Children's home run by ABC Care and Education Ltd in Lancaster

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness . Since the last inspection, the home’s manager has successfully registered with Ofsted. She continues to lead the home effectively, offering a supportive environment to staff and prioritising the care of young people. Staff and young people speak highly of management arrangements and have confidence that the manager always acts in the best interests of the young people. Managers have good systems in place to monitor the quality of care that young people receive and use feedback from external monitoring to develop and improve the service. Young people are settled and are making good progress in all areas. One young person has been admitted since the last full inspection. Matching considerations are detailed and this impacts positively both on the current resident and the new

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

admission. The newly admitted young person is settling well and has been enrolled at a mainstream school. The home worked well with the school to increase the young person’s integration, and she now attends for the full-time curriculum. Reports from school are positive and she has made friends with other pupils, which enhances her social development. Another young person is on track to obtain several GCSE qualifications at high levels and has clear aspirations for continuing his education post 16. Risks for young people are well understood and risk assessments are well recorded. Staff are knowledgeable about young people’s risks and can, at times, identify potential risks before they materialise; for example, when one young person was preparing to go missing, staff intervened effectively. There have, on more than one occasion, been missing from home incidents where a young person has evaded staff and electronic monitoring to exit the home at night. Although immediate

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

measures were put in place to address this, these were not initially effective and alternative measures had to be identified. These are now implemented and have been successful. There is evidence of work being undertaken with young people through key worker sessions in respect of addressing their risk-taking behaviours and educating them about keeping themselves safe. A previous recommendation in respect of risk assessments is met, with the specific risks identified each month being clearly documented within the body of risk assessment. The home completes sexual exploitation risk assessment framework (SERAF) forms for young people. For one young person, the risk rating has reduced significantly from the point of placement to present. Additionally, the young person understands what is expected of her to evidence maturity and trustworthiness in order to gain privileges such as free time and a smart phone.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Incidents of challenging behaviour are managed competently by staff. Sanctions imposed are linked to behaviours and are monitored for effectiveness. The home uses a reward system to promote positive behaviour, which is working well for the young people placed. There has been only one, very brief, incident of physical intervention since the last full inspection. This was well recorded and was reviewed by the manager for effectiveness. Staff understand young people’s triggers for escalating behaviour and have skills to de-escalate situations, which help young people to develop self-regulation and maintain control of their emotions. One young person has expressed a clear wish to leave the home soon after his sixteenth birthday. The home is supporting him to ensure that he has the necessary skills to do this, and plans to take him to view a residential college placement which has been identified by his placing authority. The young person is

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

keen to evidence his maturity and independence and can successfully budget, cook and clean. He is committed to part-time voluntary work in addition to attending education with additional college courses. He consistently meets targets set for him, despite them regularly being reviewed in order to further challenge him. He acknowledges that, in part, his success is due to the care and support he has received from staff. The home works well with a wide variety of agencies to ensure that young people’s needs are fully met. For example, positive engagement is noted with police, youth offending service, and schools. The home works closely with the young people’s placing authorities and there are clear systems in place to ensure that local authority plans feed into the home’s care plan for each young person, thus ensuring that planned outcomes for young people are consistent. The home now has a system in place to chase up any outstanding review minutes and personal

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

education plans for children looked after, which has been effective in ensuring that the minutes are on the young people’s files. The judgement of improved effectiveness reflects the home’s continuing improvement, and provision of positive experiences and support, which contribute to the progression for young people. Both the requirement and recommendation made at the previous inspection are met and the manager is now registered with Ofsted. No new requirements or recommendations are made at this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to accommodate three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It offers emergency, medium- and long-term placements.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

20/10/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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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