Children's home run by Timeout Children’s Homes Limited in Calderdale

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 make immediate and measurable progress through living at the home.  Young people experience well-planned and considered admissions to the home. Preparation by staff and managers ensures that young people are immediately made to feel welcome, and that their needs are understood.  There is careful reflection and understanding by staff of young people’s histories and backgrounds. This ensures that care is individualised, and is sensitive to how young people might express their needs.  Young people benefit from living in a well-maintained and homely environment. Young people are actively encouraged to develop a sense of ownership of the home.  Care given by staff is underpinned and informed by active consultation with the home’s therapist. This ensures that care is responsive, and is appropriately adjusted to meet each young person’s emerging and changing needs.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child (Regulation 36 (1)). 28/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

14. In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to each child having a completed care planning document, the registered person must ensure that children– 28/02/2017 (a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home. 13. In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to managers accessing records such as supervision and care planning documents, the registered person must–

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Requirement Due date

(b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate. 28/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety. The requirements are that the individual is of integrity and good character (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(a)). 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):  The registered person should only accept placement 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 placement will have on the existing group of children (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4). In particular, that these assessments are recorded and made available to staff.  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5). In particular, that risk assessments are recorded by staff upon admittance of young

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Information about this children's home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 02/11/2016 Interim Not judged

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Good

Young people immediately make good progress across all aspects of their lives. They become enthusiastic for education, when previously non-attendance at school was a feature of their behaviour. Activities and behaviours that once resulted in risks to their welfare and safety cease. In addition, young people do not place themselves in situations that lead to their criminalisation.

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Good

Other young people very new to the home immediately feel relaxed, safe and cared about. One young person commented that one of the reasons she liked the home was: ‘I now sleep. It is calm here.’ Another young person described his keyworker as ‘Mint’, adding that he felt he had, ‘Made loads of progress’.

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Good

Young people establish good routines that support their physical and emotional health. They are fully encouraged to embrace healthier lifestyles in areas such as the food they choose to eat and the levels of exercise they take up.

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Good

Young people are offered good individual support. Regular, reflective consideration is given to understanding their backgrounds and experiences and how these experiences may be communicated through behaviour. This understanding informs and maintains the thoughtful care that is provided, supplemented by regular therapeutic advice and consultation.

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Good

Young people have positive experiences and relationships with staff. They are offered safe and reliable care. Staff spend time with young people on both an individual and group basis, and fun activities are promoted to support these relationships.

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Good

Young people living a long way from home are fully supported to remain in contact with their families. Staff forge positive relationships with families and this supports the young people’s sense of identity and willingness to invest into the home.

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Good

Young people are helped to develop the types of skills they will need as they move towards independence. They are encouraged to learn how to cook, maintain their own rooms and shop for food. This is undertaken in a way that is appropriate to their age and stage of development.

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Good

Young people benefit from living in a home that is welcoming, and maintained to a high standard. The home provides suitable facilities, and also offers good internal and outside space. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people become increasingly safe. For some young people this has included the cessation of missing-from-home incidents, drug-taking and involvement in criminal activities. There have been no complaints, allegations of abuse, incidents of bullying or incidents requiring physical intervention. This is because behaviour is managed well and staff are alert to situations that may escalate.

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Good

Young people quickly establish trusted relationships with staff that support the changes that are brought about in their lives. Young people say they feel safe at the home. Clear routines and boundaries that staff establish with young people enhance this feeling of safety.

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Good

Young people’s current and previous risks are understood well by the staff, but this knowledge and understanding is not always formalised into risk assessments. For example, some young people who are very new to the home do not have current risk assessments, and reliance is placed on assessments completed at previous placements. This is an administrative delay and currently does not impact on young people’s safety and welfare.

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Good

In addition, although the impact assessments are completed in full consultation with staff and the in-house therapist, this again has not been documented.

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Good

There are appropriate processes and procedures in place for the safe recruitment of staff. These have been followed. However, issues arising from references and subsequent managerial decision-making are not recorded. This is an administrative error that does not affect the welfare and safety of young people.

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Requires improvement

The home was registered in September 2016 and has been operational since November 2016. The manager is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Requires improvement

There are processes in place to ensure that the manager has an overview of the care offered to young people. However, due to changes in the electronic systems, not all documentation is available to view. For example, not all staff supervision records and local authority information have been uploaded onto the new system: some files were empty and some care planning documents could not be located. These shortfalls do not immediately affect the safety and welfare of young people. However, they do restrict and hinder the manager’s monitoring of the home and the ability of staff to utilise this information.

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Requires improvement

Young people make good progress through living at the home, and their needs are understood well by the staff and managers. One independent reviewing officer commented: ‘I couldn’t believe the difference in him both physically and emotionally. He says he is happy and you can see it in his face. I just can’t believe he is actually saying this. All in all it is absolutely brilliant.’

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Requires improvement

Staff are provided with suitable guidance and supervision with regard to the quality of care they offer. Reflective practice is a strong feature of the planning for young people’s day-to-day care and experiences. In addition, observation, analysis and adjustment are integral elements of ensuring that young people are given the most appropriate responses when they most need them.

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Requires improvement

The strengths of the home and any areas for development are identified by the management team, and there is a positive response to address these. The skills set and experience of the team are understood well by the managers. Managers are sensitive to young people’s preferences for particular members of staff. They ensure that young people have the opportunity to spend time with key staff and encourage this trust to develop.

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Requires improvement

Managers have strong professional relationships with other agencies that are integral to the planning and management of young people’s care. One social worker said: ‘It really has gone really, really well. They were very proactive in visiting him before he moved, and preparing him.’

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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, work based 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

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

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