Children's home run by Aurora Care Young People’s Services in Ribble Valley

Inspection report children's home: SC484358 1 SC484358 Registered provider: Aurora Care Young People’s Services

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home offers care and accommodation for three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. This is a privately run children’s home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement

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Key findings from this inspection

 Contact with family and friends is suitably promoted and well supported.  Young people engage in a range of activities, which helps them to make and sustain community relationships. Inspection report children's home: SC484358 2  Managers and staff support young people to make positive changes in their lives.  Managers and staff build positive relationships with young people.  Young people confirm that they feel valued and listened to, they know how to complain and can access external support should they so wish.  Regular and meaningful key work sessions help young people to address issues in their lives.  Healthcare matters are well planned for. Young people enjoy good health.  Young people are suitably supported within mainstream educational programmes.  Young people do not go missing from the home.  Physical intervention is rarely used to manage challenging behaviour.  Clear and detailed behaviour management plans help staff to manage some

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager’s monitoring report of the home’s care practices needs to reflect an accurate overview of the progress that young people make.  The independent visitor’s monitoring of the home needs to reflect an accurate overview of the functioning of the home to check that it is meeting young people’s needs.  Pathway planning is sometimes delayed due to external parties cancelling. This is not always appropriately challenged in order to move the plan forward.  The registered manager must ensure that strategies in place to work with young people are effective and regularly reviewed in line with the age of all young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2017 Full Requires improvement 19/10/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC484358 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

The standard requires the registered person to ensure that arrangements are in place to plan for and help each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (b)(iii)) 01/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The standard requires that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health or well-being. With specific regard to broken or missing window restrictors. (Regulation 12 (2)(d)) 01/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must establish and maintain a system for the accurate monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c)) 01/06/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 5)  The behaviour management strategy should be understood and applied at all times by staff and must be kept under review and revised where appropriate. With particular regard to identified ineffective measures. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 4)  The registered person should actively seek consistent independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of accurate and up-to-date information from independent monitoring. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 2) Inspection report children's home: SC484358 4  The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care

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Recommendations

through observation and engagement with each child; home’s staff; family/carers where appropriate; and professionals involved in their care. With particular regard to the review of effective strategies to work with and manage older residents. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people form good relationships within the home. They confirm that they are able to seek out staff members should they have any worries or concerns and that they are helped to overcome any difficulties. Young people say, ‘I like the staff, they are kind and help me feel good.’ Staff say, ‘We look after the young people. We want them to feel like they are at home and feel that we care for them. We feel this is really important for them.’ Observations of young people engaging with staff highlighted warmth between them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Contact with family and friends is suitably promoted and well supported. On the whole, contact plans ensure that contact only takes place with those in accordance with the young person’s care plan. Staff provide appropriate levels of support to ensure that quality time is spent between the young person and family members or friends. However, there are occasions when young people seek out family members via social media where contact has not been formally agreed. In these cases, staff work well with local authorities to assess the suitability of contact and manage this where appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people benefit from an up-to-date residential care plan and, where appropriate, a pathway plan. Each residential plan provides a step-by-step guide to meeting the individual goals and targets as identified for the young people. Key work sessions and external psychological input enable young people to take steps forward and make progress. From their initial starting points, young people gain more self-esteem and confidence. However, although pathway plans are detailed and specific there are delays in some targets being actioned. For example, the cancellation of visits to semi- independent services by the local authority, results in a lack of preparation for young people moving on. The registered manager said, ‘We have consistently highlighted this as a problem with the placing authority, but receive little response.’ Consequently, some young people do not receive consistent support while preparing to move into adult

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

services. A requirement is made to address this matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection in January 2017, the home has made good progress in developing consultation processes with young people. The registered manager has devised child-friendly questionnaires, which are distributed monthly to young people. Evidence of actions taken as a result of comments from the questionnaires are evident. For example, one young person requested that his bedroom be repainted in a different colour and his bedding changed to match. This has been completed. Likewise, questionnaires are now also forwarded to social workers, families and external Inspection report children's home: SC484358 5 professionals in order that their views, opinions and suggestions can be used to enhance and enrich the service provided in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to try out new activities and hobbies. One young person attends a Scout group and has recently attended a residential trip, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Other young people have attended groups such as the police cadets and army cadets. Young people make friends. One young person has recently commenced high school where he has made a new set of friends. Two older young people have established friendships both within the community and within their educational settings. Staff promote these friendships and encouraged young people to invite friends for tea or to share an evening activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the last inspection in January 2017, some young people were not accessing college or work placements on a consistent basis. This is improved. One young person attends mainstream secondary school and is making good progress. He is taking part in school activities and recently won an award for his costume for world book day. Another young person who had struggled to maintain her educational placement is now attending a bespoke service on a more consistent basis. All young people have now been provided with a personal laptop. However, the registered manager recognises that the home has a responsibility to ensure that there is no delay in accessing the most appropriate services and that prompt action must be taken to ensure that young people’s education does not go into drift.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health is suitably promoted. Individual healthcare plans provide a good chronology of health matters, including immunisations, previous health concerns and any matters that are identified as requiring further intervention. The looked after children’s nurse visits the home and meets with young people to discuss matters such as sexual health, healthy diet and substance misuse. Young people receive external support from psychologists. Full psychological assessments are completed and provide good guidance for staff in managing young people’s needs and promoting positive change. Overall, young people’s health is suitably managed and supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, there have been no complaints raised by young people or external sources. Complaints and grumbles are a consistent feature of the weekly young people’s meetings. This ensures that young people know what to do should they have any concerns. A notice board provides discreet information regarding external agencies such as Child Line and access to an independent visitor is also available to all young people.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Young people rarely go missing from the home. Individual missing from home plans ensure that all staff follow specific procedures in the event that a young person is missing from the home. A staff member said, ‘Although I am new to the home, I have read and understand the policies and procedures. The priority is to ensure the young person’s safety and to follow their individual plan.’ There have been no young people Inspection report children's home: SC484358 6 reported as missing since the last inspection.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are routinely trained in the use of physical intervention within the home. However, there are no incidents where young people have required this measure. Staff demonstrate a calm and caring approach when dealing with challenging behaviours and say, ‘Physical intervention is a last resort. We have a checklist to make sure we try everything possible before we would consider it. We use distraction and redirection and this works for us.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Since the last inspection, there is one reported incident of bullying. Records now include the incident, how the matter was managed and the manager’s summary of action taken. A young person said, ‘I don’t feel scared because the staff sorted it out. I feel OK now.’ A new manager’s checklist is in place to ensure that all matters of concern are addressed quickly and without delay. A staff member said, ‘It is rare to have bullying in this home. We feel this matter was because someone new had moved in. It is settled now, but we are more vigilant about it.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

On the whole, young people’s risks are suitably managed. Most risk assessments are reviewed and updated and reflect the current risks in young people’s lives. However, some risk management strategies are not followed. For example, young people who smoke do not hand in their tobacco and lighter as stipulated in their risk assessment and mobile phones are not always handed in. Consequently, there have been difficulties with one young person smoking in their bedroom and using her phone after bedtime. The registered manager said, ‘We have had the fire service in to talk to the young people and we encourage all young people who smoke to hand their tobacco in. We understand that this hasn’t been successful and we need to look at other ways to address it.’ Staff say, ‘If we suspect anyone smoking in the home, we will go into their room and remove any lighters or tobacco.’ Records confirm that staff will respond appropriately in the

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

event of such a concern. However, requests for these items at bedtimes are not consistent and this therefore does not reinforce the action planning through risk assessment. A recommendation is made to address this matter.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Young people are supported to make positive changes in their lives, promoting resilience and patience. Behaviour management plans are developed and reviewed to identify areas where young people struggle. Each plan provides guidance to staff on safe behaviour management practice and strategies to manage challenging behaviour. On the whole, young people respond well and develop good self-management skills. However, there are some instances where staff crisis manage situations because behaviour management measures have become ineffective. A staff member said, ‘When a young person is about to become an adult our sanctions don’t really work. We have to think on our feet to ensure damage limitation.’ Consequently, the current behaviour management structures do not take into account effective strategies for older members of the group. A recommendation is made to address this matter. Inspection report children's home: SC484358 7

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager who is suitably qualified at national vocational qualification level 5.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

External monitoring takes place on a consistent basis, with reports being forwarded to Ofsted for review in accordance with regulation. However, reports are not accurately reflective of the service provided in the home, nor do they consider the difficulties that some young people are experiencing, such as education attendance, systems that are not effective and risk management. In order that the external review of the home’s operation is effective, it must review and identify issues within the report. A recommendation is made to address this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

In response to the last full inspection outcome, the external visitor has devised questionnaires for young people to provide feedback as part of the visit. This is within the early stages of development and therefore will be reviewed at the next interim inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager completes a six-monthly report in accordance with Regulation 45. This report details the progress that young people make and the development plans for the home. However, reports are not fully reflective of the struggles that some young people have in the home. The registered manager said, ‘I want to report on all the positive aspects of young people’s care. I appreciate that the report needs to be more balanced.’ Care needs to be taken to ensure a full analysis of the care provided in the home, including the outcomes and progress of young people. Reporting must be an accurate reflection of the service. A requirement is made to address this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has recently devised a weekly manager’s checklist to ensure that all matters are reviewed and responded to without delay. However, historical risk assessments or behaviour management plans are not routinely reviewed as to their effectiveness. For example, while the risks or concern may still be pertinent, the action to address the issue may not be effective. Consequently, some documents in place to guide staff are not fit for purpose. A recommendation is made to address this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Young people enjoy a spacious and well-maintained home that is equipped with modern furnishings. Young people have individualised bedrooms that on the whole are suitably maintained. However, some window openings are not restricted. This means that some bedroom windows can open fully and this creates a risk of young people falling from the window to a concrete surface below. In order to fully safeguard young people’s continued well-being, window restrictors should be considered for all upstairs windows. A requirement is made to address this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

At the last inspection, it was identified that staff do not have a suitable sleep in facility to accommodate two staff in the home. Consequently, one staff member sleeps in the living area throughout the night. The manager said, ‘We are currently having quotes to develop a small bedroom downstairs to address this matter. Progress in this area will be reviewed at the next interim inspection. Inspection report children's home: SC484358 8 Staff confirm that they receive good support from the manager and regular supervision. They enjoy a variety of training events from organisational training to online social care hub training. One staff member said, ‘If we need training in a specific area, the organisation will arrange it for us. We are supported to attend all training.’ Training files are kept up to date to ensure that all mandatory training is refreshed on a regular basis.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is aware of the procedure for notifying Ofsted of incidents under Regulation 40. On the whole, the home has a good record of submitting notifications accordingly. Prompt notification ensures that information is shared with the regulatory agency in order that the actions and outcomes for young people can be suitably assessed.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children's home: SC484358 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aurora Care Young People’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pendle Suite, Hawkshaw Business Park, Clayton-le- Dale, Blackburn, Lancashire BB2 7JA

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Inspector(s)

Maria McGranaghan: social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children's home: SC484358 10 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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