Children's home run by The Place Young People’s Company in Rushcliffe

Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 1 SC472060 Registered provider: The Place Young People’s Company

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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 owned by a private provider and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children benefit from having positive experiences and from living in settled placements. The highly supportive and nurturing care provided ensures that Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 2 children are happy and feel safe.  The relationships between staff and children are extremely positive, based on trust and children having confidence in the care provided.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Each child has made notable progress since moving into the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 A particular strength is the manner in which staff have created an environment where children feel content and are comfortable to play and engage in imaginative games.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children have many opportunities to take part in a range of stimulating and exciting activities.

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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

 Records must clarify that the staff involved have been spoken to by a manager after an incident involving restraint. Also, records must demonstrate that children are always spoken to about the use of the physical intervention.  Children’s individual records must reflect the detail required by children’s homes regulations on occasions when a child is missing from the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered person must maintain effective management oversight of the operation of the children’s home, including a review of the quality of care provided as required by children’s homes regulations.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff should have a sound understanding of the current educational targets, homework tasks and current level of attainment for each child, in the way that any reasonable parent would.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/10/2016 Full Good 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 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

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use a measure of control, discipline or restraint, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so, has spoken to the user about the measure; and within 5 days adds to the required record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3) (b) (c)) 05/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records for each child which include the information listed in schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1) (a)) In particular, this relates to schedule 3 paragraph 14: the date and circumstances of all incidents where a child goes missing from the home, including any information relating to the child’s whereabouts during the period of absence. 05/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children at least once every 6 months. (Regulation 45 (1)) 05/07/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff need to have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education and training targets and their next steps for learning. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.11)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from and enjoy their very settled placements. As a result, they are happy and confident in the care that they receive and know what is expected of them. They are each making notable progress, when compared to their circumstances when they moved in. Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 4 Children’s views are sought, considered and responded to. Examples include preferred activities, toys and games and menus. As a result, children feel that their views are valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. They attend routine medical appointments and see a doctor as needs arise. One child has made recent progress by accepting the need for portion control and a more balanced diet. Staff know that healthy eating is important and are committed to working to ensure that all children follow a healthy and balanced diet.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the relaxed and homely atmosphere. Laughter and cheerful interactions between staff and children were observed during the course of the inspection. Staff said that they enjoy spending time with children, and it is apparent that they genuinely care about them. The importance of play within child development is understood by staff, who promote opportunities for imaginative games within the framework of the therapeutic parenting model, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Children enjoy positive experiences in the community and benefit from taking part in a range of stimulating activities. Examples include horse-riding, attending Girl Guides, eating meals out with staff, and attending youth clubs locally. As a result, children become more socially aware and develop new skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The three children in placement attend the independent school operated locally by the same organisation that runs the home. School attendance has improved for each child since they moved to the home. Comments from involved professionals include, ‘[Child’s name] is now attending lessons, and there is more learning compared to behaviours taking over lessons as seen previously.’ A professional from the school said that the relationships between the staff teams at the school and the home are very positive and that this promotes children’s learning. A weakness identified in relation to children’s education is the lack of understanding by care staff about homework tasks and children’s current educational targets. While each child is said to be progressing well, this would improve by staff being fully aware of individual educational needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are noted by family members and professionals as starting to be more self- aware. The ethos within the home teaches children to take on evolving responsibility for areas of their care. This may be personal care routines, helping to clear the dining table, and keeping toys tidy for the younger children. While the children currently in placement are quite young, staff understand the importance of teaching older teenagers about cooking and budgeting, among other self-care skills, in order to prepare them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family members and professionals report positively on joint-working relationships. They are kept updated about issues arising and speak confidently about the quality of care provided to children. Comments included, ‘I can’t fault them’, and ‘I think they are incredible.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family visits are supported, which ensures that children retain their identity and sense of belonging. Where agreed, staff supervise contact arrangements in line with multi-agency Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 5 agreed plans. A parent said, ‘They have been brilliant,’ when talking about the support provided for visits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into the home for children are managed well, which means that children are likely to settle quickly. At the time of the inspection, arrangements were being finalised for a child to move into the home. The child had visited the home, and managers were talking to the placing team and family members to gather relevant background information.

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improvement to be good

Record keeping relating to safeguarding children arrangements is poor. While no detrimental outcomes for children are identified, this shortfall weakens the audit trail of safeguarding arrangements. The required areas of recording when physical restraint is used do not consistently include children’s views or show that the staff involved have been spoken to by senior staff. This also highlights a weakness in management oversight.

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improvement to be good

Children do not routinely go missing from this home, with only one such event since the last full inspection of the service. However, the records kept on this one occasion failed to demonstrate the protection and support provided to the child. Additionally, while staff were able to verbalise the detail of the missing event this was not captured in records, as required by children’s homes regulations.

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improvement to be good

Detailed risk management plans are produced. Staff show that they have a broad understanding of the current and potential risks for each child, and confidently manage care arrangements to ensure that children are safe.

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improvement to be good

Children become safer after moving to this home. Children who presented with extremely complex and concerning behaviours when first admitted to the home are now showing that they are able to ‘stop and think’ and are starting to be more reflective about their behaviours. One social worker said, ‘[Child’s name] is a different child,’ as they discussed with the inspector how behaviours have improved to the extent that she now confidently takes the child out in the community, a very different picture to the time of admission to the home.

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improvement to be good

Children are confident to speak to staff about their worries and can identify a trusted adult who they would speak to. This adds to their sense of general well-being and safety.

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improvement to be good

Conflict management is underpinned by flexible and well-planned strategies. Because of the individual needs and the current peer group dynamics, the team has opted to take one of the three children out on activities immediately from school each day. While staff recognise the need to teach children to manage their interactions, this plan is providing each child in turn with personal space and one-to-one time with staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 6

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

There is a vacancy for the role of registered manager. An experienced permanent manager, who previously held the deputy manager position, has been appointed and has commenced the process of applying to Ofsted for registration. Since the last full inspection in October 2016, there have been numerous staff changes within the team. The impact of this on children has been lessened by several core members of the team remaining as consistent carers. Staff speak confidently about how the team is now more stable and working effectively together. Comments from staff included, ‘The staff team is like a big family, all supporting each other, which reflects really positively on the children.’

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

Leaders and managers have high expectations for the service provided to children. However, areas of weakness are identified within management monitoring. The quality of care review, as set out in the children’s homes regulations, has not been undertaken since September 2016. This shortfall in management oversight is linked to the identified weaknesses in records kept about incidents involving physical restraint, and missing from care records.

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

Leaders and managers generally have a sound understanding of the progress that each child is making. However, arrangements fail to ensure that all staff understand education attainment levels and targets. Improvements in this area would put staff in a better position to help children to achieve and develop within their education.

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

A supportive learning environment is provided for staff, which ensures that the team achieves the aims and objectives of the service, as set out in the statement of purpose. Induction training is provided for new staff members, which means that they are able to understand their roles and responsibilities at an early stage. A strength in this area is the sound understanding, which even the newest members of the team have, about the published therapeutic parenting model underpinning the culture of the home.

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

Tolerance and understanding of others is promoted within daily living arrangements, and while there is still a need to structure time apart into children’s routines, staff said that children are starting to develop the ability to empathise. Involved professionals speak highly about the contribution of the staff team to children’s progress. They said that staff advocate broadly for children, value their views, understand their differing needs, promote participation and show a real commitment to promoting positive outcomes

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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 differences made to the lives Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 7 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: SC472060 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Place Young People’s Company

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 18b Market Place, Nottingham NG13 8AP

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Inspector(s)

Mary Timms, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC472060 9 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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