Children's home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Telford and Wrekin

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 actively promote the young person’s welfare. This in turn enables the young person to feel safe in their home.  Staff are skilled in understanding how the young person’s past experiences are communicated through their behaviour.  The wishes, feelings and views of the young person are taken into account in the development of the home.  The manager ensures that effective partnership working with the young person’s school helps to support their learning.  The staff support the young person to maintain meaningful contact with their family, in line with their care plan.  Staff actively encourage the young person to participate in a variety of activities that help to increase the young person’s social and recreational opportunities.  Managers and staff work collaboratively with partner agencies that report high levels of satisfaction with the service.  Shortfalls identified within the inspection include record keeping and

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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

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 is required to:

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Requirement Due date

2(c) keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document. 14/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. 14/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered person is required to ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(b) that arrangements are in place to –

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Requirement Due date

(ii) manage and review the placement of each child in the home

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Requirement Due date

(iii) plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. 14/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 14/02/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered person must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. They should also play a key role in shaping the ethos of the home through developing a culture of high aspiration for children which is demonstrated through the care, resources and opportunities offered to the children. In particular, plans should provide evidence that repairs to the home are to be undertaken. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, 10.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that the home is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review 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. Providers should refer to the non- statutory advice about the location assessment process. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, 15.1)

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Information about this children's home

The children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 22/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/07/2015 Full Good 12/03/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness 05/11/2014 Full Good

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Good

The young person continues to benefit from good-quality care that contributes to his good progress in many aspects of his life. This is because the staff team places his individual needs at the centre of their work. Relationships are warm and caring and interactions between the young person and staff are extremely engaging. The young person is clearly at ease with staff and appears settled in his home. The young person said, ‘I like the care they give me, they really look after me and give me my space.’ However, staff are not providing effective care planning for the young person. The home’s placement plan is not kept up to date and does not reflect the changing needs of the young person. This means that the young person’s care is not regularly evaluated to ensure that his needs, welfare and independence planning are promoted and maintained.

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Good

Staff promote the health of the young person. The staff ensure that he has access to all health services, including specialist support. Staff support the young person to participate in healthy activities, such as football and rugby.

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Good

Education is highly valued by the staff to ensure that the young person is making measurable progress in his learning. For example, the staff work closely with their educational colleagues, including providing direct support in the classroom when necessary. This demonstrates the level of the value staff give to aiding the young person’s learning.

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Good

Staff encourage the young person to make a positive contribution to the home. The young person contributes his views through key-working sessions and regular communication with staff. He has confirmed that he knows how to make a complaint if he is unhappy or has any concerns about his care.

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Good

Contact arrangements support the young person to maintain positive relationships with his family. Any restrictions on contact are fully discussed to ensure that he understands why these are in place. This means that the young person’s safety and well-being is at the forefront of staff practice. Judgement grade

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Good

The young person told the inspector, ‘I definitely feel safe living here. That is because the carers and the manager do care about me.’

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Good

There have not been any incidents of physical intervention since the last inspection. Staff are trained to manage the young person’s behaviour safely and effectively. The young person receives regular praise and rewards for positive behaviours. The young person has learned over time to manage his feelings and emotions to enable him to regulate them more effectively. Staff know what action to take to promote the young person’s safety if he goes missing. There are effective procedures and protocols to promote his safe return. However, these procedures have not been required. This is because the young person is settled, and therefore does not put himself at risk of going missing.

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Good

Medication is stored safely, and arrangements for the administration and recording of prescribed and non-prescribed medication are effective.

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Good

Regular health and safety checks, routine servicing of equipment and robust risk assessments ensure that the home is kept safe for the young person, staff and visitors. Staff are trained in fire safety procedures and they ensure that the young person takes part in fire evacuation drills so that he understands how to leave the home safely in an emergency. This means that he lives in a home that provides physical safety and security.

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Good

The manager ensures that the young person is protected by safe recruitment procedures. This ensures that only those suitable to work with vulnerable young people are employed at the home.

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Good

Overall, the home is kept to a good standard. However, some areas in the home are showing signs of wear. This includes the bathroom and the young person’s wardrobe. These shortfalls limit the young person’s sense of pride over his home.

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Requires improvement

The home has an appropriately qualified registered manager in place. The manager has been in post since July 2010 and holds a level 4 national vocational qualification in leadership, health and social care. Staff spoken with during the inspection confirm that they feel well supported by the manager. They benefit from regular supervision, which enables them to reflect on their practice and focus on key aspects of their development. An effective training programme means that staff are equipped with the necessary skills to meet the complex and challenging needs of the young person in their care. All staff, other than those in their probationary period, are suitably qualified or currently undertaking the relevant qualification. Good support systems and development opportunities enable the staff to learn new skills and refresh existing ones to ensure that they continue to provide good-quality care to the young person.

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Requires improvement

The statement of purpose and young person’s guide both require updating to include details of the current staffing arrangements. This means that parents and placing authorities are not receiving accurate information. The home’s development plan requires reviewing to make it relevant to the needs of the home. For example, the current plan does not refer to the refurbishment work that the home needs.

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Requires improvement

Monitoring of the home is undertaken each month by an independent person. Monitoring reports are detailed, evaluative and identify areas for improvement. The independent visitor consults with the young person, parents and other professionals to capture their views to contribute to the report. The manager promotes good collaborative working relationships with partner agencies, which helps to ensure that the young person receives a strong, focused multi-agency response to meet his specific needs.

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Requires improvement

The location risk assessment, which reviews the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises, requires updating to include the physical risk that the home’s environment presents.

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Requires improvement

No statutory requirements or recommendations were made at the last inspection.

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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 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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