Children's Home, Residential special school run by Amberleigh Care Limited in Shropshire

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 positive about the home and their development while they have been in residence. They enjoy being with the staff and feel well cared for.  Education is central to the provision and young people have made considerable improvements in their attendance and academic ability since moving into the home.  Young people are well supported with the development of their health and well-being.  The therapeutic approach of the home is central to the care provided by the staff team.  Young people gain a variety of independence skills and experiences, which supports their preparation for their move onto adulthood.  Staff work in partnership with other professionals and agencies to provide continuity of support to young people.  Contact arrangements between young people and their families are well supported. This enables them to maintain family links and contributes to promoting positive relationships.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Good behaviour management practices ensure that young people consider the effect of their behaviours on others.  Staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals, and access a range of training.  As a result of this inspection, one requirement and four recommendations have been made. These are in relation to health and care plans, improvements in the internal security system, behaviour management records and the development of the young people‟s guide.

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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

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”) has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate (Regulation 35 (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 recommendation(s):  Ensure that the specific responsibilities of the home towards supporting the health and well-being of each child be agreed with the placing authority and recorded in the child's placement plan ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 34, paragraph 7.7)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the children in their care understand their rights as a child looked after, or child living in a children's home. Children must be informed of how to contact the Office of the Children's Commissioner for advice and assistance about their rights and entitlements ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 23, paragraph 4.19)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that a child's plans form the basis of their care, and providers should use their judgement as to what is relevant in each case, taking the plans listed in the definition in the regulations as a starting point rather than a complete list or a tick-box exercise. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 32, paragraph 7.1)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that young people can spend time away from other group members. Staff should respect children's privacy and support the other children living in the home to do so. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 16, paragraph 3.17)

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 12 young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned and operated by a private provider and offers an integrated residential therapeutic care and education package to young men.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/01/2016 Full Good 04/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/11/2014 Full Adequate

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Good

Young people are positive about the care that they receive. One young person told the inspector, „Staff are really good at keeping you going, it‟s hard to be here sometimes, but staff help you through it.‟

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Good

Staff encourage and support young people to engage in a range of activities, with some enjoying regular rugby, ice hockey and gym evenings. Some young people decline to engage on a consistent basis, being happier with a computer console. However, staff continue to promote healthy and engaging activities to support their well-being and community engagement.

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Good

Young people have a range of contact arrangements with their families. Staff work well to support these, sometimes travelling significant distances as well as hosting family visits. Staff ensure that young people understand that different arrangements exist, to decrease anxiety within the peer group.

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Good

Staff promote a healthy lifestyle, enabling young people to have a greater understanding of the impact that negative actions, such as smoking, drugs and alcohol misuse, have on their overall health. Health planning does not consistently include all areas of concern identified for individuals, including the need to promote healthy eating. Strong arrangements are in place to support young people‟s mental health needs and emotional well-being. Regular therapeutic consultations are completed with young people. One young person commented that, „she helps you to think about things in different ways and to help you understand the feelings you have.‟

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Good

All young people develop academically. This is made possible by staff ensuring that all young people have good school attendance. One social worker stated that, „I‟ve never known him be in school and now look at him, in school every day for 2 months.‟ Communication between the home and the school is strong, with information sharing taking place twice daily.

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Good

The home is a pleasant and comfortable environment. Young people have personalised their rooms and take a pride in their environment in the majority of cases. Any damage is quickly repaired and young people are involved in reparation relating to this if they display destructive behaviours.

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Good

Young people‟s views are sought and acted upon in a range of forums, including key working and daily group meetings. The latter of these allows discussions about young people‟s days, their successes and challenges. Young people are aware of how to raise concerns, with three complaints made since the last inspection. These are dealt with well, including a letter to the complainant to explain any investigation and outcome. Additional complaints information such as how to contact the children‟s commissioner is not included within the young person‟s guide. This is a missed opportunity to enable young people to have an increased awareness of their rights.

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Good

Good systems are in place to support the safety and well-being of the young people. Health and safety checks and fire tests are completed regularly. Staff have a good understanding of managing risk to maintain young people‟s safety. They understand the complexities of the young people‟s behaviours, completing a range of risk assessments that reflect individual areas of risk, and the course of action to take to minimise these risk areas.

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Good

Previous concerns relating to the use of a bell to inform staff when young people are exiting their bedrooms have been responded to. A more discreet door alarm system is now in place to support young people‟s privacy and to keep them safe. Risk assessments are in place for this measure, with young people being aware of the alarm, and the system now allows individual alarms to be turned off ensuring a more focused response to safety. However, there have been recent technical issues with the system that do not fully support the young people‟s privacy. A risk assessment relating to the location of the home is appropriately completed. Young people have gone missing from the home. However, the numbers of incidents are low and have decreased. Staff attempt to locate and return young people to the home as well as informing all relevant professionals in an attempt to decrease further instances of this behaviour.

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Good

Staff are trained in appropriate safe-care practice and are vigilant in their practice of risks associated with missing-from-care and child sexual exploitation.

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Good

Staff use behaviour management systems well, promoting positive behaviours and decreasing challenging or destructive behaviours. Records show that staff use a variety of de-escalation techniques prior to the use of restraint, ensuring that it is only used as a last resort. Sanctions link well to restorative justice, helping young people to understand the effect their behaviours have on others. Staff have not signed a number of the records, and the manager has not completed some of their recordings within the expected 48-hour period.

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Good

Robust recruitment and selection practice ensures that staff commence work at the home only if they are suitable to work with vulnerable young people.

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Good

The registered manager has changed since the last inspection. The new manager has previous experience as a registered manager and has a level 5 qualification in health and social care. She has a good understanding of the complex needs of the young people and demonstrates a strong commitment to ensuring that they receive good levels of care and support to meet their current and future needs. She encourages the staff and, while understanding the potential impact of the change in management style, has ensured continuity to minimise the impact on the young people. As such, when there has been a shortfall in staffing the manager has also contributed to working on the rota. This has enabled her to have a good understanding of the young people, and knowledge of the care required and provided.

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Good

Staff are committed to providing young people with care, which nurtures and enhances young people‟s lives. They have high aspirations for them, and work in partnership with other professionals, including social workers, police, specialist child sexual exploitation teams and the local authority designated officer. As a result, young people benefit from strong, consistent multi-agency working to promote good outcomes. A social worker commented that, „I‟m really pleased with how he is getting on and the improvements he has made, there is good communication from the staff, I always know what is going on with him.‟

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Good

The home does not currently have a formalised workforce plan, but all necessary information is available in the home within the statement of purpose and staff handbook.

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Good

The manager makes good use of monitoring systems in place to guide her towards further development of the home. Areas raised through the monthly independent visitor are both considered and acted upon. The staff team works in line with the statement of purpose, with all young people being appropriately placed, and receiving care and support in line with the statement.

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Good

Care planning is in place for all young people. These plans are basic but give guidance to the staff in the care to be provided. Some pertinent issues relating to individuals is not captured within the documentation, although it is known by staff.

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Good

All mandatory training is kept up to date, including safeguarding and child protection. Regular team meetings and individual supervision also offer the opportunity for staff to reflect on their practice.

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Good

The manager ensures that any significant event is shared with the social worker, local authority designated officer and relevant people. This information supports a consistent level of care from all parties.

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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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