Children's home run by Quantum Care UK Limited in North Northamptonshire

Outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Excellent, trusting relationships enable young people to feel safe and valued. This helps them to make excellent progress.   The staff are tenacious in their work. They show excellent resilience and determination, and young people benefit from their care.   Staff promote the value of education. Young people make excellent progress and attain high levels of attendance. For some, this has enabled them to experience education as a positive for the first time in their lives.  The registered manager has high expectations of care and practice. She encourages and supports staff to provide the young people with highly individualised levels of guidance, support and nurturing. Young people’s needs are a priority for a staff team that wants the very best for those in its care.   Other agencies speak very positively of the professionalism of, and communication from, the staff. There is close inter-agency and collaborative

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

working with other professionals in order to make sure the young people are receiving the support they need.  Bespoke and careful planning for young people learning independence skills is of a high standard and prepares the young people to have a greater chance of success.  One minor shortfall relates to including the details of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in the young people’s handbook. This is a technical shortfall and has had no impact on the welfare of the young people.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the young person’s guide helps children to understand how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)

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Information about this children's home

The setting is registered to offer five placements for young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned and operated by a private organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/06/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/12/2015 Full Outstanding 20/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.4

Outstanding

Young people experience high-quality and consistent care that enables them to develop trust in adults. They benefit from the warm, meaningful relationships they establish with the adults who care for them. Consequently, they are able to reflect on their past experiences and develop better resilience and more positive coping mechanisms. One young person said, ‘The staff are fair and square, I would mark them ten out of ten. I’m not the same person that came two years ago; I’ve got a job, and I’ve got college.’

p.5

Outstanding

Young people blossom while living at this home. Progress is excellent and in some cases remarkable. For example, all the young people are in full-time education. One young person has achieved 100% attendance at school despite being a school refuser when he first came to the home. All the young people have made significant progress, including being enrolled at college and a plan being put in place for return to a mainstream school.

p.5

Outstanding

Young people voice their thoughts and feelings in key-work sessions and house meetings. The sense of group-living allows them to address issues, including conflict, in safe spaces where they are given sensitive support. As a result, young people develop their social skills as well as the communication skills needed to express themselves in a socially acceptable manner. The young people know who they can complain to, and have access to independent advocates and external helplines. The young people’s handbook does not yet contain the details for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. This has not impacted upon the well-being of the young people as there have been no formal complaints since the last inspection.

p.5

Outstanding

Young people’s views and opinions are highly valued, especially in regard to developing their care and behaviour management plans. Their views on how they prefer to be supported are recorded, and the young people endorse any plans made. This makes the plans meaningful, and supports the belief that the young people are working in collaboration and partnership. An excellent example of this has been the revision of a behaviour-management plan in response to a young person’s concerns. This has resulted in him feeling listened to and being very well supported, especially in times of stress.

p.5

Outstanding

The young people are able to take part in numerous enriching activities in the local community. These are related to their personal interests, and enable them to develop external friendships and wider links locally. Examples of activities include going to the gym, youth club and swimming. Importantly for the young people, they are also able to go on holiday with members of staff and their own peers. Holidays have included excursions abroad, which have enriched their experiences and knowledge.

p.5

Outstanding

The young people are very well supported to maintain contact with their families and friends. Well-planned and sensitive support is provided, especially if these contacts are expected to be emotive and challenging for the young people. Examples of success in this area include a young person being able to now stay overnight with his relatives. This step was not thought possible on his admission two years ago. The staff support to the young person and his relatives has been key in allowing the relationship to develop so positively.

p.6

Outstanding

Support given to young people developing their independence is very carefully thought through and paced at a rate the young person is able to cope with. This ensures that individual plans develop the young people’s independence skills in a detailed and comprehensive manner. The patience and dogged determination of the staff have helped the young people to develop independence skills to an excellent degree, despite some initial challenges and struggles.

p.6

Good

All safeguarding issues are addressed soundly and action plans put in place to ensure the young people’s safety. Staff are diligent in following child protection procedures and liaise effectively with safeguarding agencies. One designated officer commented, ‘They follow the process and work by the book.’ This shows that managers and staff understand their obligations, and that they put their training into practice if the need arises.

p.6

Good

Staff clearly know the young people very well and are acutely aware of their vulnerabilities. As a result, they comprehensively assess and plan for the young people’s behaviours and put measures in place to protect them. The risk assessments completed by the staff are comprehensive, robustly monitored and regularly reviewed to ensure that they are relevant and implemented effectively.

p.6

Good

Any incidents are reviewed by the registered manager, and strategies and plans updated if needed. Additionally, the young people and members of staff are debriefed after incidents so that practice can be reflected upon. Consequently, any learning is used to promote the young people’s safety. Incidents are used as an opportunity to learn for all parties involved. This ensures that there is a shared drive to improve outcomes for everyone, and no complacency. Members of staff have been trained in recognising the signs related to child sexual exploitation. Staff are aware of the young people’s vulnerabilities, especially if they were to be missing or absent without permission. There are clear individual protocols in place which outline the expected actions from staff. This has ensured that young people have returned safely, and when needed have had return home interviews carried out by independent persons. This means that the young people

p.6

Good

have an opportunity to speak to adults from outside the home and voice any concerns they have about their care.

p.7

Good

Individual behaviour-management plans outline how each young person needs to be supported in order to develop their own coping strategies, and what staff need to do when the young person is distressed or displaying challenging behaviour. These plans are detailed and include the young person’s preferences on how they wish to be supported. As a result, young people make significant progress in managing their behaviour.

p.7

Good

Sanctions are used by staff when young people’s behaviour is inappropriate. Restorative and reparative practice is used, and young people are encouraged and supported to ‘make good’ what they have done wrong – for example, by repairing the damage or undertaking extra chores. Physical restraint is used when necessary to safeguard young people. Good records are kept of all incidents.

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Good

A sound recruitment procedure ensures that all members of staff are thoroughly vetted before commencing work. This includes background checks with referees as well as checks made with the Disclosure and Barring Service. Young people are involved in the selection process. They give their view on potential staff, who spend time working in the home as part of the selection process. This adds to young people feeling their views are important.

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Outstanding

The registered manager has over 16 years of experience working with young people. She has the Registered Manager Award and a National Vocational Qualification Level 4 in leadership and management. She provides clear and strong leadership and is an excellent role model for members of staff and young people alike.

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Outstanding

The registered manager has high expectations of her staff team and ambitious aspirations for the young people in her care. This embeds a sense of everyone working together with a view to getting things right, reflecting on practice and wanting more for the young people. As a result of this, young people make excellent progress, especially when bearing in mind their starting points.

p.7

Outstanding

Quality of care and young people’s progress are scrutinised closely. Care plans are reviewed promptly if the staff feel a young person is not making the progress they would wish for. The registered manager is active in engaging with placing authorities if reviews need to be brought forward. This means that each young person’s individual plan and strategies can be changed if needed. This fluidity in planning ensures that young people’s needs are considered in detail and all possible support put in place to help them thrive.

p.8

Outstanding

There are enough staff to meet the needs of the young people and support them closely. All members of staff attend training in key areas such as safeguarding, recognising child sexual exploitation, first aid and identifying young people who may be at risk of radicalisation. This ensures that they have the knowledge and skills to work with the young people.

p.8

Outstanding

All members of staff receive regular supervision and appraisals. Their performance is scrutinised, and improvement plans and development opportunities are put in place. The registered manager monitors closely the performance of members of staff, and this was especially so when she had had concerns about how they were fulfilling their roles. Records show how these issues have been resolved and resulted in positive outcomes.

p.8

Outstanding

The registered manager uses information from research and serious case reviews to share with staff and to consider how they can learn from these and make improvements to their own practice. For example, training was given to staff regarding safe environments and professional boundaries after lessons were learned from external reviews of other services.

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Outstanding

The staff have shown resilience and high levels of commitment during times when young people’s behaviour has been challenging. As a result of this, young people’s behaviour has improved and they have made significant progress. One social worker said, ‘They do their absolute level best for him.’

p.8

Outstanding

The registered manager challenges other agencies if she feels that they are not providing the service which young people need and deserve. She successfully challenged a school’s decision to exclude a young person. This led to the young person’s return to the school, improved attendance and more stability.

p.8

Outstanding

A significant strength of the manager is the scrutiny and planning of new admissions. At times, this has led to reduced numbers and therefore reduced income for the organisation as a whole. However, the registered manager has been resolute in not admitting any young person to the home who she is not convinced will benefit from being there. She is adamant she will not compromise the progress the other young people are making for the sake of admitting a new young person to the home. Her stance has also included refusing to admit young people when it has transpired the placing authority has not given accurate information during a referral. Her clear boundaries in this matter provide stability for the young people, and assist staff to make meaningful relationships and offer consistency and safety.

p.8

Outstanding

Any significant events are shared with relevant agencies. This ensures that plans can be put in place if any issues arise. It also means that the home is open in its communication, and happy for external stakeholders to comment on practice and effectiveness. One placing social worker commented, ‘Communication was excellent; the registered manager was always there.’

p.9

Outstanding

The home has a statement of purpose, which is reviewed regularly. This ensures it is up to date and that all stakeholders are aware of what service the home provides.

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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

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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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