Children's home run by Care Afloat Ltd in West Lancashire

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home required improvement at the 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

There have been no admissions or discharges since the full inspection. Young people who live in the home continue to make positive progress across most areas of their lives when taking into account their individual starting points.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

One young person now enjoys doing voluntary work one day per week in addition to an apprenticeship, which helps to build confidence and self-esteem. The young person is also re-engaging in learning independent living skills in preparation for adulthood. Staff accompany young people to school when this is required to support their attendance and engagement. This helps a young person adapt to being educated with peers after a period of learning alone. Incentive schemes are used to reward individual targets, such as school attendance and self-care, which support young people to develop and improve their well-being. Young people enjoy good health and are encouraged to attend health appointments and specialist services. Staff support contact with families well, and are working with placing authorities to increase visits closer to home to prepare young people to return to their home areas. One social worker commented on how proactively the home

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

works to facilitate and support contact. Staff will always be flexible to make sure that travel delays do not affect the amount of time that young people spend with their families.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has effective partnerships with external agencies that they use to address specific issues for young people, such as substance misuse and fire safety. This reinforces key work sessions undertaken by staff to develop young people’s awareness of risks. Staff understand young people well and behaviour management plans complement individual risk assessments. Consequently, young people’s risks reduce and behaviour is managed well. There have been no complaints, bullying or allegations made since the last inspection. Where necessary, the home has used consequences to manage negative behaviour that are proportionate. On one occasion, a young person’s friend was stopped from further visiting the home because they were encouraging disruptive behaviour. Staff act as good role models and support young people to make positive choices. This means that young people have a clear understanding of boundaries and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

expectations of acceptable behaviour. One young person has gone missing from the home on one occasion since the last inspection. However, the home responded appropriately in looking for the young person and making enquiries to ensure that he returned safely. The home notified relevant authorities that the young person was missing, but despite numerous requests, the placing authority has failed to arrange an independent return home interview. The placing social worker advised that this is due to issues with accessing resources for these interviews when a young person lives away from the placing authority. This restricts the home’s ability to make additional arrangements to protect the young person as a result, and while there have been no further incidents, the home continues to request that the interview be completed.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Now that a new manager has been appointed to oversee other homes within the company, the registered manager of this home no longer needs to support them. This means that she is now able to concentrate fully on providing effective leadership and oversight of the home, and staff are able to seek her advice more readily as she is on site. She has encouraged the professional development of staff, for example by involving them in the monthly monitoring of the home to identify areas of improvement. The team has worked hard to improve areas such as the quality of key work sessions to support young people’s understanding and development. Staff attend training to improve and refresh their knowledge to ensure that practice in the home continues to meet the statement of purpose, and communicate well in team meetings and across shifts. The registered manager and staff identify further areas of improvement to enable young people to achieve their

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

potential, including attainment in education. External monitoring by the independent person does not always provide sufficient evaluation to assist the registered manager to improve quality.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has met all of the requirements from the last inspection. The team has clearly sought to engage placing authorities to ensure that relevant plans are in place and that reviews take place within timescales. Unfortunately, one placing authority has failed to provide plans, despite repeated requests. This has not had a negative impact on the young person’s progress because staff attend all meetings and have a good understanding of, and respond well to, the young person’s needs.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff now receive supervision and appraisals in line with the company policy. There has been no need to use physical intervention to manage behaviour since the last inspection. Staff clearly understand that young people must be consulted following the use of such measures, although this has not been tested. Consequences used in response to any negative behaviour have not had any impact on the likelihood of young people going missing from the home. The home has ensured that notifications are made to Ofsted regarding any incident that the registered manager considers to be serious. New flooring has been laid in the bathroom to improve the home environment and to meet the recommendation from the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 06/12/2016 Full Requires improvement 08/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/11/2015 Full Requires improvement 05/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The home should continue to advise that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should continue to ‘seek to involve’ the placing authority that places a child looked after in the home to ensure that the child’s up-to-date relevant plans are provided in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 In order to assist the registered person to identify areas of improvement, an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care, which evaluates all relevant information. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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 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

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 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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