Children's Home run by Aspireone Care Ltd in Staffordshire

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:

 Some young people are at risk of harm. This is because risk assessments lack sufficient strategies to reduce young people’s risk taking behaviour.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff do not encourage young people to take responsibility for their actions and behaviour. This compromises their progress and development.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Partnership working arrangements between the service and the placing authorities require improvement. Managers do not challenge other agencies or hold them accountable for their failures.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Young people’s case files do not include all necessary documentation. This means that they do not benefit from well-planned or integrated care.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Internal monitoring systems do not enable managers to sufficiently evaluate the service or identify areas for improvement.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 The home does not have a registered manager. This means that the service lacks direction and focus.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 Relationships between the current young person and the staff are positive. These relationships incorporate an ethos of mutual respect and trust.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 The staff team is stable and experienced. This means the staff have the skills necessary to support young people.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c)) 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

6. The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(b)(iv) provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

7. The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the children’s views, wishes and feelings standard the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a)(iv) regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationships standard the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a) (iii) encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; and (v) communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered 27/02/2017 person must ensure that— (2)(a)(i) staff 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. (b) the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. 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— (2)(b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate. 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard the registered person must ensure that children— (1)(b) have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home; and (2)(b) that arrangements are in place to— (i) ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; and (ii) manage and review the placement of each child in the home. 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a)) 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(vii)(c)) 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and are kept up to date. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)) 27/02/2017

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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

 Ensure that under regulation 46, the registered person reviews the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person is responsible for deciding what each quality of care review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analyses and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed.

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Recommendations

The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people irrespective of gender who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private company operates this children’s home.

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Recent inspection history

This is the first inspection of this children’s home.

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Requires improvement

The home registered with Ofsted in April 2016. This is the first inspection since registration and to date the service has accommodated three young people as solo placements. Young people’s overall experience and progress are mixed. The current young person living in the home has started to establish some positive relationships with staff. These relationships support her personal development and self-confidence. However, staff did not adequately support the young people previously placed in the home.

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Requires improvement

The current young person participates in one-to-one sessions with staff. However, these sessions do not focus on her progress and development. These sessions are reactive responses to negative behaviour. This is a missed opportunity to support the young person to reflect on her background and means that she does not receive personalised care to help her to move forward in her life. Furthermore, staff do not make sure that they have access to all necessary information and documentation to support young people while they live in the home. For example, there is no statutory care plan on file for the current young person. This means that staff do not know if internal placement plans are compatible with the overall aims and objectives of the local authority.

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Requires improvement

Staff work with external education agencies and alternative learning providers to re-engage young people in education. This approach supports young people to recognise the importance of education, although to date the short duration of all young people’s placements means that the overall success of this tactic is unknown. When living in the home, young people access relevant healthcare services to meet their needs. These services include optician and dentist appointments.

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Requires improvement

Young people are encouraged to remain in contact with their families despite how far they live from them. Staff provide the current young person with practical and emotional support to help her to maintain suitable relationships with her family. This means that the young person is not isolated from those who are important to her.

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Requires improvement

Staff do not prioritise consultation with young people. They do not consistently seek to gain young people’s views or opinions regarding the quality of care provided by the service. This means that since the home opened, young people have been unable to influence the development of the service Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

Young people’s risk assessments lack detail. Staff do not adequately evaluate all information relating to young people’s known risks. This means that staff do not identify, or fully understand, all of the risk factors that are potentially detrimental to young people’s safety. For young people previously residing the home, this shortfall was responsible, in part, for the collapse of their placement in the home. For example, this lack of information meant that young people did not receive the level of support they needed, such as increased staffing levels, to promote their safety.

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Requires improvement

Staff do not consistently implement the risk assessments and risk management plans that are in place to reduce young people’s risk taking behaviour. For example, staff do not complete one-to-one sessions with the current young person to encourage her to take responsibility for her own actions or behaviour. Furthermore, staff did not complete these necessary sessions with those young people previously living in the home. This means that staff do not effectively communicate to young people the behaviours expected of them.

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Requires improvement

Since the home opened in April 2016, there have been very few incidents of physical restraint. This is because staff use their verbal de-escalation skills to help young people to gain control of their behaviours. However, when it is necessary to use this measure of control to protect young people or others from harm, managers do not record young people’s comments or views relating to the restraint. This means that managers and staff are unable to evaluate fully the effectiveness of this intervention.

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Requires improvement

Staff work in partnership with local police and specialist safeguarding teams. These relationships mean that should young people go missing from the home, there is a cohesive response to these episodes. Furthermore, staff are alert to the signs of child sexual exploitation and abuse. This is because their safeguarding training includes modules relating to this aspect of child protection. This awareness promotes young people’s welfare and safety.

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Requires improvement

The home is well maintained and decorated. This provides young people with a suitable and comfortable environment. Managers and staff completed regular health and safety and fire checks, although the registered person has not completed a detailed review of the premise or of the location of the home as required. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The home is currently without a registered manager. This is because the previous registered manager relinquished his position in August 2016. Although the registered person informed Ofsted of this change and communicated short-term temporary management arrangements, these are not formalised. This means that the service lacks focus and direction.

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Requires improvement

Partnership working arrangements with placing authorities lack vigour. Young people previously placed in the home did not benefit from personalised care and support. This is because allocated social workers did not provide staff with accurate or up-to-date information about the young people on their admission or during their placement. Although managers were aware of this shortfall, they failed to challenge these placing authorities. This means that these young people did not benefit from a planned or effective introduction into the home, and managers did not review the suitability of the placement. As a result, the experience of young people previously placed in the home is poor. Professional relationships between staff and the current young person’s placing authority are positive. This supports this young person’s progress and means that she receives integrated care.

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Requires improvement

Staff receive regular supervision. These formal sessions are practice related and encourage staff to review their performance and identity their training and development needs. Training programmes are up to date and all staff currently employed are appropriately qualified for their role. However, managers do not make sure that staff practice is always consistent. There are occasions when young people previously living in the home have received mixed messages relating to acceptable behaviours and boundaries. These inconsistencies hinder young people’s personal progress and development.

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Requires improvement

Managers use a range of monitoring systems to review the quality of care provided by the service. However, these systems are prescriptive and do not enable the registered person or senior staff to identify the strength of the service and the areas for development. This means that the current quality or care review does not accurately reflect the service. This hinders the capacity for the service to continually improve and develop.

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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 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 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 children looked after 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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