Children's home run by Phoenix Child Care Limited in North Devon

Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 1 SC038167 Registered provider: Phoenix Child 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 operated by a private provider of education and social care for children and young people. It provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or a learning disability. The home is situated in a rural area near to the coast and a car is provided. Young people can attend education in the company school or via an external provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 22 February 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 2 This children’s home requires improvement to be good because

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Key findings from this inspection

 Care planning systems are not sufficiently robust; this has led to the needs of young people not being fully met.  Young people are not being provided with good routines, or supported to develop hobbies and interests. They are not socialising with peers from their own age groups. Daily activities predominantly centre on trips out with staff members.  Leaders and managers are not ensuring that staff members are equipped to manage the challenging behaviours demonstrated by one young person.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people were observed to have good relationships with staff members, and to be content in their home environment.  A recent safeguarding matter was handled efficiently. This prevented the possibility of further harm to young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 29/11/2016 Full Requires improvement 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/09/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, young people must be provided with individualised care which meets all of their needs. Staff must be given relevant training in order to develop their ability to meet the needs of young people, such as PACE training. Staff must also be supported to apply consistent routines and boundaries for young people, to promote healthy emotional development. 13/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare; help each child to express views, wishes and feelings; help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the 13/07/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 4

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders, managers and staff must develop creative ways to ensure that young people’s wishes have a direct impact upon the care they receive.

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Requirement Due date

9: The enjoyment and achievement standard

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that— Children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to— develop the child’s interests and hobbies; participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, young people must be supported to socialise with peers of their own age and to develop interests and hobbies which promote healthy and active lifestyles. 13/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that— the health and well-being needs of children are met; children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to— achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding; take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and understand and develop skills 13/07/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 5 to promote the child’s well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the health needs of young people must be closely monitored and met. This includes good healthcare planning, which ensures that important information is shared effectively.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— Mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw

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Requirement Due date

from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(2)(b)) 13/07/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 6

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Requirement Due date

In particular, young people must be supported to manage their emotions without the consistent use of restraint. All young people must also be supported effectively to feel safe and happy in their home.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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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 children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the

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Requirement Due date

development of the quality of care provided in the home; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers need to provide care planning documents which support staff effectively to meet the needs of young people. Furthermore, any poor practice in recordings must by identified and addressed by leaders and managers in a timely manner. 13/07/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home provides a stimulating environment in high-quality buildings, with spaces that support nurture and allow privacy as well as common Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 7 spaces and spaces to be active. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 6, under key principles).

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all children have access to appropriate advocacy support, and where possible this should be provided by a person that the child chooses. Looked-after children are entitled to an independent advocate to advise them and ensure they have the support needed to express their views, wishes and feelings about their care and lives. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16)

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Recommendations

 It is important to notify Ofsted of any serious events which the registered manager considers to be serious. Specifically, given the high number of restraints it is important that this information is shared with Ofsted in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraphs 14.10 and 14.11)

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improvement to be good

The home is large and spacious, although its decoration is somewhat stark and bare. There are no photographs or personalised touches to reflect the identities of the two young people living there. A communal computer is discarded in the entrance way, and young people do not have current access to another computer. A number of food items are locked away with no plan to normalise access to them for young people.

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improvement to be good

Young people are not fully engaged in education. They are both fairly new to the home, therefore this will be reviewed again at the next inspection.

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improvement to be good

Young people are not fully involved in care planning. House meetings for young people are not purposeful, and no other creative ways to gain young people’s views have been developed.

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improvement to be good

Activities and trips out are organised on a daily basis. However young people are not engaged in any regular interests or hobbies. In addition, they are not socialising with other young people from their respective age groups.

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improvement to be good

Health plans are not effective documents. Therefore, young people’s health needs are not always met. This has left one young person not being adequately supported to treat an ongoing health issue.

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improvement to be good

A recent safeguarding matter was handled well by staff, leaders, and managers. This Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 8 ensured that young people were safeguarded from any further possible harm. This included the appropriate agencies being notified quickly, and immediate safeguarding action being taken.

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improvement to be good

There are two young people living at the home. There is currently a strained dynamic between the young people, which has resulted in one young person experiencing a high number of restraints. The other young person has repeatedly told staff that he is distressed by the other young person’s behaviour. There is no robust plan in place to address this matter. Furthermore, the high volume of restraints had not been communicated to Ofsted prior to the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour management plans are not effective documents that support staff to provide consistent and positive boundaries. For example, bedtimes are a difficult time for one young person, and there is no clear guidance for staff at these times. A further concern is that the behaviour management plans that are in place are not followed. This does not provide much-needed consistency for young people.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have failed to provide staff with specific training that will support their ability to meet the needs of young people.

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improvement to be good

The previous young person who lived at the home was fully supported to move on. A compliment recorded from this young person stated: ‘I will miss S the most. He really is a good bloke, and he has done a hell of a lot for me’.

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

There has been no registered manager at the home for a significant number of weeks. However, there is a manager currently completing the registration process, and they are already in situ at the home.

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

Leaders and managers are not monitoring and acting upon young people’s concerning behaviour effectively. Recordings after physical interventions are poor. They are brief and do not demonstrate that any learning points are being taken forward for staff. Leaders and managers have also not completed referrals for important services, such as mental health services and advocacy services, for the young people. This means that young people are not having their emotional welfare promoted.

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

Leaders and managers have not developed good care planning systems, and recording systems are duplicated and confusing for staff. This means that important information is not shared effectively. Staff have informed leaders and managers, on a number of occasions, of their feeling of being overwhelmed by these systems.

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

An example of robust recruitment practice was viewed during inspection. However, this has not been applied consistently to all recruitment files.

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

Some supervision records viewed were of a good standard. These sessions supported Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 9 staff to reflect upon their practice, and to explore their safeguarding knowledge. However, some practice issues identified during the inspection had not been addressed formally in supervision, such as the inappropriate use of language, and gaps in a staff member’s safeguarding knowledge.

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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: SC038167 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Phoenix Learning And Care Ltd, First Floor, Rolle Quay House, Rolle Quay, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 1JE

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Simon Jury Post vacant Moira Storkey

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Inspector

Polly Soper, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038167 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 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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