Children's Home run by Safe Base Care Limited in Wirral

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 .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the home has been strengthened and consolidated. The manager is now registered with Ofsted, and the responsible individual has the suitable experience and skills to oversee the running and management of the home. The manager provides effective leadership that prioritises young people’s welfare and focuses on improving their lives, in line with the objectives of the home’s statement of purpose. He ensures that young people receive a good standard of care in a positive home environment. The stable, supportive and cohesive staff team is helping young people to make significant progress in all aspects of their development. They receive a good quality of individualised care that consistently meets their assessed needs and has brought stability to young people’s lives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff give young people’s safety the highest priority. They have created a strong safeguarding culture in which young people are always listened to, their views and worries are taken seriously and they are treated with respect. The manager ensures that staff understand the high expectations for safe practice. He has taken decisive action when the conduct of members of staff has fallen below the expected levels and may have compromised young people’s welfare.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people feel safe, trust staff and know that staff take their wishes and feelings seriously and will fight for what is in their best interests. As a result, young people have a strong sense of belonging. The manager and staff have a good understanding of any signs that may indicate that young people are at risk of harm, including in relation to abuse, exploitation, bullying, drugs, alcohol and social media. They work collaboratively with families, social workers, the police and the local authority to understand and manage risk and protect young people. Their decisive responses and effective management of risk have helped young people become increasingly safer.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff help young people to understand the risks and dangers if they go missing and what to do if they need help, and give them a strong message that they want them to be safe. When young people have been missing, the staff have worked closely with families, social workers, teachers and the police to ensure that everything possible is done to find them quickly. Staff always warmly welcome young people home, check on their welfare and try to find out the reasons for the young person going missing, to reduce the risk of it happening again. For example, working with a young person, his family and social worker to arrange for him to see his family more regularly in safe circumstances means that he no longer feels he needs to leave to see them without permission.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The leaders and managers have taken appropriate action to address the weaknesses identified at the last inspection. The manager and responsible individual now receive practice-related supervision from a person with appropriate professional qualifications and experience in residential childcare. This means that they now have the opportunity to reflect critically on their practice with a person who can provide them with effective professional challenge, support and guidance, and identify areas for their continuing professional development. For example, the responsible individual has used supervision to reflect on the effectiveness of matching young people and understanding potential risks to inform decisions about which young people come to live at the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The leaders’ and managers’ abilities to understand the home’s effectiveness have been helped through more in-depth scrutiny. The quality of the monthly monitoring by an independent person provides a more evaluative assessment of the arrangements for safeguarding and promoting young people’s welfare, including analysis of practice and the management of the home. Also, the manager’s review of the quality of care now provides a comprehensive assessment of how well young people are being supported in line with the quality standards, their experiences and views about their care, and the impact that care is having on their lives. This more detailed assessment helps the manager to identify accurately areas of strength and possible weakness, and identify the actions required to make improvements in the home, such as introducing a new tool to help staff understand and assess more effectively the risks of sexual exploitation for individual children and taking steps

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

to develop staff’s knowledge and understanding about the impact of attention deficit disorders and trauma on young people’s emotional well-being and development.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home’s policy about the employment of family members now sets out clear processes in relation to every aspect of their employment, including their recruitment and employment, line management, supervision and performance management, dealing with complaints and allegations and disciplinary procedures. It provides clear guidance to show how family relationships will be managed impartially to minimise any potential risks to the people involved and young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff provide young people with clear and consistent boundaries that help young people to understand and develop socially acceptable behaviour and feel emotionally secure. They act as good role models to help young people to build positive relationships and to develop understanding and empathy towards each other. Staff spend time with young people, trying to understand their feelings and frustrations. The calm and insightful approach of the staff means that challenging situations are resolved safely. The members of staff also recognise times when young people are upset and work with counselling and therapeutic services effectively to promote young people’s emotional well-being. Young people receive appropriate help to help them deal with bereavement and new challenges. For example, a young person is receiving support to help him prepare for moving on, reducing his anxieties by helping him visualise what his new home will be like.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has revised the behaviour management strategy to focus on each young person achieving individual goals to address specific issues relevant to their assessed needs and placement plans. Sanctions are very rarely used, due to young people’s positive behaviour. Staff no longer use financial reparations as a punishment. Instead, for example, they got a young person to help them put together a new wardrobe to replace the one he had damaged. This helped him to understand the impact of his behaviour on himself and other people, and to put things right.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has improved the decoration of the house and provides young people with a homely and pleasant place to live. However, the work converting the basement of the house into a separate flat has not been completed. The toilet and bathroom needs to be installed and it still needs to be furnished. This delay means that young people are unable to use this space to help build confidence in life-skills and get a sense of being responsible for their own accommodation, while still receiving the support they need from staff.

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 05/10/2016 Full Good 30/06/2015 Full Good

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Recommendation

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Complete the decoration and furnishing of the accommodation in the basement of the house to provide young people with more space to develop further their skills for life and help them to prepare for living independently within the supportive environment of the home. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.25)

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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. Whenever 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 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

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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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