Children's home run by PJL Healthcare Limited in Wealden

Inspection report children's home: SC486879 1 SC486879 Registered provider: PJL Healthcare 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 privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children and young people who have learning difficulties and 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are making good progress. One young person has successfully moved on to adult services. The staff implement well-thought-out plans which enable young people to move on positively. Inspection report children's home: SC486879 2  Dedicated staff spend time getting to know young people‟s individual needs, and forge nurturing relationships based on trust and mutual respect. This provides young people with a secure base.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are engaged in education and are making academic progress. Regular communication between the home and education staff ensures that all involved understand the goals that young people are working towards.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff promote opportunities for young people to learn life skills, such as cooking and budgeting, to prepare them for independence.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Complaints from young people are quickly and effectively resolved. As a result, young people feel that staff listen to them and value their opinions.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Leaders and managers have a good understanding of young people‟s needs and take appropriate steps to safeguard them.

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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 location risk assessment fails to identify some of the risks associated with the home‟s location.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The use of door alarms has not been rigorously assessed, nor has their use been made explicit in the young people‟s guide.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The use of subjective language to describe young people‟s behaviour was prevalent in records.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/10/2016 Full Good 04/05/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC486879 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‟ 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 may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if- (c) so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child‟s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24, (1) (c)) 31/07/17

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Recommendations

 Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The enthusiastic and focused approach from staff engages young people very well. Young people benefit from well-planned and well-delivered individualised care. Staff actively seek young people‟s involvement in care planning to ensure that they feel involved and empowered. One social worker commented, „I could not wish for more. Inspection report children's home: SC486879 4 They “get her” and take time to work out the complexity of her needs.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication between the staff and social workers, carers and other professionals is effective and consistent. One foster carer said, „Communication is incredibly good.‟ The proactive and frequent communication between the staff and the young people‟s network ensures that all parties are well informed and working together to achieve shared goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage young people to make healthy choices. One young person has been sensitively supported to lose weight, which has improved her self-esteem and confidence. Staff‟s innovative and persistent promotion of communication influences young people to engage with professionals, and ensures that they are accessing services that promote their health and well-being. A looked after children‟s nurse said, „The staff managed to persuade [name] to give me a few more minutes. Her ability to engage with me is massively better.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and her team are strong advocates for young people. They empowered a young person to challenge her local authority effectively when it failed to secure an education placement for her. The matter was successfully resolved through the tenacity of the staff, who tirelessly pursued it on behalf of the young person. An independent reviewing officer commented, „In terms of advocates for education they are excellent.‟ The effective and supportive approach to enabling young people to have their voices heard is indicative of the manager and her team‟s purposeful and motivated approach to delivering good quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In response to a recommendation made at the last inspection, the registered manager has developed frequent lines of communication with each young person‟s school. This enables her and her team to understand the education targets for each young person. She has been determined in following up personal education plan meetings, requesting that the records are provided by local authorities and pursuing the outcomes. This proactive and consistent approach to supporting young people in education ensures that young people‟s education is promoted to a good standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a broad range of activities. Enthusiastic staff actively seek out opportunities to engage young people in wide-ranging social and leisure activities such as street dance club, country walks and trips to local shops and leisure facilities. These fulfilling activities promote young people‟s sense of individual identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy working towards independence. Some young people have developed greater personal care skills, while others are now taking care of their bedrooms without prompting. Staff work in partnership with placing social workers to develop independence plans; these ensure that young people are able to self-manage the low- level risks associated with being unsupervised. For some young people this has provided them with a positive experience of moving on to adult services. Another young person has built trust which has enabled her to meet friends after school. Some young people enjoy independent time away from the home. One said, „I am now allowed to go out after school and meet my friends. I really enjoy time alone without staff because it Inspection report children's home: SC486879 5 makes me feel normal.‟ This individualised approach to independence is enabling young people to make significant strides in developing life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Committed staff promote regular, planned and consistent opportunities for young people to spend time with their families. A social worker commented, „They have been excellent in accommodating and facilitating contact between [name] and her family which include regular trips to her home area.‟ This well-organised and inclusive approach promotes young people‟s sense of identity in maintaining important links to key people in their lives.

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

Strong emphasis is placed on providing young people with a safe and nurturing environment. Well-trained staff deliver the home‟s safeguarding guidance in a practical and measured way. Safeguarding is a regular feature in supervision and team meetings. Staff know what to report, when and to whom. When allegations are made staff are confident and competent in recording and reporting. Detailed records are shared with social workers and the designated officer to enable allegations to be fully investigated. Managers use monitoring systems effectively to safeguard young people. Staff have recently had additional training in „Think, Protect, and Connect‟ training. This reinforces staff‟s understanding of the young people‟s particular vulnerabilities, and gives them strategies to manage these vulnerabilities.

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

Handovers and team meetings are clear and precise. Information is shared regarding any pertinent issues for young people, to ensure that staff are fully informed and able to take a proactive approach in providing well-planned care. Young people‟s meetings take place, but vary in quality. On some occasions young people have struggled to engage; on others staff have taken a lead and more effectively engaged young people.

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

Young people say they feel safe living at the home. All have access to external adults with whom they can raise issues. Interactions between the staff and young people are warm and friendly. Such interactions create a nurturing environment where young people are seen to relax and enjoy staff company.

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

Behaviour management is clear and individualised, and includes both nurturing and restorative approaches towards young people. The policies and guidance in place are used to inform into individual plans. Consequently, staff are well informed of the techniques required to de-escalate behaviour and have specific strategies in place for each young person. As a result of this prior planning, physical intervention is rarely used.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been no incidents where young people have been missing from the home. High staffing levels and clear shift planning ensure that staff know the whereabouts of young people at all times. The use of electronic surveillance is explicit in the home‟s statement of purpose, but not in the young people‟s guide. Inspection report children's home: SC486879 6 Therefore, young people are not aware of its use prior to moving in. Comments from young people included, „I don‟t like the beeping doors, and I don‟t like the window lock things.‟ A requirement is made to rectify this.

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

Despite known vulnerability in using social media platforms, one young person had an iPhone for several months. Sanctions used as a consequence for the inappropriate use of social media had little impact on the behaviour. The manager‟s monitoring did not draw attention to this. Consequently, the young person experienced cyber bullying, and continued to place herself at risk. Further to this, the home‟s location risk assessment does not adequately assess the risks associated with the setting. Some of the potential issues associated with a rural location have not been addressed.

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

Recruitment and pre-employment checks are rigorous and detailed to ensure that candidates will bring the required personal skills and attributes to the team. Interview questions are challenging, and provoke thought regarding the nature of working with young people. Staff feel well supported by the registered manager. They highlight regular supervision and say that recent adaptions to the rota are beneficial, making it „a great place to work‟. Appraisals are annual and provide staff with reflective and constructive guidance to enable them to develop further skills.

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

Well-maintained premises provide a safe physical environment. The young people‟s bedrooms are decorated to a high standard, and express their individual tastes. All required health and safety checks and procedures are up to date, including routine servicing of equipment. The fire safety equipment and system have been recently checked, and staff sign to say they know how to use the fire panel. Visitors are informed of emergency evacuation plans and safety points on arrival.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is currently undertaking her level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. She has high aspirations for the young people and uses supervision as a tool to reflect on practice and develop the staff. Her clear annual appraisals reliably inform staff‟s training needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is prioritised dependant on the needs of the home. Currently, seven staff are undertaking the level 3 diploma in residential child care and five staff have already attained this qualification. Recent training has included „Prevent‟, online safety and self- injurious behaviour. This proactive approach to equipping staff with the necessary training demonstrates the registered manager‟s commitment to continuously developing the staff‟s skills to meet the needs of the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitable statement of purpose which provides stakeholders with information regarding the service the home provides. The young people‟s guide does not, however, include information regarding the use of door alarms. One parent remarked that, „On the last visit I found it a little more institutionalised. Door alarms were going off during the day which made me feel sad, and this detracted from the usual homely feel.‟ Inspection report children's home: SC486879 7 Since the last inspection the registered manager introduced a sanctions evaluation document. This was in response to a recommendation regarding making sure sanctions were restorative in nature, and were helping young people to recognise the impact of their behaviour on others. This recommendation has been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although established monitoring systems are in place, they do not always identify areas for improvement. An example of this is staff frequently recording young people‟s behaviour as „rude and argumentative‟ in sanctions records and young people‟s meeting minutes. This subjective language does not give a clear account of the behaviour, or provide a useful record for the manager to assess whether the sanction was proportionate and effective. Although the manager has now taken some action to rectify this, the records demonstrate that this theme persisted for several months before it was identified and addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and her staff work well with placing authorities. One social worker commented, „Communication with the staff has been excellent and they are very child focused working when with [name]‟. A team manager from a placing authority commented on the „flexible approach‟ the home offered when a moving-on placement was delayed. The attention to detail and forward-thinking approach used helped to build positive working relationships with the team of professionals around the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff make considered efforts to visit young people as part of a rigorous matching process. Impact assessments are used effectively to determine the likely effect of new young people on the home‟s existing residents. The manager and her team assess the dynamics and have sufficient time built into planning to make adaptions if necessary. This well-organised and carefully planned introduction to the home gives young people an opportunity to gradually build relationships with the staff and existing young people to ensure a smooth transition to the group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Development plans for the home include a separate entrance for the home (because the building has a school attached). There are also plans for an intercom system on the gate to improve security for the home. The registered manager is planning to engage a therapist to provide group supervision and training to the staff team.

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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 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 Inspection report children's home: SC486879 8 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: SC486879 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PJL Healthcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mayfield House, East Street, Mayfield, East Sussex TN20 6TZ

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Inspector(s)

Sarah Olliver, social care inspector Suzy Lemmy, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC486879 10 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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