Children's home in Stockport

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:

 Most children receive good-quality, consistent and nurturing care from a dedicated and stable staff team. They enjoy positive relationships with staff and a range of experiences that enable them to have fun and to develop their interests and talents. They receive good support that helps them to rebuild relationships with their families.  Some young people make significant progress in their overall development, while others make minimal progress and are supported to move on to more suitable placements.  Children who have missed extensive schooling are supported successfully to re-engage with education. Barriers to re-engagement are explored with children and professionals so that they can be overcome.  Children’s safety is central to practice. Staff follow good safeguarding procedures that enable them to protect children well.  Children say that this is a good home. They like the staff and feel that they

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The children’s home provision is good because:

are well looked after and listened to. They have no complaints about the home.  The home works very well with partner agencies to help children to get the support that they need. Professionals recognise the positive difference that the home makes to children’s lives. For example, a social worker said: ‘The impact of this placement has been great. He has great opportunities and [has] progressed in all areas.’  Although the leadership of the home is mostly strong and effective, there are some shortfalls that undermine the effectiveness of the home. Leadership and management therefore require improvement.  Delays in staff training mean that staff have not been able to improve their skills to meet children’s complex emotional and behavioural needs. They have neither kept up to date with developments in the social care sector nor refreshed core training. They have not been able to manage the complex needs of some of the children admitted.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Impact risk assessments are not sufficiently robust. Consequently, the home has admitted and discharged two children whose needs they cannot meet alongside those of other children already in placement.  Staff do not provide good enough support to help children to keep their bedrooms comfortable, clean and tidy. This undermines the otherwise nurturing care that children receive.  Although staff reflect on incidents, including the use of restraint, they do not always learn from incidents. This means that opportunities to improve their practice are missed.  The home’s statement of purpose is frequently updated but, although copies are supplied to Ofsted, the home does not inform Ofsted of any changes made. The provider’s six-monthly report on the quality of care does not show that children have been consulted and that their views have informed developments.

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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— (b) notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. In particular, the registered person must specify what revisions have been made. (Regulation 16(3)) 28/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) meet each child’s behavioral and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; (ix) understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11(1)(2)) 01/03/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that the registered person’s review of the quality of care takes into account the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive, and that the report shows an evaluation of the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  Ensure that staff seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. In particular, staff should establish routines which allow for rooms to be cleaned regularly and provide more support to children in keeping their bedrooms clean,

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Recommendations

tidy and welcoming. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 15 and 16, paragraphs 3.8 & 3.20)  Ensure that the registered person only accepts placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the child will have on the existing group of children. In particular, improve and strengthen the quality of impact risk assessments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  Ensure that reviews of the use of control, discipline and restraint enable the manager and staff to identify effective practice, and provide the opportunity for amending practice, to ensure it meets the needs of the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph

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Information about this children’s home

The home is a partnership home, managed by a charity on behalf of a local authority. It provides care and accommodation for up to four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

03/08/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

30/09/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Children receive individualised care that, in most cases, meets their specific needs. This helps them to make good progress in their development. For example, children who have a history of very poor school attendance and low engagement with education make excellent educational progress and benefit enormously from the supportive environment of the home and the close partnership working between education providers, the local authority virtual school and the home. When children are reluctant to attend school, the home is proactive in arranging and contributing to meetings with relevant professionals and the child so that a multi-agency approach to supporting the child’s re-engagement can be set up. The home supports family contact very well, which enables many children to rebuild relationships with their families, and have a better sense of identity. Consequently, children are happier, enjoy more positive family contact and are

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Good

more positive about the future. When contact is having a detrimental effect on children’s well-being, the home raises concerns with the local authority so that appropriate interventions can be made. The staff team helps children to engage in activities that they enjoy and to develop their interests and talents. For example, children receive encouragement to develop their sporting prowess as members of sports teams or by visits to the gym or swimming baths. Children said that they enjoy a wide range of activities with staff and particularly enjoyed their summer holidays, which were carefully chosen with input from the children, to meet their particular interests. The home works effectively with partner agencies to promote children’s physical, emotional and mental good health. None of the children currently living at the home is assessed as needing additional support from mental health services. However, a child who receives support in anger management from the youth

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Good

offending service spoke about how this is helping him to better understand the needs of others and to behave in more socially acceptable ways. He said: ‘It was really good. I got more considerate and I stopped blowing smoke in people’s faces. It’s hard to stop being so aggressive, especially with the male staff, but I’m trying. I feel more relaxed now.’ Staff work hard to build supportive relationships with children, which they usually manage, over time. All children reported that they like the staff team, are treated with respect and are listened to. They described staff as ‘nice’ and value spending one-to-one time with them. They feel that they have a say in their day-to-day lives. One child said: ‘I’m doing well. I get on well with all the staff. It’s calmer now, and there is less damage, which is good. I’m allowed to go out with friends and can stay overnight.’ Another said: ‘It’s pretty good here. Staff are well organised and

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Good

they’ve got good routines. I’ve made a load of friends because I get free time. I’d like to stay here.’ Transition planning to and from the home is good. This enables children to move in a planned way, following visits when they get to know the people they will be living alongside, and the routines of the placement, before they move in. Bedrooms are made ready and welcoming before a child is admitted, and children confirm that staff give them a copy of the children’s guide and explain it to them, so that they can understand the aims of the home and what support they can expect. Staff accompany children on visits to new placements before their discharge from the home. This helps children to feel supported at difficult times in their lives. When the home recognises that it is not meeting a child’s needs, the manager works in collaboration with the local authority to move the child on in a planned way. The staff team demonstrates commitment and stickability when suitable

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Good

placements take a long time to locate. This effectively reduces the number of placement moves for a child and ensures that decisions about children’s placements are unrushed and take into account the child’s complex emotional and behavioural needs. This results in children moving on in a positive way to placements that better meet their particular needs. Following a requirement made at the last inspection, the manager and staff team received training, which helped them to better understand the particular needs of one child. This has had a positive impact on the way they manage the child, as they have a greater understanding of his needs. A member of staff explained: ‘It helped us to understand his behaviour better. We had been struggling to understand why he did or didn’t do certain things. We are responding to him differently now and it is helping. He has calmed down a lot. We have introduced a weekly planner and it has helped reduce his anxieties.’

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Good

The home helps children to develop self-care and independence skills in preparation for future independent living. Staff encourage children to take age- appropriate responsibility, risks and decisions. Over time, children learn to travel independently, to do their own laundry and prepare food and drinks. All children struggle to keep their rooms clean and tidy and need more help with this than is currently provided. They sleep in bedrooms that are unkempt and some sleep in beds without sheets. This means that their own personal space is not comfortable, welcoming or cared for and does not demonstrate to children that staff value them. In all other respects, the home is well maintained, homely and comfortable. One professional highlighted a dip in the levels of support that the home gives to children when other children are very demanding of staff’s time. For example, the home has not been providing the previously high levels of support to a child who

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Good

needs to improve his reading skills. This means that his progress at school is slower than it would otherwise be. The home is aware of this and has recently reintroduced this practice, encouraging the child to read more with staff. Judgement grade

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Good

Children’s safety and welfare are central to the home’s practice. Clear risk assessments guide staff in how to manage and mitigate children’s dangerous risk- taking behaviour. Children said that they are safe in the home and that staff intervene rapidly to prevent bullying or fights between children. They describe how staff contact them by phone when they are unsupervised in the community and how this helps them to feel safe. A child explained: ‘They call me every half hour to check I’m ok. They know where I am… I definitely feel safe living here. Staff keep me safe and stop the others from hitting me.’ Staff are proactive in searching for missing children and, in most cases, children return of their own accord. Missing incidents relate to children wanting to stay out late or overnight with friends. Staff make children welcome on their return and speak to them about the reasons why they went missing and the dangers of doing

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Good

so. This helps children to feel cared for and to recognise when they are taking risks with their safety. Safeguarding professionals, including the police, speak highly of the home’s capacity to protect children and their collaborative working. For example, a police officer said: ‘This home works extremely well with us. They make us welcome and I have developed good and supportive relationships with the children living there. There is nothing that staff do that causes me concern, and there have been no incidents where I felt children have been unsafe.’ Independent return interviews are conducted with children who have been missing. While this service has improved with ongoing challenge from the home, it is still not good enough. Since the last full inspection, six children have been missing for a total of 64 times. Return interviews have taken place following 63% of these incidents, although not always within 72 hours of the children’s return. As

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Good

interviews sometimes take place at school, the home is not always aware that they have been held; however, the placing authority states clearly that children have raised no concerns about their care in the home. The authority informs the home of any pertinent comments made by children. This enables the home to use information from children to inform their individual missing-from-home protocols and to tailor its practice so that individual children are better protected. The home’s managers regularly attend local meetings with other children’s home providers and the police. They benefit from sharing information about local hotspots for crime and sexual exploitation, and information about unsuitable people in the area. This helps the home to understand local dynamics and helps them, where possible, to steer children away from unsafe behaviour and unsuitable people. It enables staff to be alert to the dangers facing children in the community.

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Good

For example, children are drawn towards an area of the town where large groups of teenagers congregate and substance misuse is a major concern for police. The home’s good collaborative work with the local police enables the police to positively intervene to protect the children, whom they know well. There are currently no concerns about children who live at the home being at risk of sexual exploitation. Staff hold key-worker sessions with children that focus on the safe use of social media. This reinforces the work that other professionals do with children to help them to stay safe. The home has responded well when children have been unsafe in the community and has taken swift action, working with health professionals, police and social workers. This has protected children’s health and safety. The home initiates risk management meetings and makes appropriate referrals to the local authority and designated officer. This enables a multi-agency approach to safeguarding children

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Good

and ensures that children benefit from interventions by those most suited to providing the level of support and guidance that they need. Two allegations against staff have been made following restraints. Both have been appropriately investigated but have not been upheld. Staff ratios have been increased in response to high levels of aggression displayed by some children that resulted in staff injuries. The number of restraints has reduced in recent months. This is since the discharge of a child whose level of aggression had placed staff and other children at significant risk of harm. Although the staff team recognised triggers to the child’s behaviour and was usually able to avert an incident, there were times when distraction and other interventions were not successful, so that restraint was necessary to protect other children and staff from assault. The number of restraints of another child have begun to reduce since

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Good

the staff developed a better understanding of his needs and are responding to his challenging behaviour more effectively. Records of incidents are well maintained and show that the manager monitors each restraint and that restraint is used only as a last resort, to prevent harm to the child or others. Children and staff are encouraged to discuss the incident after a restraint, and their views are recorded. Reflections made by staff do not always show a good understanding of a child’s needs, and this is not always noted or addressed by the manager. This means that opportunities for staff to learn from incidents are sometimes missed. Staff provide clear boundaries and manage children’s behaviour through developing strong and influential relationships. They constantly strive to engage children in positive activities, and children respond well to their encouragement. Children enjoy the playful banter and attention that staff give. A child said: ‘I like all the

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Good

staff and get on with them all. The atmosphere is better now. Things improved after [named child] left. It’s calmer and there’s not so much damage, although [another child] still does a bit. I feel safe here.’ Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The staff team of eight is relatively stable and includes two new staff members who have joined the home since the last full inspection. A long-term vacancy is covered by a regular agency worker. Six of the eight staff are qualified in the residential care of children, and the remaining two are working towards their qualification or induction. This ensures that children are looked after by staff that they know well and who have the core skills needed to look after them. Overall, children make good progress in the home and the management team maintains close monitoring and review of their progress. Managers effectively supervise and support staff, who provide good-quality and, for the most part effective, nurturing care. Managers actively guide staff through regular one-to-one supervision and team meetings as well as daily informal meetings and handovers. They enable staff to develop their skills through active engagement in children’s

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Requires improvement

care planning and by contributing to meetings about children’s progress, development and safety. Most professional partners speak highly of the home and the deputy manager, in particular. They describe communication, with each other and with parents, as ‘good’ or ‘really good’. They recognise the good practice in the home and the way in which children who have diverse needs make progress across all areas of their development. Some have commented on the high quality of written reports provided for reviews and planning meetings. When necessary, the home actively challenges partner agencies to meet their obligations to children. For example, raising concerns with the local authority about the arrangements for providing independent return interviews to children who have been missing. There has also been some improvement in the timeliness and frequency of these interviews. The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has a realistic

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Requires improvement

development plan that includes staff training as a priority. She completes a fair and reflective report on children’s progress every six months; however, the report does not demonstrate that she has met the recommendation made following the last inspection, to consult with children and taken their views into account in the development of the home. Despite this, there is good evidence from other records that effective consultation with children is taking place, so that they feel that they have a say in the day-to-day running of the home and their own care. Training in autism has helped the staff to respond more appropriately to one child, and this has had a positive impact on his behaviour and reduced his levels of anxiety. However, staff are not trained well enough to ensure that they have the skills to meet the highly complex emotional and behavioural needs of some of the children admitted. Some have not kept up to date with changes in the social care

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Requires improvement

sector. For example, not all have been trained to meet the needs of children exposed to grooming and radicalisation. The manager and a number of staff have not refreshed their mandatory training in line with the home’s policies. This has the potential to undermine their competence. Impact risk assessments are not yet good enough to ensure that the home admits only children whose needs it can reasonably expect to meet. They do not pay sufficient attention to the needs of the children already resident. For example, since the last full inspection, two children have been admitted to and discharged from the home. Their extremely challenging behaviour has had a negative impact on other children already living at the home. These two children made only limited progress at the home, but the home made useful contributions to their care planning. This has enabled them to move on in a planned way so that they are

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Requires improvement

now making better progress in more suitable, stable placements. The home is operating in accordance with its statement of purpose. The lengthy document has been reviewed nine times since the last full inspection. A copy has been forwarded to Ofsted following each review, but the provider has not notified Ofsted of any revisions made. This makes it difficult for the regulator to stay abreast of changes to the home’s provision. The matter has been raised with the provider previously in relation to their other settings. It does not impact on the quality of the service provided.

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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 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 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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