Setting in Preston

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 benefit from being supported by individual staff members who work consistently as a team. Individual staff members are particularly skilled at quickly developing positive relationships with young people placed in the service. Consequently, young people say that they trust and enjoy the time spent with staff members.  The service offers young people opportunities to spend time away from their families or carers to reflect on some of their presenting behaviours and risks. They are effectively supported in a short period of time to learn to make positive choices about their future, in a different environment.  Young people have opportunities to try new and different activities, which broaden their horizons and help to build their self-esteem.  The manager is a dedicated and passionate leader of the service. He is visible and committed to the development of the service. He is a positive

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The children's home provision is good because:

role model for young people and the staff team.  The staff say that they are well supported in their roles by the manager and have regular supervision and team meetings. They participate in regular training. This ensures that they are well equipped to meet the individual needs of any young person placed in the home.  The manager and staff team develop very good relationships with professionals involved with the care and support of the young people. This is because of effective communication.  The shortfalls identified in the inspection have not impacted on the safety and welfare of young people placed at the service. Areas for improvement raised at this inspection include ensuring that: - recording of information should be factual and non-judgemental across all records held by the service - appraisals should include the views of children and professionals - Staff supervision sessions should allow for practice-related discussion to

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The children's home provision is good because:

ensure that staff have the opportunity to reflect on their role and the impact that they have had on the care of young people.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which 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

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 28/02/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  All staff must have their performance appraised on an annual basis. This appraisal should take into account the views of other professionals and children in the home’s care. ('Guide to the children's homes regulation including the quality standard', paragraph 13.5, page 61)  Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact and opinion. ('Guide to the children's homes regulation including the quality standard', paragraph 14.4, page 62)

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Information about this children's home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home accommodates young people for a maximum of 120 days. The home is managed and operated by a private provider. Young people spend periods of time in mobile accommodation when placed in this provision.

p.5

Good

The service is a unique provision, which offers short breaks for young people in crisis. The manager has the use of static caravans and a small house available to place individual young people. Young people move around the different resources to ensure that they benefit from the individual provisions. This has proved beneficial in enabling young people to take time out, reflect and make positive changes in all areas of their lives. One parent commented: ‘I can’t give them [staff] enough praise. They have been a godsend. The staff team [is] an amazing help to children and families when they need it the most.’

p.6

Good

Many of the young people arrive in the home having experienced considerable disruption and trauma. Staff understand this and make every effort to help them to settle and get back on track. Staff work hard to develop good-quality relationships and demonstrate great respect and empathy for young people who have experienced difficulties. This ensures that young people feel accepted and supported to move forward. One professional commented: ‘I’ve been really impressed. Unfortunately, when you do this job, sometimes you see poor-quality homes. But this is definitely one of the good ones.’

p.6

Good

Young people benefit from well-planned care, which is personalised to their individual and specific needs. Despite young people being placed in the service for a relatively short period of time, relationships developed between young people and their staff team are a key strength of the service. This is because young people are supported by a motivated and competent staff team that has genuine aspirations for them to achieve their full potential. Young people spoken with during the inspection reported that they have good relationships with staff. One young person said: ‘I really like staff. I’d give them 10 out of 10. I can talk to them and they listen to me.’

p.6

Good

Progress from individual starting points is consistently good for individual young people. This is a view shared by both parents and professionals. One parent commented: ‘When my son arrived at the service his confidence in himself was pretty much shattered at that point. The activities offered and the placement [have] worked wonders for his self-esteem. It’s had a huge impact on his feelings of self-worth.’

p.6

Good

Contact arrangements are clearly identified in individual placement plans, to enable young people to maintain close links with significant people in their lives. Staff have established excellent communication with families and placing authorities, to ensure that young people develop and sustain relationships that are most important to them. Where there are restrictions on contact, these are identified and followed. This further contributes to the safety and welfare of young people.

p.6

Good

Practical arrangements are in place to meet young people’s known and emerging physical health needs. Young people register with doctors, dentists and opticians and are supported and encouraged to attend appointments as required. Their registration is temporary because they remain in placement for a short period of time.

p.7

Good

Young people are placed at the centre of the individual provisions, and the staff team develops individual plans of activities with young people. These activities promote engagement and encourage young people to try new things. The activities offered include horse riding, ice skating, trips to the Lake District for walks and spending time at the local gym. The activities provide routine and structure to young people’s days. This routine is established to support young people to transition back home or to a permanent placement and in preparation to return to education once they have moved on from the service.

p.7

Good

The staff work hard to capture young people’s experiences through photographs, and they have presented these in colourful scrap books. These books provide young people and their families with an overview of the varied and enjoyable experiences that they have had during their stays. This enables young people and their families to recapture those times and memories now and in the future.

p.7

Good

Young people spoken with during the inspection confirmed that they feel safe, secure and well cared for. One young person said: ‘I feel safe here. I have not been missing. That’s because I do loads of things with staff.’ Young people are protected from harm by staff who demonstrate a thorough understanding of the young people’s complex needs.

p.7

Good

Staff are appropriately trained in safeguarding and understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping young people safe. Staff spoken with during the inspection presented as knowledgeable and confident. High staffing levels ensure that young people receive the right supervision and support that they need to feel protected and keep them safe. Staff make every effort to maintain these levels of supervision at all times.

p.7

Good

The staff team has a good understanding of each young person’s specific needs, behaviours and risks. One parent commented: ‘The management of risk and aims of the placement was shared in the placement meetings. I think staff are clear, open and honest. I have no concerns whatsoever. It’s a brilliant service.’ Risk assessments are implemented. Changes in behaviour and emerging risks are quickly identified and shared during team handovers and team meetings. This ensures that the staff team is fully equipped and supported to promote young people’s needs safely. Professionals confirm that young people are kept safe and feel safe because of the actions that the staff take.

p.7

Good

Staff help young people to develop positive behaviours with the effective use of individual behaviour management plans, which focus on positives. Staff act as good role models and effectively use incentives and positive consequences. Physical interventions are rare and only used appropriately.

p.8

Good

Young people become increasingly safe in this provision. Staff undertake regular targeted interventions with young people and this has helped to reduce the frequency and severity of previously problematic behaviour. Young people who are admitted into the home often come with a history of going missing on a regular basis. Records indicate that the number of missing episodes for individual young people placed in the service has decreased. Inspectors had the opportunity to observe staff following the missing-from-home protocols during the inspection. This provided clear evidence that staff understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.

p.8

Good

Safer recruitment practice is followed. All staff are subject to careful vetting prior to starting work in the home. The health and safety of young people are taken seriously. Risk assessments are regularly carried out, underpinned by routine checks and tests of equipment. The individual living environments mean that the house and mobile accommodations are safe places in which to live.

p.8

Good

The registered manager has been in post since the service was registered in May 2016. He is extremely child focused, dedicated and suitably experienced and qualified for the role. He has worked for a number of years as a deputy manager in the same organisation. He has worked tirelessly to develop and establish the service at a pace which has been able to positively support young people. The manager and staff team place young people at the centre of the service and prioritise their individual needs in each of the mobile provisions used by the service. The home is adequately resourced and delivers the services and support outlined in the statement of purpose. The manager ensures that there are sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet individual young people’s needs. Shortfalls on the rota are covered by internal staff and a small group of internal casual workers. This is because staff are committed to providing consistent staffing to young people who,

p.8

Good

when placed in this service, are often in crisis and have had a number of disrupted placements.

p.9

Good

Staff said that they feel very well supported by the manager and their colleagues. Staff reported that they work well together and said that morale in the team is very good. They benefit from regular, good-quality training that keeps them well informed of key issues, such as child sexual exploitation and self-harm. This further supports their competence in safeguarding young people. The manager ensures that staff meetings take place and are structured to ensure that individual staff are able to attend the meetings. Records demonstrate that staff receive regular supervision. However, records fail to demonstrate that supervision is used effectively. For example, there is little evidence of discussion on the welfare and progress that young people are making in the service. The manager accepted that this is a recording issue, a view confirmed by staff and young people. Staff benefit from annual appraisals. However, this process has not taken into account the views

p.9

Good

of young people or professionals who work with the staff members. This is a missed opportunity to gather views and to improve practice. To date, this has not impacted negatively on young people and the care that they receive.

p.9

Good

Regular monitoring of the home, both externally and internally, is regular and consistent. Monthly visits by an external visitor are undertaken to ensure independent scrutiny of the quality of care provided. The visitor has been very proactive in ensuring that they see the mobile provisions used by the service. The visitor also gives their view as to whether young people are being safeguarded effectively. This helps the manager to have an overview of the identified areas for improvement. The manager makes good use of regular internal monitoring and has a development plan in place, which supports him to identify areas of weaknesses and improvements that have been secured across the service. However, despite the monitoring systems in place, reviews of records have not been robust. On occasions, staff have used judgemental and opinionated language. The manager accepted that this is an area for improvement during the inspection. The manager

p.9

Good

has identified systems that he can implement to address this, to ensure that all recording is completed in a factual and non-judgemental manner.

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Good

Good-quality relationships are quickly established with parents, family members and external agencies. This means that young people benefit from a holistic support package, the purpose of which is to ensure that they are safe, make progress and have access to the right levels of support.

p.9

Good

As this is the first inspection, no previous shortfalls were identified.

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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 the ‘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 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, work- based 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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates at http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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