Children's home run by Searchlight Care Services Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

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:

 Staff make sure that young people’s plans are sufficiently detailed. This supports their move to alternative long-term placements and increases the likely success of their future placement.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people develop positive and appropriate relationships with staff. These support young people’s progress, confidence and self-esteem.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff encourage young people to learn new skills and build new friendships through participating in social and community activities. This helps young people to expand their social circles.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people benefit from working with a stable, qualified, experienced, skilled and well-supported staff team.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 There are some areas for improvement. These include managers seeking the involvement of all relevant agencies when planning young people’s care, staff personalising one-to-one sessions to reflect the aims and objectives of the placing authorities and managers revising internal monitoring systems and reports.

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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 meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff, seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans and seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)) 03/02/2017

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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. 03/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the education standard the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a)(viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. 03/02/2017

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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. 03/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must 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 03/02/2017 necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. 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)) 03/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children, the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c)) 03/02/2017

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for one young person with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private company owns and operates this service. It is one of a number of small homes operated by this organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 10/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/07/2015 Full Good 23/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/11/2014 Full Good

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Good

Since the last inspection, the young person that resided in the home at that time has left the service. Staff planned this move well and worked in effective partnership with the placing authority and other agencies. The young person benefited from integrated care plans that reflected his individual needs. These plans were structured and customised to support the young person’s move and to take account of his emotional needs relating to the move. This comprehensive approach meant that the young person’s move to his new placement was exceptionally positive. Partnership working arrangements between staff and the placing authority for the current young person lack vigour. This is because managers and staff do not seek to involve all relevant services that the young person needs. For example, the current young person does not attend school or have access to a suitable learning provision. Although staff liaised with specialist education providers to support the

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Good

previous young person’s school attendance and attainment, they have failed to take sufficient action to address this shortfall for the current young person. This means that she is unable to continue with her education at this time. The young person previously placed in the home engaged well with staff and his relationships with the staff were very positive. The current young person has not been resident for long but has started to form suitable relationships with staff. Staff use these relationships to encourage young people to participate in one-to-one sessions. For the previously placed young person, these sessions mirrored the aims and objectives of the placing authority. This meant that staff tailored his internal care and support plans to meet his individual needs. However, the one-to-one sessions that staff complete with the current young person do not reflect her individual needs or presenting risks. This means that she does not benefit from

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Good

personalised care that supports her development or promotes her welfare. Furthermore, the young person’s case files do not include all necessary information and documentation. This means that staff are unable to devise detailed internal care plans to support her continual progress. Staff recognise that as a solo placement, young people who live or who have lived in the home may feel isolated from their families and friends. To counterbalance this potential, staff encourage young people to join local community groups, youth clubs and leisure facilities. This is a strength of the service and means that young people are able to learn new social skills and form new friendships. This gives young people confidence, builds on their self-esteem and supports their emotional health and well-being. Judgement grade

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Good

Staff are exceptionally competent in managing young people’s behaviours. The use of physical restraint is rare and there have been no incidents of restraint since September 2014. This is because staff use verbal de-escalation techniques to defuse and distract the young people. For the young person previously living in the home, staff used one-to-one sessions to encourage him to take responsibility for his actions and behaviours. This enabled the young person to learn alternative ways of managing his emotions and frustrations. However, staff do not complete these necessary debrief sessions with the current young person. Incidents of young people going missing from the home are infrequent. Staff liaise with local police and the placing authority to reduce the potential for these incidents to occur. Although these episodes are extremely rare, staff remain alert to the possible risk of sexual exploitation that young people may face when they

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Good

are absent from the home. Staff record these risks within internal risk assessments. However, for the current young person, staff do not make sure that they record all known risks, such as online or cyber bullying, in detail. This shortfall increases the young person’s vulnerability when accessing the internet or other social media sites. Staff receive regular safeguarding training that incorporates information relating to child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and managing allegations. They have a good knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and of how to refer any concerns to other agencies. The current young person is aware of the rules and expectations of the home, and understands how to make a complaint. There have been no complaints made since the last inspection. Staff practice is consistent and they make sure that boundaries are clear and unambiguous. This approach, coupled with personalised incentives

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Good

and reward initiatives, helps the young people, both current and previous, to exhibit socially acceptable behaviours. This promotes safety and welfare. Staff complete regular health and safety and fire checks in the home. This means that the environment is safe. The current young person participates in fire drills and fire tests and is aware of how to exit the home safely in the event of a fire. This helps to keep her safe in the home.

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Requires improvement

The home has an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager in post. However, the registered manager delegates a number of the day-to-day management tasks to the deputy manager. The deputy manager’s role also includes working on shift with the young person and this means that the time she has available to attend to these management tasks is limited. For example, partnership working with the current young person’s placing authority requires improvement to enable the young person to access the services, such as education, that she needs to move forward in her life. The deputy manager is unable to dedicate the time required to develop these relationships. This hinders the young person’s progress. The young person living in the home at the time of the last inspection, who was recently discharged, made exceptional progress in all areas of his development. The registered manager, deputy manager and staff team prioritised his needs to

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Requires improvement

support his development and progress. For example, staff adjusted daily routines in the home to accommodate the young person’s social arrangements and contact visits. The statement of purpose is up to date and details the aims and objectives of the service. However, internal monitoring systems are ineffectual in enabling managers to assess fully the quality of care provided by the service in line with the stated aims and objectives. This is because the current monitoring systems do not enable the registered manager to evaluate any noted patterns for trends. For example, there has been a significant reduction in the use of sanctions since the last inspection but any possible reasons for this are not included in the recently completed review of the quality of care. This is a missed opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Furthermore, the quality of care review does not included the views or opinions of young people or detail the actions

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Requires improvement

required to improve the service. Staff receive regular and supportive formal supervision. These sessions are practice related and managers encourage staff to reflect on their own practice and identify their own training needs. All staff have up-to-date appraisals and training records and staff are appropriately qualified for their role or working towards achieving relevant qualifications within suitable timescales. This means that staff have the skills and experience that they need to support 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 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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