Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 1 SC416464 Registered provider: Meadows Care 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 provide care for two children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home forms part of a large social care company.

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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: 16 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff provide therapeutic care for young people which improves their outcomes.  Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s needs and behaviour and work effectively with the team around each young person to provide consistent care. Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 2  Staff support young people to attend and engage with their education. Young people enjoy school. This represents significant progress.  Young people do not go missing because they want to be with staff and spend time in the home.  Young people are safe. Staff understand young people’s risk-taking behaviour and are effective in reducing this.  Staff support young people to improve their self-regulation. As a result, young people are able to embrace new opportunities.  The registered manager is ambitious for young people and ensures that they fulfil their potential.

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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 has not ensured the timely completion of all maintenance issues or that the independent visitor provides clarity regarding staff’s safeguarding of young people’s welfare in their report.  The systems in place to cover staffing shortfalls at the weekend have, on one occasion, not provided for agency staff’s details to be available in the home prior to agency staff working in the home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/04/2016 Full Requires improvement 16/02/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 26/08/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 3

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Recommendations

 The use of agency staff can be a positive choice to complement the skills and experiences of the permanent workforce. Any external agency staff should meet the requirements in Regulation 32 (4) regarding mandatory qualifications and the registered person should consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work in the home. In particular, that on-call staff ensure they provide agency staff’s details to the home at weekends before the agency staff work in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 54, paragraph 10.16)  Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value

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Recommendations

them as an individual. In particular, in addressing maintenance issues promptly. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare for the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have an excellent and detailed understanding of young people’s behaviour and needs. As a result, they are able to positively influence young people’s outcomes. A therapist noted that she was ‘… highly impressed with staff’s ability to defuse and redirect both young people.’ This is possible due to staff’s understanding of young people’s individualised needs. One young person said, ‘My staff are the best thing about living here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people attend and engage with education. For some young people, this represents considerable progress from their starting point because they have been unable to maintain a place in a formal education setting for a number of years. This has not been as a result of a lack of encouragement by staff. As a therapist commented, ‘My young person has been doing remarkably well in education, which is such progress and a significant achievement for him. I do feel him feeling safe and contained in the home and with his core team has helped him progress to coping within an educational environment.’ Another young person’s independent reviewing officer echoes this view, ‘Since my young person has been placed with the placement he is making good Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 4 progress. His education provision appears to meet his needs and he enjoys attending.’ One young person proudly told me, ‘My attendance is 100%!’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work collaboratively with the in-house therapy team to provide therapeutic care for young people. They seek advice and guidance appropriately from therapists and incorporate young people’s therapeutic care plans into daily living. They have a good understanding of what they are doing and why, which ensures that they are able to provide nurturing care which is relevant to the young person’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people well for their transition to adult life. They encourage young people to undertake practical tasks such as cooking and their laundry and to volunteer and gain part-time work. For example, one young person volunteers throughout the school holidays at an agricultural centre and has paid part-time work there at the weekends. The progress that young people make in their emotional resilience is also evident as their ability to cope with change and significant events, such as court appearances, improves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote young people’s contact with their families. They are proactive about supporting this in a way which meets young people’s needs. For example, when young people want to use this time to discuss the care that they have received from their families. Staff’s detailed knowledge of young people means that they are able to do this effectively while supporting young people’s understanding of their life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that young people are at the centre of their practice. They listen to them and incorporate their wishes and feelings in their day-to-day care as well as with regard to specific events. This shows young people that they are valued. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘… I believe he feels a valued member of his placement, feels listened to and he has built good relationships with staff and the other young person.’ Staff encourage young people to enjoy activities in the community such as the gym, cinema and going to the park. They listen to young people so that they are able to go on trips and holidays which reflect their interests.

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

Both young people are safe. Staff have a clear understanding of their risk-taking behaviour and work effectively with the support of the therapeutic team to reduce these risks. Young people do not go missing from the home because they want to be with staff and because they feel safe in the home. Staff understand the processes that they would need to follow if a young person did go missing and staff mentor new team members so that they are ready to manage going missing behaviour. All staff understand the risks of child sexual exploitation and the need to be alert to this issue if young people are away from the home or during their online activities, which staff supervise appropriately according to young people’s age and specific situations. Staff ensure that young people are supervised within the community to prevent any risks of offending.

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

Staff support young people to understand expectations of their behaviour within the home and when in the community. Staff are well-attuned to young people’s behaviour. A Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 5 social worker said, ‘The home continues to fully address all of my young person’s needs both educationally and developmentally. They appear to be attuned to his moods and are able to adapt their support accordingly, which is reassuring in that his mother is confident he is receiving a high standard of care.’

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

Young people make considerable progress in learning to self-regulate their behaviour. This represents a significant change in young people’s behaviour as they are able to remove themselves from situations and the number of incidents dramatically reduces. As a result, staff rarely need to restrain young people and the registered manager is able to reduce young people’s staffing ratios. Young people’s self-esteem grows as they recognise their progress. A therapist confirms this, ‘As a result of him feeling safe and cared for within the home there has been a reduction in disruptive and controlling behaviours.’

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

Staff understand how to whistleblow when they are concerned about others’ actions. The registered manager ensures that he swiftly and carefully investigates any such concerns following appropriate consultation with the designated officer. He provides support to staff and uses training and supervision as effective management tools to improve staff’s practice, which in turn improves the care that young people receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has the skills and experience to manage the home. He has been in post for 18 months and is in the process of completing his level 5 leadership and management qualification in residential childcare. He is ambitious for the young people in his care and remains up to date with their care plans. He challenges services which are not responsive in meeting young people’s needs. When there is any uncertainty, he uses professional meetings effectively to clarify young people’s plans and acts robustly to ensure that he and his staff team positively contribute to these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides a supportive environment for his staff to develop. He provides regular formal and informal supervision for staff. He recognises how he can develop staff skills to improve the quality of care which they provide through training and mentoring. For example, he ensures that staff understand the theoretic model of care used within the home. He ensures that the in-house therapist supports staff in team training to understand the model and revisits this in supervision. Consequently, young people benefit from highly responsive therapeutic care provided in line with the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has maintained a stable staff team over the past few months, which has led to fewer temporary staff working in the home. This has been positive for the young people as a therapist said, ‘There has been an improvement in consistency within the team and they work harder at getting my young person to be involved in positive activities.’ The registered manager generally ensures that he holds suitable information about temporary staff who work in the home. However, on one occasion, the on-call staff did not provide agency staff’s information before staff came to work in the home. This does not promote young people’s welfare. Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 6 The registered manager’s monitoring of the home shows that he recognises the impact of the care provided for young people. He has addressed the requirement raised at the last inspection, which demonstrates how he improves the quality of care in response to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

inspection activity. The independent visitor provides him with additional monitoring, which he also responds to positively. However, the independent visitor has not been clear about whether staff safeguard and promote young people’s welfare. This does not enable the regulator to understand the impact of the care provided to young people. The registered manager usually ensures that any damage to the home is repaired swiftly and there is a warm and welcoming environment. However, some maintenance issues have not been resolved over long periods, which does not demonstrate to young people that they are valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works effectively with professional stakeholders to provide consistent care for young people. There is good communication with schools, placing authorities and therapists. The registered manager encourages staff to involve families in young people’s care as far as this is possible. His staff support family visits to young people, which maintains young people’s identity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is available to young people. He currently manages two homes and goes the extra mile to ensure that he gets quality time with each young person. He is shortly resigning the other registration and has plans in place to further develop the home. He listens to young people’s wishes and feelings to make sure that young people receive highly individualised care which incorporates their views. The registered manager uses child-friendly documents to encourage young people to engage with their care, for example when incidents of restraint are discussed with young people and a transition timeline, to help them understand their time living in the home. The registered manager and staff promote equality and diversity in the home. Staff use informal opportunities to address issues through discussions with young people and also in more structured pieces of direct work. This supports young people’s understanding of their own identity, as well

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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: SC416464 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Limited, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale OL12 9EN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Niel Shelmerdine

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Inspector(s)

Rebecca Quested: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 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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