Children's home run by My Choice Children’s Homes Limited in Mid Sussex

Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 1 SC064011 Registered provider: My Choice Children‟s Homes Ltd

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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 is one of eight operated by the same provider in the south-east region of England. The home provides care and accommodation for up to four children whose support needs are primarily in relation to their emotions and behaviours. There is an on-site school which young people may attend and the provider has links with a range of therapeutic services that can be made available to young people depending on their needs.

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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: 27 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people like living here. They are safe, progress well and make significant changes to their behaviours.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people behave well. They receive very few sanctions and no young person has gone missing in nearly a year.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Independence is supported well and multiple opportunities are developed for young people to learn daily living skills and how to access the community and build friendship groups.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people speak up about what they consider is important and staff value and respect their views.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff work well as a team and develop nurturing, positive relationships and maintain strong consistent boundaries, which provide a firm basis from which young people can flourish.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a positive team culture, which helps provide young people with consistent messages about their behaviours and ensures that staff work together if young people are not behaving well.

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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 statement of purpose does not reflect the aims and objectives of this home, but simply the corporate aims of the organisation. It also lacks all of the necessary information, such as detail of all professionals who work for the organisation as therapists.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Leaders and managers do not monitor staff practice sufficiently well. Their capacity to understand and implement improvements in all areas of practice is therefore weakened.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Poor practice from other agencies is not always diligently followed up by managers.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Incentives for supporting young people to understand their negative behaviours and develop more positive ones do not link with their placement goals sufficiently well. Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/10/2016 Full Good 22/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/07/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 4

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the home that – (a) Helps children aspire to fulfil their potential (b) Promotes their welfare (2) in particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to – (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1) and (2)(h)) 30/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16(1) Schedule 1(14(a)) In particular, the provider must ensure that the statement includes details of the qualifications and professional supervision of the staff providing any healthcare or therapy. 31/07/2017

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff 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 39, paragraph 8.11) In particular, that the risks associated with young people holding their own medication are considered in light of their age, behaviours and understanding.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that positive behaviour and relationships are reinforced, praised and encouraged by any incentives for positive behaviour that are put in place. These incentives should also be agreed and discussed with a young person and relate to their current goals. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 39, paragraph 8.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the welcome and introduction to a child when they are admitted in an emergency ensure that the young person feels the Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 5 home has prepared for their arrival. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 57, paragraph 11.6) In particular, the registered person should check that the young person‟s bedroom is fully fitted with all the necessary fittings.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they play a full part in promoting the best interests of the child, proactively advocating for the child to ensure that others play their role and deliver the high quality support that is needed. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 11, paragraph 2.4) In particular, when a local authority and other agencies do not respond to welfare concerns that are sent to them, the registered person should ensure that they receive a response.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people progress well. They are positive about the difference that living here has made to their lives. These changes include being able to manage their anger better and feeling more positive about their futures. Young people also engage more positively with their education. This has improved their learning and boosted their self-esteem. One young person said, „I do not know how they have done it but I have completely changed.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with young people. They build strong, caring relationships with young people, which provide them with a secure base from which to progress. Progress in relation to managing aggression and negative feelings has improved significantly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A variety of external therapeutic services are well used by young people who value and enjoy this support. Some young people consider that the services have really helped them to reflect on and understand themselves and their emotions much better and have more positive attitudes. These services at times also work with the staff team to help them understand and manage difficult behaviours well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people‟s views are clearly important and valued, which helps them to develop trusting relationships and learn how to approach difficult conversations with greater confidence. Their views are listened to and acted on appropriately and there are regular forums, such as the young people‟s meetings, for them to voice their views. Young people confidently complain if they are not happy about something in the home. They are also confident that any more serious concerns would be dealt with appropriately. Staff work hard with young people to assist them to learn how to put their views forward appropriately and equally to listen to others‟ points of view. This assists them in developing trusting relationships and how to approach difficult conversations with greater confidence. Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 6 Contact arrangements are supported effectively and documented well. Staff know the agreements regarding which adults and friends young people can have contact

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

with and the times these are organised for. Staff also ensure that where young people‟s families live at a distance the arrangements are supported well by all concerned, in line with local authority guidance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence programmes help young people to develop independent living skills and increase their ability to be part of community life. This is achieved at an appropriate pace for the young person and takes account of their interests. For example, young people learn about food budgeting and cooking skills from around 15 years of age. They are also helped individually to develop a personal interest outside the home, which they attend on their own so that they gain confidence in managing alone. Their empathy for others is promoted by them getting involved in community volunteering, such as visiting and helping at a home for older people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are in good health and any health conditions are managed well. Their engagement in maintaining good health improves; for example, many attend regular appointments where previously they did not. Physical activity is promoted by the routines of the home and any particular interest in a sport is encouraged and developed. To increase more regular physical activity during the summer months, the grounds are being developed to include additional sporting activities such as a basketball hoop.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The arrangements for young people moving into the home work well. Young people who already live here, and any young person who moves in, say how well staff help them to develop positive relationships. However, where a young person comes to live here in an emergency the planning to ensure that every aspect of their care is well catered for is less secure. While no adverse effects on young people were identified, in one instance some minor issues which would further improve the experiences for the young person who moves in at this crucial point in time had not been identified and rectified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of helping young people to move on successfully is understood and supported well. Effective plans are made with the young person so that they have an understanding of what they need to consider about their new home and a celebration of their time at the home is held.

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

Young people feel safe here, improve their behaviour and are protected by staff who understand child protection and act on any safeguarding concerns that emerge.

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

The staff team works together effectively to create an environment which has strong, known, secure boundaries and sets high expectations for young people to behave positively.

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

Young people‟s behaviour is extremely positive. No young person has gone missing Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 7 in 10 months, young people are rarely restrained and very few sanctions are issued. However, incentive charts are not used as effectively as possible to further support young people to develop appropriate behaviours, recognise their achievements and have specific goals indicating how to improve. The charts do not reflect the individual goals that young people have and are not created in conjunction with the young people themselves. While clearly young people‟s behaviours have improved, this is a missed opportunity to reinforce the good work being accomplished and to help young people manage and understand their behaviours better.

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

Staff follow appropriate safeguarding procedures to ensure that concerns are dealt with swiftly. They know how the home‟s safeguarding procedures work and whom they need to contact, both within the organisation and externally, if they are concerned about a child.

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

Risk assessments are clear and detailed. These are updated when new information occurs but are not always reviewed effectively to ensure that they reflect the age and needs of young people as they develop and behaviours change; for example, by considering when young people can hold appropriate medication rather than this be kept by the staff.

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

Recruitment is well managed and supports young people‟s safety by ensuring that only suitable adults work here. Recruitment records are well evidenced and the recruitment procedures show a robust response to checking the staff they intend to employ.

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

The environment of the home is safe. Health and safety matters, such as medication administration and management and fire safety, are well understood, implemented successfully and monitored appropriately. One young person spoke very positively about the cleanliness of the home, which she really appreciated. Security measures at night have been improved to ensure that staff monitor more diligently young people who get up to ensure that they are properly supported and monitored.

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good

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and experienced for his position. He shows a clear commitment to developing services that focus on young people. He uses his in-depth knowledge of their individual needs, achievements and aspirations to enable staff to reflect and develop positive ways of working with young people who come to live here.

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good

The registered manager supports strong, clear and consistent boundaries for young people by ensuring that staff who know them well work together as a team. This has enabled young people to make significant progress from their starting points. Managers have also ensured that the requirement and recommendation from the last inspection report were met. Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 8 Young people and staff speak very positively about how the home is managed. They say that they can talk to the registered manager about concerns and issues that they have and know they will receive an appropriate response. In team meetings, staff raise and debate issues about their work which they consider are important and need to change; for example, how to manage young people‟s behaviours and how well each shift supports another by carrying out their allocated duties. This demonstrates a positive culture within the home where teamwork is valued and

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good

challenge to practice is expected and respected. Several members of staff commented on the improvements in the last couple of years to the team spirit and considered their good working relations a strength, which helps them to provide consistent messages and support each other effectively when young people are challenging. This was noted in practice.

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good

Staff are suitably qualified to work at the home or are undertaking the necessary training to be qualified. Three out of the seven care staff hold the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England). Three other staff members are completing this qualification and are on track to qualify within appropriate timescales from their start dates and one member of staff has just commenced work at the home and is undertaking his induction.

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good

Staff receive regular training in line with their responsibilities, position and length of service. Staff induction is well managed, with staff receiving opportunities to learn before being on shift. There is a clear plan for training during induction and the first year, with other courses being provided as necessary. Staff commence and complete their Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) within appropriate timescales and demonstrate a range of good understanding about working with young people.

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good

Staff supervision occurs regularly and covers a wide variety of subjects and issues. Staff were positive about the supervision they receive. In some cases, supervisors do not sufficiently monitor how issues from staff members‟ day-to-day practice affect their performance. For example, in one instance the records from a particular young person‟s key working sessions raised questions about a member of staff‟s abilities. The performance questions could have related to recording, training or practice. This was a missed opportunity to explore and support the staff member to develop further.

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good

Partnerships are well developed, but every opportunity to challenge poor practice is not always taken. When forwarding further concerns to local authorities, the managers were not explicit about what they wanted the recipient to do and no follow-up was made when the other agencies did not reply.

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good

The home‟s statement of purpose does not provide a clear picture of this home and lacks some detail, such as information about the therapist employed by the organisation. The statement says that this home is a therapeutic service. While there are many therapeutic services available to young people, some senior staff are completing a therapeutic qualification and at times a therapist assists staff to Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 9 support their ways of working with young people. This is not currently sufficiently well embedded in staff practice to use this term. Senior managers have already taken action about this because of issues raised by Ofsted regarding the level of personal detail in each of their home‟s statements. This is a necessary action to ensure that accurate detail about the home is fully reflected in the statement.

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good

Leaders and managers do not successfully monitor the quality of the service so that they can identify and drive continuous improvement. Managers learn from difficulties and successes but do not undertake in-depth formal evidence-based reviews. There are therefore no clear learning points which inform an action and review plan to monitor further the efficacy of the change and whether further action is needed. In addition, while the six-monthly report on the home‟s operation is reflective it lacks evidence to back up its statements. This omission includes evidence that young people‟s, staff‟s, professionals‟ and parents‟ views are used to inform the report.

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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: SC064011 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: My Choice Children‟s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: My Choice Children‟s Homes Ltd, Unit 3a, Mill Green Business Estate, Mill Green Road, Haywards Heath RH16 1XQ

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Inspector

Ruth Coler, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC064011 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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