wide range of outings and interests, for example, trips to theme parks, museums, drama and dance club and gymnastics. All achievements are celebrated, shared and recorded. Young people have very good opportunities to have their say on what is important to them. Staff support them to have their say about matters affecting their lives. They also have an active say in the running of

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Good

the home, through regular consultation and group meetings. This was confirmed by a young person who said, ‘We sit around the table and talk through our ideas. We then get to do them.’ It is clear that this level of engagement promotes young people’s confidence and well-being, and reinforces the message that adults value their opinions. The majority of young people are fully engaged in education. They have excellent attendance and are progressing well, in line with their abilities. Young people confirm that staff promote their education. One of them said, ‘The staff are always there and listen to you. If you are stuck with your homework or need help on your computer, you just ask and they help me.’ On occasions, when young people have difficulties attending or being in school, staff take action, and barriers are managed and addressed in conjunction with teachers. This shared approach ensures that young people are aware that professionals are working together in their best

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Good

interests. In the main, young people enjoy good health because their health needs are effectively identified, and services are provided to meet them. Young people are encouraged and supported to attend routine and specialist appointments to ensure that they remain fit and well. Staff have been proactive in ensuring that referrals are made to appropriate external services to assist with young people’s health needs, for example, ensuring that concerns regarding substance misuse and smoking are addressed through specialist and targeted interventions. Young people’s emotional health needs are also met through attentive, caring staff, and, when appropriate, by regular liaison with specialist teams. This support ensures that young people’s emotional and physical health needs are met. Staff view young people’s identities and family origins as very important in developing positive self-esteem. Young people have good support from staff to

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Good

maintain regular contact visits and to keep in touch with those who are important to them. Staff also encourage young people to develop appropriate friendships and to spend time with their friends. This was observed during the inspection, with young people’s friends visiting the home, engaging in activities and staying for tea. This demonstrates that young people have the same social experiences as those of their peers. Young people are well prepared for independence and, equally importantly, are supported after they have left. Staff continue to be involved in the lives of a number of young people who have moved on, and many of those young people will pop in on a regular basis to see staff and to touch base with them. This further demonstrates positive relationships and the impact that staff have had, and continue to have, on the lives of young people.

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Good

Young people at this home are kept safe. Staff provide clear boundaries and expectations and reinforce these in a nurturing and caring way. Staff are able to understand the behaviour of young people and are often able to prevent situations from escalating or to de-escalate situations effectively when they occur. This all helps to keep young people safe from themselves and safe from each other. Staff place a strong emphasis on promoting positive behaviour through praise, recognition and rewards. Young people benefit from this nurturing and consistent approach and clearly understand the home’s routines and boundaries. They know what is expected of them and the consequence of unacceptable behaviour. This encourages effective group living and has resulted in minimal sanctions and a reduction in harmful and unacceptable behaviour in the home. Staff have established effective and well-embedded working relationships with local

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Good

safeguarding agencies. Placing social workers and a range of other external professionals compliment the team on their proactive approach to managing and reducing risk and on identifying and promptly responding to emerging concerns. One social worker said, ‘I am confident that staff are doing their utmost to manage risks. When he is home, he is safe. However, recently there has been some deterioration in his behaviour. That said, every effort is made by staff to manage this. They work very well as part of a multi-professional team and my view is that they have gone above and beyond to keep him safe.’ A number of young people who have known histories of going missing from home have been admitted. However, for the majority of these young people, incidents have started to decrease or ceased completely. The pattern of missing episodes for one young person remains a serious concern. When missing, he is clearly not safe.

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Good

There have been some concerns about child sexual exploitation, and there is still an unknown element when he is away from the home. While regular risk- management meetings are taking place with a range of professionals, the manager has not sufficiently escalated her concerns regarding risk management, lack of progress and the stability of his placement. This has resulted in some drift in decision–making, which compromises the young person’s safety. Moving forward, the leadership team has fully acknowledged this shortfall and is taking the necessary action to review plans. More positively, records demonstrate that when young people do go missing staff respond promptly and are resourceful in seeking them out. They make concerted effort to keep in contact and locate young people as quickly as possible. Furthermore, good arrangements are in place for missing-from-home return interviews. The manager ensures that these are undertaken by an independent

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Good

person after every missing episode. This has proven to be a key opportunity to gather information and to help young people to make safer choices in the future. In general, risk assessments are good. They are individualised and reflect the diverse needs and personalities of each of the young people. They provide an overview of identified behaviours, triggers and warning signs. However, control measures and strategies to manage risks lack clarity. To date, there is no evidence that this has impacted adversely on young people’s safety. However, this is not best practice and requires revision. There has been little change in the staff team since the last inspection. This means that young people are provided with consistent care from a well-established and experienced staff team. However, the home has recruited a volunteer who undertakes direct work with young people. Records demonstrate that the recruitment of volunteers is robust. This helps to ensure that young people are

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Good

kept safe from adults who may wish to harm them. Visitors are also checked and monitored, again to reinforce young people’s safety.

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Good

Young people benefit from living in a well-managed home. The manager was registered with Ofsted in February 2015. She holds relevant qualifications and has worked with young people in a number of social care settings. This validates her suitability to manage the home. Good deputising arrangements mean that the home continues to operate effectively in the absence of the registered manager. The manager and deputy manager work very well together and have a shared vison to ensure that young people reach their full potential. This ethos is one that the team embraces. The home has a stable core staff team that works together as a tight unit. Evidence gathered at this inspection highlights good collaborative approaches, which ensure consistency. Regular training, team meetings, thorough handovers and daily discussions ensure that communication remains effective. The team reports that members feel well led and managed, and this was observed during the

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Good

inspection. The manager’s ‘open door’ policy enables staff to feel free to express their thoughts without judgement. This helps to embed the positive culture in the home. The majority of staff receive regular and effective supervision. However, there are some gaps in the recording of supervision. This is something that the manager has acknowledged, and she has taken the necessary action to address the shortfall. Appraisals on staff performance are undertaken annually by the manager. This enables her to critically appraise staff competence, to ensure that practice remains effective. The manager undertakes regular monitoring of the home to ensure that it operates in accordance with the statement of purpose. Good monitoring and quality assurance systems enable the manager to review the service and to address shortfalls in a timely manner. Significant improvements have been made to external monitoring. Reports are detailed and offer an evaluative summary of the

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Good

quality of the service. This, along with a realistic development plan, demonstrates that this is a service committed to continuous improvement. To conclude: the home has sustained good performance and it continues to offer good-quality care. The safeguarding concerns regarding missing from home are in the process of being addressed, and the manager is keen to formulate a robust plan to move this matter on. There is extensive evidence to demonstrate that the manager is driven and committed to ongoing development, and is keen to ensure that young people have every opportunity to achieve their full potential.

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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 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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