Children's Home run by United Children's Services Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC488961 1 SC488961 Registered provider: Barford Children’s Services Limited

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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 home, operated by a private provider, is registered to provide care and accommodation for five children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 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: 7 November 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs, and provide the right support and nurturing care to meet these needs. As a result, children are making progress in relation to their education, health and general well-being. Inspection report children’s home: SC488961 2  Children have positive relationships with staff and trust them with their worries. Children also enjoy a variety of activities, both at the home and further afield. This promotes children’s emotional well-being, as well as their enjoyment of life.  Children’s views are regularly canvassed and acted upon. Their voice is strong, and they have an impact on what happens in the home, as well as in their personal lives.  Children become safer because there are robust risk management plans that address known and emerging risks. Incidents of going missing from the home decrease, and children become calmer.  The home is led and managed well. The manager is child focused, and he

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Key findings from this inspection

provides strong and effective leadership. Staff feel well supported, and they benefit from good communication and regular supervision.  Effective partnership working, including good communication, promotes consistency of care and support, and leads to more positive outcomes for children.  Monitoring arrangements ensure that the manager has good oversight of the home, and he can identify where things need to improve. There is a culture of learning from situations that did not work as well as planned.

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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 record of staff training is not up to date, and it does not therefore provide an accurate reflection of the full extent of the training that staff have undertaken. As a result, staff competence in certain areas cannot be assured.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/04/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC488961 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of Regulation 16, Schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: detail the necessary management and staffing structure, the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure, and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose; detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training; detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the

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Recommendations

home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress at this home because their individual needs are identified, and they receive the care and support that they need to meet these needs. Staff know the children well, and they have a good understanding of the impact of children’s previous experiences on their current behaviour and emotional well-being. This enables staff to respond appropriately. A stakeholder commented: ‘I was touched by the way that staff were, in the review. They were warm and understood her.’ This results in positive relationships between staff and children, in which children can share their worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who previously had poor school attendance and engagement are now doing well. Children’s school attendance ranges from 94% to 96%, which is a massive improvement. Children are also engaging well and have settled into the routines. Good, daily communication between home and school ensures that everyone is fully aware of what is happening in the children’s lives and can respond in a consistent way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are also making good progress in relation to their health needs, both physically and emotionally. For example, their dental hygiene has improved and they are receiving the required medical attention. In some cases, children no longer need medication to address their long-term needs. Children benefit from the therapeutic input provided by the provider’s therapy team. If children will not engage directly, therapists provide regular consultation to staff, so that staff can enhance their knowledge and understanding of the children’s emotional needs. Children are happier and calmer, as a Inspection report children’s home: SC488961 4 result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy the activities that take place, both at the home and in the community. They have their individual interests, such as horse riding, ice skating, swimming and football, which are supported fully. They also have longer trips at the weekend, for example a day trip to Skegness or a visit to a theme park. This gives the children very positive experiences. Children are also encouraged to develop their independence skills, particularly in relation to cooking, keeping their room tidy and doing their own laundry.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to express their views and participate in the running of the home. There are regular meetings that include discussing menus, activities and what children would like to see in the home, as well as what is happening in the world. The manager ensures that he sees the minutes of these meetings, and he responds to children’s expressed wishes. Children know how to complain, and these complaints are taken seriously and acted upon.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children who are living some distance from their home town are enabled to maintain positive contact with their families. Families visit the home and staff also take children to visit their families, where this has been assessed as suitable. Staff ensure that children’s social workers are fully informed about anything that happens in the home so that social workers can provide the children with additional support. A social worker said: ‘They keep me informed regularly and promote contact with the wider family.’ This ensures that important relationships are sustained, despite the distance involved.

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

Children become safer as a result of living in this home. Their known and potential risks are identified prior to their admission to the home, and these risks form the basis of a comprehensive risk management document. This document provides staff with strategies to prevent and respond to any such incidents. If new risks emerge or situations alter, risk assessments are added to or amended. This ensures that staff have up-to-date information and act consistently to keep children safer.

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

Children who have a history of going missing from previous placements have reduced these incidents dramatically. Staff have clear protocols that they follow. This includes searching the area, as well as contacting known associates. The one significant incident was managed well.

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

Behaviour is well managed. The home had a difficult few weeks prior to Christmas, when the children were unsettled and behaviour was poor. The manager addressed this appropriately and, since that time, there have been very few incidents and the home is much calmer. Physical intervention is used rarely and, when it is used, the records are subject to managerial oversight to ensure that it is appropriate. Sanctions are also rare, as the home promotes positive behaviour through incentives. Inspection report children’s home: SC488961 5 Staff are trained in safeguarding children, and they demonstrate a good understanding of their responsibilities to protect children from harm. Training includes recognising the risks posed by radicalisation, extremism and sexual exploitation. Children are made aware of the risks posed by social media. The home has appropriate controls in place, m moreover the safe use of social media is reinforced regularly through discussions with

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

staff. The manager understands the role of the designated officer, contacts are appropriate and any advice is followed.

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

Staff are recruited in line with safer recruitment practices to ensure that, as far as possible, they do not pose a risk to children. The environment is physically safe and secure to prevent children from experiencing harm from accidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a registered manager, who is currently undertaking the appropriate management qualification. He is child focused, and wants the very best for the children in his care. He provides good and supportive leadership, both as a role model and by giving staff opportunities for reflection. Staff feel well supported by accessible leaders and managers, regular supervision, daily handovers and good team working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home through internal and external monitoring arrangements. There are good systems to ensure that he knows the progress that children are making. For example, a recently implemented electronic system charts ‘ladders of success’, a method of assessing progress against agreed outcomes. He also knows the children well through his day-to-day contact, file reading, handovers and staff supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager acknowledges that the home went through a difficult few weeks at the end of last year. This has been the subject of much reflection, and there is evidence that a great deal of learning has resulted from this. Staff agree with his analysis and now feel better equipped to manage in the event of a repetition. They feel that they work better as a staff team and have improved their communication, and this has led to a more consistent approach. They feel stronger as a result of the difficult time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is effective in promoting consistent care and support to meet children’s needs. Social workers confirm that there is good and regular communication, including written reports. Other stakeholders, such as the youth offending service, comment positively about how staff support their intervention with the children at the home. For example, staff know when the appointments are scheduled, encourage the children to cooperate and are proactive in contacting the service about any issues. This makes the intervention more relevant and effective. However, the manager will challenge other professionals if there are deficits in service provision, and there are escalation procedures which can be invoked where necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home works towards the aims and objectives of the statement of purpose. This reflects the nurturing care and access to therapeutic support that are provided to Inspection report children’s home: SC488961 6 improve children’s life chances. The statement of purpose also reflects the home’s approach to tolerance, equality and diversity, which is promoted through a culture of respect and discussion. This includes discussion at children’s meetings, where consideration of many current topics is evident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have either obtained or are in the process of undertaking the required qualification in residential childcare. They have good training opportunities, including a large number of relevant online courses, to enhance their knowledge, skills and understanding of their role. However, the record of staff training is incomplete, so the manager cannot be assured of staff competence in all areas.

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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 whom 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: SC488961 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Barford Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Coach House, Drinsey Nook, Lincoln LN1 2JJ

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Inspector(s)

Ros Chapman, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC488961 8 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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