Children's home run by East Midlands Care Matters Limited in Amber Valley

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 are making good progress in all aspects of their development.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people receive a high standard of care, delivered by skilled and committed staff.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Positive relationships are evident between young people and staff. Young people benefit from a stable and experienced staff team that provides consistent, nurturing care.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff work in partnership with families to secure the best possible outcomes for young people. Young people and their families feel supported.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Shared care arrangements are managed exceptionally well.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff manage challenging behaviour effectively and, over time, there is a reduction in incidents of harmful behaviour.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The home provides a safe environment within which young people can develop skills and strategies to regulate their own feelings and behaviour.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff celebrate young people’s achievements and they support young people to achieve their potential.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff feel supported and adequately trained to meet the complex needs of young people in their care.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The home is led by an experienced and skilled manager who provides a strong ethos of caring for young people in an ordinary home environment.

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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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that, at all times, at least one person on duty at the home has a suitable first aid qualification. (Regulation 31(2)(a)). 16/02/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation: Ensure that staff are aware of the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (Regulation 36) must be kept up-to-date, and must be signed and dated by the author of each entry. This relates to the need to have a copy on file of the child’s most recent review minutes and personal education plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this children’s home

 This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home is run by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 15/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/10/2015 Full Good 20/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/11/2014 Full Good

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Good

Young people are happy and settled. The home environment is warm and welcoming. It is decorated to a high standard throughout. Young people’s bedrooms are personalised, and their achievements are celebrated with certificates, pictures and reward charts. A conscious effort is made to create a non- institutionalised environment that resembles a family home.

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Good

Staff support young people to develop positive, trusting relationships. This is possible because the staff team is very stable and provides consistent, dependable care. From this secure base, young people make very good progress, particularly considering their starting points.

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Good

Young people are engaged in education that is tailored to their individual needs. Staff intervene quickly when education is not going well and work in partnership with others to bring about good outcomes. In some instances, staff have actively worked with parents and young people to look at alternative education provision if education providers have not fully met a young person’s needs.

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Good

Multi-agency working is very strong, with good communication between professionals, staff and families. Partnership working with parents is outstanding. Parents continually praise the commitment of staff and the quality of the care provided. One parent referred to the staff as ‘amazing’, and commented that young people are, ‘incredibly lucky’ to have found this home. Staff support contact between young people and their families, and in some instances this has developed into very positive shared-care arrangements.

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Good

Young people’s health needs are met and staff access specialist support for young people when needed. Staff are supported through the local looked after child and adolescent mental health service, which offers consultation and direct support. Staff use this support to inform their practice and to help them deliver nurturing, individualised care. Young people have a voice in the home and consultation with young people is good, regardless of their communication style or learning difficulties. They have access to independent advocacy. Young people develop confidence and self-esteem because their uniqueness is valued and celebrated. Staff are ambitious for young people and support them to reach their potential. Staff support young people to develop life skills and become as independent as possible. Young people are also supported to develop emotional maturity and regulate strong feelings that can present as challenging behaviour when they are

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Good

overwhelmed or anxious. Transitions are well planned. Young people are consulted and given as much choice as possible.

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Good

Staff manage challenging behaviour very effectively. They devise comprehensive plans to ensure that young people’s individual needs, risks and vulnerabilities are recognised and responded to consistently. These plans are updated regularly as needs and vulnerabilities change.

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Good

Staff use positive behaviour management strategies. They use high levels of praise and encouragement in order to support young people to make safe choices. Challenging or aggressive behaviours reduce because staff are skilled in using de- escalation techniques. There have been no incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection. Staff receive training to enable them to safely use restraint when a child is at risk or poses a risk to someone else, but staff see this as the last resort.

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Good

Partnership working is very effective. Staff proactively communicate with families and professionals. This enables families to have an insight into their children’s day- to-day care at the home and supports consistent care for young people. This is particularly important for shared care arrangements. Regular meetings take place between statutory reviews to discuss young people’s progress and address any concerns that arise.

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Good

The manager ensures that staff ratios are high. This enables staff to spend quality time with young people and develop positive, nurturing relationships. Staff know the whereabouts of young people at all times. Supervision is unobtrusive, but effective in keeping young people safe. Young people are encouraged to take risks and develop skills appropriate to their age and developmental needs. Staff know the young people very well and, in partnership with families and professionals, develop good plans to prepare them for adulthood. Staff are supported in gaining an understanding of different behaviours, and they devise and review plans through consultation with local looked after child and adolescent mental health service. A social worker said that the registered manager ‘is very passionate about running the home; if any areas of staff development identified and she is on it, offering training to staff and the network.’

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Good

Managers and staff understand safeguarding policies and procedures. The manager has completed a detailed location risk assessment. This assessment identifies risk factors in the surrounding area and how these can be managed. The manager liaises with the police and other agencies, gathering relevant information and using this to make the environment safe for young people.

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Good

The manager is aware of safe recruitment processes and ensures that adults who work with young people in the home are subject to appropriate pre-employment checks, ongoing supervision and appraisal.

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Good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She is a skilled manager who has extensive experience of working in residential care. The manager promotes a strong ethos for the home, in which young people are central to everything that the staff do. The home is purposefully designed around the care of young people, minimising the impact of residential care by making the environment homely. Staff clearly share the manager’s vision and make the home feel welcoming and relaxed for young people. Staff are committed to their work and provide a high standard of nurturing care to young people.

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Good

The manager sets high standards and prioritises the progress and experience of young people. Staff find their work rewarding and they feel well supported. Low staff turnover means that young people receive stable and consistent care. Staff have regular supervisions and appraisals, which ensure that they can reflect on practice and have the opportunity to discuss their own professional development.

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Good

Young people’s most up-to-date care plans are not always available to staff in young people’s files. This means that staff may not have access to the most up-to- date information about young people. Another area for improvement is the recording of staff training, in particular around first aid training. A requirement has been made in respect of this. Staff report that their training is good and supports them in their work. Staff have access to a broad spectrum of training opportunities. There is evidence of research informing practice, which is particularly helpful for staff in relation to specialist areas such as autism awareness. Staff are confident in their safeguarding role and any risks are managed effectively.

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Good

The home fulfils its commitment to children and young people as outlined in its statement of purpose. It provides clear information about how they will be helped and supported. Young people are provided with their own young person’s guide. This guide is devised to meet the specific needs of the young person, taking into account their level of understanding and style of communication.

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Good

Quality assurance systems are in place, enabling the manager to have good insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the home. This includes the manager’s own monitoring of the home, and external monitoring.

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Good

The requirement made at the last inspection has not been achieved. This referred to the need to ensure that placing authority review minutes were kept up to date in each young person’s file. At this inspection, similar issues with filing were found, but there was no evidence that this shortfall impacted upon the care provided. A recommendation has been made to address this.

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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:. 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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