Children's Home run by Time-Out Children’s Homes Limited in Rochdale

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 have been supported successfully to move into a new home, which they both confirm has been a really positive move for them. They report that they are happy in their home, and that they feel safe and protected by the staff.  Sustained and effective links with health, social care and education professionals ensure that young people make good progress with their social, emotional and educational needs.  Young people’s life experiences are enhanced as they are encouraged and helped to maintain positive peer friendships, and are supported to engage in a number of meaningful and purposeful social activities in the local community.  Staff spoken with during the inspection confirm that they are well supported in their role by the manager. Staff said that they participate in regular training and have frequent team meetings which keep them up to date with any developments in the home. As a result, young people’s needs are fully

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The children’s home provision is good because:

understood and they receive a high level of care from the motivated and dedicated staff team.  Rigorous and thorough internal and external monitoring systems support the manager in driving improvements forward within the home.  Four shortfalls have been raised in this inspection. These relate to: staff following the safeguarding procedures within the home; ensuring that all records of any allegations and complaints are kept and are accessible; notifying safeguarding agencies, including Ofsted, of all significant incidents; and maintaining the supervision arrangements of the staff.

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard (1) In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure that children are protected from harm. (2) In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure – (a) that staff – (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. 28/04/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that records are kept, and are accessible, of any allegations which are made and the action taken in response to these. (Regulation 34(d)) 28/04/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each relevant person without delay if there is an allegation of abuse against the home or person working there. (Regulation 40(4)(c)) 28/04/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  The registered person must ensure that all staff receive supervision of their practice which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Good

There has been a significant change for the young people, as they have moved into a new house since the last inspection of their old address. This move has been supported sensitively and suitably by the manager and her staff team. Young people confirmed that they were fully involved with their move and were happy that they got to choose their rooms, and how these and their home would be decorated. The new home provides young people with a happy, relaxed nurturing environment where young people report that they are happy, and feel safe and at ease. One young person said, ‘This house is just the right size for me; it is more like a home.’ They went on to write, in their feedback to the manager, ‘It is good living here. I’m loving it.’

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Good

A particular strength of the home is the quality of relationships between young people and the staff team. Young people speak positively about the staff and the amount of time that the staff spend with them. This supports young people to build positive and nurturing relationships, and to feel safe to engage in the therapeutic support offered by the home.

p.5

Good

Young people continue to make significant process within many areas of their lives. Young people experience good health, as their needs are understood and promoted well by the staff. Effective partnership working with the looked after children’s nurse and the in-house therapist ensures that young people’s emotional health needs are met, and that they receive the care and support that has been agreed in their individual health plans. Positive partnership working with the looked after children nurse ensures that services can be identified and located quickly when young people require additional care and support.

p.5

Good

The manager makes good use of the additional services that are available to her. The clinical care team, which supports the staff and young people within the home, contributes well to the formulation of young people’s risk assessments and placement plans. The clinical care team supports and helps young people well to identify more suitable strategies to address their emotional responses during their individual sessions. Feedback from these individual sessions is used successfully to review and update young people’s plans. In addition, the support that the clinical care team offers the staff, through individual staff sessions and bespoke training packages, enables the staff to gain a better understanding of young people’s backgrounds and subsequent needs. As a result, young people receive a high level of individual care from staff, who use this knowledge and their enhanced skills base to work effectively with young people.

p.5

Good

The manager and staff value education and acknowledge that it is a solid platform through which young people can move on into the adult world successfully. Young people confirm that the staff support them well with their homework and revision, and talk positively about their academic achievements. When young people struggle with the school environment, they are supported well by the team around them. Cohesive and effective multi-agency working with young people, therapists and education staff ensures that a coordinated response and action plan is identified quickly to address any barriers to learning. Consequently, young people benefit from high attendance rates, as staff help them to attend school regularly and on time; subsequently, young people make good progress in achieving their educational outcomes.

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Good

The manager and staff nurture and promote young people’s relationships with their family members and friendship groups. Staff are sensitive, and promote and facilitate young people’s visits with their family members and friends, both inside and outside of the home. Young people’s friends are welcomed into the home and are allowed to stay for overnight visits after suitable checks have been undertaken. Young people benefit from visiting their friends’ homes and speak positively about these experiences. Consequently, young people maintain contact with those who are important to them, and they develop and sustain positive relationships and networks with peer groups, which support them further into adulthood.

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Good

Young people’s experiences and opportunities continue to be enhanced. Staff enthusiastically encourage and support young people to engage in a number of positive activities of their choice within their local community. Young people benefit from a range of regular activities, which they report that they enjoy, such as horse riding, going to fitness lessons and attending guides. Wonderful bound books, which include inspirational quotes, capture beautifully the range of interesting and exciting activities and experiences that young people are offered. Pictorial reminders of their experiences and achievements – such as trips out to Bolton Abbey, Billy Bob’s, Spooky World, Chester Zoo and Blackpool, as well as trips to the German markets and theatre productions – improve young people’s experiences. These opportunities, and the beautiful photo albums, enable young people to build positive childhood memories which they can later recapture in a positive and

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Good

Staff ensure that young people are equipped with the knowledge and skills that they require for adulthood. Staff encourage young people to develop the understanding and abilities associated with managing a home independently, so that they can complete a number of tasks freely. Young people are helped to gain new skills, such as shopping, cooking and cleaning, in a safe and managed way, until they gain the confidence and skills to complete these on their own. Young people are encouraged and supported to maintain part-time employment so that they can develop a level of autonomy, and gain a level of understanding around the world of employment. This enables young people to build and develop new skills, abilities and confidence, so that they can manage their transitions from school into the world of work successfully, with the skills that they require.

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Good

Young people report that they are safe, and are kept safe by the staff. Detailed risk assessments which identify young people’s individual risks and vulnerabilities are clearly understood by the staff team. On the very rare occasions when young people have left the home without authority, the manager and staff have responded swiftly in accordance with young people’s risk assessments. This ensures that young people are returned back to the home quickly and safely.

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Good

Staff role model positive calm behaviour and encourage young people to make safe choices. Staff support young people to use the strategies they have discussed and considered throughout their regular and ongoing conversations. Young people are helped by the staff to develop positive and socially acceptable behaviour. Poor behaviour is acknowledged and challenged appropriately by the staff and they use age-appropriate sanctions effectively on the rare occasions that they need to do so.

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Good

Staff are clear that physical intervention is very much a last resort. The staff are more comfortable using the positive relationships that they have built up with young people to defuse difficult situations. This has proved to be effective, as no physical interventions have been reported since the last inspection.

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Good

Young people live in a large, safe and comfortable home. Staff respect young people’s privacy, and the size of the home allows young people to spend time together, time away from others with their friends, or time on their own. A variety of health and safety checks ensure that the young people’s and staff’s safety and welfare are promoted. The recruitment, selection, training and monitoring process for new staff is thorough and effective. This further enhances young people safety, as safer recruitment practice is followed.

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Good

Although there are clear procedures in place to safeguard young people, there were no records available during the inspection of two complaints and allegations that have been made, to confirm that the manager systematically follows the procedures. During the inspection, the inspector was unable to evidence that robust action has been taken around a potential safeguarding issue. This is because there were no clear records in regard to one of the two allegations that have been made against the home. Furthermore, this incident has not been managed sufficiently by the manager, as she has not complied with the home’s safeguarding children’s policy, in that she has not shared one of the two incidents with the designated officer or Ofsted as identified, and required, within the policy. Judgement grade

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Good

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted to manage this new home since September 2016. She is suitably experienced and holds the required level 5 National Vocational Qualification (NVQ). The manager is supported well by a dedicated and motivated senior therapeutic carer. The members of the management group lead and manage their team of therapeutic care staff well. Through discussion with the care staff team it is clear that team members share the managers’ drive and commitment to develop the home and improve the lives of the young people. The levels of care, commitment and drive provided by the manager and staff are recognised by professionals as being the key elements of young people’s progression. One professional said, ‘The staff safeguard [name] well. They have positive relationships with [name], they know her very well, and they respond to her very well. They educate her through key-work sessions and

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Good

work with her directly. They are very involved with the school and address any issues as and when. They are very child centred and she has made significant progress.’

p.8

Good

The manager has taken suitable action to address the one requirement and two recommendations raised at the last inspection. The manager now ensures that young people are consulted about any sanctions or measures that are used to modify behaviour quickly. In addition, the move into a newly decorated and renovated home provides young people with a welcoming and pleasant home environment. Additionally, the welfare and safety of young people has been enhanced. Staff regularly complete direct work with young people to develop and increase their knowledge and understanding about keeping themselves safe. Regular key-working sessions and key conversations give young people the chance to think about their actions and the consequences of these, and the impact that these have on themselves as well as others. This tailored support enables young people to consider their actions, so that they can make safe choices and keep

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Good

themselves safe both inside and outside the home.

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Good

A real strength of this home is the child-centred approach that the manager and staff command. The young people are the heart of the home and the manager and staff do their utmost to advocate for them and include them within every area of the service’s development, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Good

Good internal and external monitoring systems ensure that young people receive good levels of care and support. The management team uses its internal monitoring systems well to support it in understanding what is working well in the home. This also supports managers to identify further areas for development, to ensure that young people continue to be kept happy and safe, and to maintain the progress that they continue to make in all areas of their lives.

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Good

Young people’s records are of a high quality and provide a good insight into their individual and diverse needs. Care planning is inclusive and cohesive. A multi- agency approach to care planning ensures that young people’s known and emerging needs are fully understood and addressed well by the staff team. Furthermore, young people’s individual goals and targets are known and worked upon consistently by all disciplines. This multi-agency approach and positive approach taken by the staff team to ensure that there is meaningful engagement with young people within their care planning aids with young people making good progress in a number of areas of their lives.

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Good

The leaders and staff ensure that the home runs effectively when the manager is away on leave. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities because they are supported well with their ongoing training and development through the company’s development and progression scheme. This structured career path enables staff to gain and develop the skills that they need in order to provide a good level of care to young people; maintains the running of the home sufficiently in the managers’ absence; and ensures that there are suitable succession staffing arrangements in place for the home. Although the manager ensures that the staff are provided with training and annual appraisals, not staff receive regular supervision sessions.

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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 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

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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