Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children's home: SC483688 1 SC483688 Registered provider: Roc Northwest 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

The home is registered to accommodate up to seven young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities. The home provides accommodation for up to five young people in the main building and two young people in a separate annex. The home is owned by a private organisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 24 January 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children's home: SC483688 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make outstanding progress as a result of the high-quality, individualised care that they receive.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Parents and community professionals express high levels of satisfaction with the service and express confidence in the registered manager and staff.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager and staff strongly support young people’s education and ensure that young people receive the support that they need to achieve.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of young people’s social and emotional needs and provide individualised support to meet these needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are supported to maintain and develop important relationships, which supports their emotional well-being.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are encouraged to express their views and staff respond positively when they do so.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of the risks associated with individual young people’s needs and the support required to keep young people safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a strong safeguarding culture in the home. Staff are able to identify when a child is at risk of abuse and take robust action.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Incidents of concern such as when young people are missing from home are rare. If they do occur, staff respond in a robust manner to help ensure that young people are safeguarded.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff support young people to manage their behaviours in a consistent and positive manner, which results in a low level of crisis situations.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people benefit from a consistent staff team. Staff are well supported and benefit from a comprehensive training programme.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager has effective systems in place to monitor safety and quality across the service. Inspection report children's home: SC483688 3 The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 In a small number of examples, information in relation to the safe support of young people could be expanded to provide more detailed guidance for staff.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The development of personal emergency evacuation plans which take young people’s individual needs into account and clearly detail the support that they require to evacuate the building would help to promote their safety and well- being.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/09/2016 Full Requires improvement 05/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC483688 4

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the children’s home complies with relevant health and safety legislation. Specifically, by means of the development of personal emergency evacuation plans which take into account the individual needs of the young person and detail the support that they may require to evacuate the home in an emergency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Specifically, by means of ensuring that risk assessment information is up to date and contains all relevant information. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young people who currently live at this home and those who have recently left, have made outstanding progress in a number of areas. The young people themselves, their parents and external professionals believe that the young people’s progress has been strongly supported by the high quality of individualised care that they receive. A social worker commented, ‘The care provided by the staff has had a hugely beneficial effect on [X]’ and a parent said, ‘The level of care [X] is receiving is outstanding.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people speak highly of staff and the registered manager. Young people describe them in ways such as ‘kind’, ‘fair’ and ‘funny’ and report that they have very positive relationships with the staff and the registered manager. One young person commented that he thought the staff were ‘all great’. Young people who are able to have independent time away from the home often choose to spend this time with staff instead. These positive relationships have been promoted by improvements in consistency made by the registered manager. Young people now receive care from a stable staff team that knows them well and understands their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff understand the importance of supporting young people to maintain relationships that matter to them. Each young person’s support needs in relation to contact with family members are clearly planned and reviewed on a regular basis. There are well- thought-out arrangements in place for those young people who live a significant distance from their families to ensure that they are enabled to see their loved ones regularly. One parent spoke of how staff were not only very supportive in terms of the practical arrangements for contact, but also how staff assisted them to have a positive time with their son during contact. Another parent described how they had been able to have Inspection report children's home: SC483688 5 increased contact with their son over recent months, due to staff at the home supporting them to build their relationship.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The registered manager and staff have carried out some excellent work to support young people’s education. All young people at the home currently have full-time placements and are achieving excellent attendance. This has been a remarkable progression for one young person in particular. At the point of his admission, he had very limited education provision, due to high levels of anxiety which made school attendance extremely difficult. The registered manager worked closely with an external education provider and supported the young person to take gradual steps towards attending school. At each stage of the progression, work was carried out with the young person to assist him in managing his anxieties. The young person has now progressed to full-time attendance and has achieved to an extent where he is on target to obtain several GCSEs. This is the first time that he has attended school for several years. The

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

young person himself commented on this remarkable progress and was rightly very proud.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people’s social and emotional development is seen as a central part of their care and the registered manager and staff demonstrate a good understanding of young people’s individual needs and the things that are important to them. Staff are able to quickly identify when a young person may be in need of support for example, due to a low mood or feeling anxious. This child-centred support has resulted in significant progress for young people. For example, one young person has experienced a significant reduction in incidents of self-harm since their admission. Another young person who was unable to engage with peers at the point of his admission, now confidently takes part in a variety of activities with the other young people including trips out and young people’s meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support young people to maintain good health and general well-being. One-to-one work is carried out with young people, assisting them to develop their knowledge about healthy lifestyles. Staff promote areas such as sensible eating and regular physical activity as a way of supporting young people’s good health and educating them for the future. Young people’s individual healthcare needs are well managed in partnership with external health professionals, where appropriate. A social worker described how one young person now benefited from a reduced medication regime due to the support that he had received at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are supported to engage in enjoyable and fulfilling activities. Their talents and passions are recognised and encouraged. One young person who has recently discovered a love of horses now visits local stables several times each week. He talked about his recent purchases of riding gear, which he was evidently delighted with. He also spoke of a recent trip to the races, which he described as a ‘dream come true’. He showed a picture of himself dressed in a smart suit, which he had picked especially for his day at the races. Positively supporting young people’s interests and ambitions gives them a sense of achievement and helps them to develop further skills and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Each young person has an individual activities timetable, which includes activities such Inspection report children's home: SC483688 6 as ice skating, swimming, football and horse riding. Young people are also encouraged to socialise on day trips together, which they all enjoy. The young people are looking forward to a holiday, which is planned for later in the year.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support young people to gain skills for independence. Two young people have recently commenced independence plans due to their ages. The plans, which are centred on their individual strengths and needs, will support the young people to gradually acquire skills such as household tasks and budgeting. One young person described how he was now managing his own food budget and cooking his own meals. Supporting young people’s skills in this manner helps them to succeed as they move towards more independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Two young people recently left the home in planned moves to semi-independent living. Staff supported both young people throughout the planning and preparation of their new accommodation. Staff remained available for help and support following the young people’s moves. Both young people have maintained contact with staff and young people, visiting for meals and social occasions. This demonstrates the positive relationships that they share with staff.

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

Young people feel safe and secure at the home due to the positive relationships that they have with staff. Young people confirmed that they were able to talk to staff if they were worried about something. One young person said, ‘I can always talk to them [the staff] if I need to.’

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

Parents and external professionals express confidence in the registered manager and staff to provide safe and effective support. One parent commented, ‘I know he is in safe hands.’ Another parent described how reassured they were by the thorough assessment process carried out for their son and felt that the registered manager ensured that he and staff had a good understanding of the risks relating to their son’s care, prior to his admission.

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

The registered manager has made good improvements to risk assessment processes used at the home. Information is now clearer and processes ensure that all relevant information is taken into account when assessing risks to young people. Where risks are identified, there is guidance for staff to assist them in maintaining young people’s safety. This was generally of very good quality but in a small number of examples could have been expanded. A recommendation is raised to that effect.

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the risks associated with young people’s care and the action required to keep them safe. Staff are able to confidently describe how they safely support young people and manage risks to young people’s safety and well- being on a daily basis.

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

The registered manager demonstrates a good understanding of how positive risk taking Inspection report children's home: SC483688 7 is an important part of a young person’s development. Individualised programmes that outline how young people are supported to take small, well-managed steps have resulted in some young people making significant progress in areas such as independent travel.

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

Safeguarding practice within the home is robust and clearly understood by all staff. All staff are provided with safeguarding training at the start of their employment, which is regularly updated. The registered manager ensures a swift and robust response to any concern identified and maintains thorough chronologies, which detail action taken by the home and external agencies. This thorough safeguarding practice helps to ensure that young people are protected from harm.

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

Incidents of young people being missing from this home are extremely rare. There has been one occasion since the last inspection where a young person was missing from the home for a small number of daytime hours. Records demonstrate an extremely robust response. A detailed chronology described proactive action from staff to ensure that the young person was safeguarded in the short period of time that he was missing from the home.

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

The registered manager and staff have a positive approach to supporting young people’s behaviours. Positive behaviours and achievements are recognised and encouraged. There are clear boundaries in place and young people are helped to understand them. The use of sanctions or consequences is low and any sanctions that are issued are carefully monitored by the registered manager to ensure that they are fair, consistent and relevant to the situation.

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

All staff are trained in recognised behaviour support techniques, which helps to ensure that young people benefit from consistent approaches. Incidents requiring staff to physically intervene are very low. This is the case for all young people including one young person, who on admission to the home, was involved in an extremely high number of incidents at his previous placement. The registered manager attributes the low number of incidents to the skills of staff in de-escalating situations before they reach crisis point.

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

The registered manager ensures that all staff are carefully recruited. Robust procedures mean that all prospective employees at the home are required to undergo a series of background checks including full employment histories and police record checks. An example viewed provided evidence that the registered manager carefully considers all information received as part of this process. This helps to ensure that young people receive their care from staff of suitable character.

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

The registered manager ensures that young people are provided with safe and suitable accommodation. Environmental risk assessments take place on a regular basis and are supported by daily safety checks, which help to ensure that any issues are quickly identified and addressed. Where relevant, external contractors are employed to maintain the safety and suitability of facilities and equipment, such as fire safety equipment. An annual fire risk assessment is completed by an external specialist and records show that Inspection report children's home: SC483688 8 recommendations made are actioned. To further support fire safety, it is recommended that the registered manager develops personal emergency evacuation plans for each young person who lives at the home. This will identify any particular support that a young person may require in the event of an emergency evacuation and will therefore help to promote their safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people, their parents, staff and external professionals speak very highly of the registered manager, describing him as supportive, approachable and effective. One young person commented that he was fair and funny and joked that he thought highly of him even though he supported a rival football team! An external professional commented that in their opinion, the home benefited from excellent leadership from the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager reported a good level of support from the provider and confirmed that he has access to regular supervision and ongoing help and guidance. The registered manager was also able to confirm that he is provided with adequate resources to run the home in a safe and effective manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some changes to the management team are planned and these are being managed well with clear arrangements for handover. A comprehensive development plan has been constructed in partnership with the incoming manager. This includes a number of positive developments and demonstrates a commitment towards continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals report positive joint working with the home and express satisfaction and confidence in the support provided to young people. A social worker commented, ‘I find the registered manager and staff to be extremely open to feedback and willing to take ideas on board.’ The registered manager is proactive in requesting input from external professionals and able to challenge services when this is not forthcoming.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Processes in relation to the consideration of new referrals to the home are much improved. The registered manager advised that a careful matching process is now in place, which runs alongside the home’s impact risk assessments. The purpose of this is to ensure that any new young person moving into the home will not have a negative impact on those already living here. The registered manager commented that this had led to the home having several vacancies but that there had been no pressure from the provider in respect of this. This demonstrates that the needs of young people are central to the home’s management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about the progression of the home and report good levels of support. There has been a notable reduction in staff turnover, which has resulted in improved consistency for young people. Inspection report children's home: SC483688 9 The registered manager has a positive approach to training and is in the process of supporting all staff to obtain nationally recognised qualifications in caring for children and young people. At the current time, less than half the staff team members hold these qualifications but they are all in the process of completing their courses and are on track to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a comprehensive training programme in place which begins with a range of mandatory training in areas such as safeguarding and positive behaviour support. This is complemented by training in a variety of additional areas related to young people’s needs. The registered manager monitors training carefully to ensure that all staff benefit from the full range of training available.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A number of requirements and recommendations were made following the last inspection of the home. The registered manager was able to provide evidence that these had been addressed in a satisfactory manner. Furthermore, the registered manager has implemented much improved quality assurance systems, which will help to ensure that the improvements are sustained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Robust monitoring of areas such as medicines management, staff training, recruitment and environmental safety take place on a regular basis. A number of examples are available to demonstrate that the registered manager is able to identify issues that require action quickly and ensures that they are addressed. For example, a negative theme which was apparent in some survey results and some potential learning from an incident involving a young person were both quickly recognised and addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that complaints are taken seriously. Some work has recently been carried out to update the home’s complaints procedure and make it more accessible to young people. The procedure now contains pictorial information and resources which mean that a young person can post their complaint independently without the assistance of a staff member. An external advocate recently complimented the home on the new procedure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One complaint has been received since the last inspection. This was dealt with thoroughly by the registered manager, who also ensured that the complainant received a full response to their concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has introduced a variety of monitoring systems, which ensure that all requests made or views expressed by young people in young people’s meetings and key worker sessions are followed up and actioned. This helps to ensure that young people have a voice and that their views are acted upon. Inspection report children's home: SC483688 10

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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: SC483688 11

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Roc Northwest Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Roc Northwest Limited, 41 Silverdale Road, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 0AL

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley: social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC483688 12 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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