Children's home run by ABC Care and Education Ltd in Lancaster

Inspection report children's home: SC443765 1 SC443765 Registered provider: ABC Care and Education 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 home is owned by a private company. It is registered to accommodate three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It offers emergency, medium- and long-term placements.

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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: 22 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC443765 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some young people make exceptional progress across a range of areas, including education, health and well-being, safeguarding and making a positive contribution to the wider community.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home offers young people additional support with revision and tuition to help with their preparation for examinations.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is evidence of some highly positive relationships between young people and staff; this allows young people to develop trust and invest in those relationships.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Key-worker sessions cover a range of relevant topics and actively engage the young people. Young people’s views and opinions are recorded in detail in the session reports.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have a very good understanding of young people’s risks and can respond to new risks as they arise.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff at the home work well with partner agencies to address young people’s missing-from-home risks.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Record-keeping is of a high standard. In particular, team-meeting records have a good level of detail and show that a range of relevant issues are discussed.

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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 home’s statement of purpose should be kept up to date and should be sent to the regulator as required by regulation.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people, parents, staff and social workers should be regularly consulted by the independent visitor to ensure robust monitoring of the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The responsible person should ensure that the regulator is informed of the arrangements for managing the home in the absence of the registered manager. Inspection report children's home: SC443765 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/09/2016 Full Good 27/06/2016 Full Inadequate 19/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC443765 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

16: Statement of purpose The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a) and (b)) 05/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44(2)(a)) 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

48: Notice of absence The registered person must give notice to HMCI of the proposed absence of the registered manager and specify with respect to the proposed absence— the arrangements which have been made for running the home during the absence; the address, name and qualifications of the person who will be responsible for the home during the absence; and in the case of the absence of the registered manager, the arrangements that have been, or are proposed to be, made for appointing another person to manage the home during the absence, including the proposed date by which the appointment is to be made. (Regulation 48 (2)(b)(iii)(iv)(v)) 05/07/2017

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some young people at this home excel from their starting points across a range of areas, far exceeding their expected targets. Other young people have been in crisis at times throughout their placements, which has ultimately led to their placements breaking Inspection report children's home: SC443765 5 down, although this is not attributable to the level of care provided by staff at the home, which is good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers speak very highly of the placement. One commented ‘[It is] an absolutely excellent placement… they [staff] have excellent knowledge of X and meet all his needs… they go the extra mile.’ This is supported by the observation of highly positive relationships between staff and young people during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s education is supported by staff. Staff know about young people’s education and support them to revise for exams; young people find this support beneficial. Where necessary, young people receive additional tutoring to ensure that they have the best possible chance of passing exams in their weaker subjects. Staff are genuinely interested in young people’s educational progress and support young people on a daily basis to attend school and discuss the work they have done. When young people are struggling to maintain a place in mainstream education, the home works closely with the school to try to achieve this. When young people have a particular interest or skill, for example a language, the home sources external support. One young person has good predicted grades at GCSE level and is being supported by staff to achieve these. Staff at the home are also proactive about sourcing post-16 education

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and have taken one young person to visit a college a long distance from the home, where he has been offered a place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement plans for young people are regularly updated; they identify any new concerns that require monitoring and they are followed well in practice. These plans are highly individualised to each young person and show that staff have in-depth knowledge and understanding of young people’s care needs. The home also produces weekly reports that are sent to social workers. These reports contain a detailed review of each young person’s week and enable social workers to have a very good understanding of how their young person is progressing in placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person is hoping to live semi-independently when he is 16. Staff at the home have helped him learn independence skills such as household chores, budgeting and shopping to support him in this. In addition, the young person receives some financial reward from the home for his voluntary work in a charity shop. This helps him develop a work ethic and understand that he is rewarded for work he does. The additional unpaid hours he does in the charity shop show he is making a positive contribution to the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home covers extensive work with young people in regard to them keeping themselves healthy. Where issues are identified, such as smoking, personal hygiene and drug misuse, staff undertake direct work to promote positive health. One young person who was in placement for only a relatively short time attended five dental appointments to address a previously unmet need. Another young person is supported with healthy food choices and also frequently attends the local gym.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people know how to complain and have used the complaints procedure. Where it is appropriate, the home encourages young people to engage in restorative work, Inspection report children's home: SC443765 6 although they do not always participate. Key-worker sessions are very detailed and clearly evidence the young person’s voice, and their views and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where young people are not making good progress in some areas, this is discussed with them and every effort is made so that young people can make progress. There are strong links with other agencies and the home works well in partnership with them to try to get the best for young people. On the occasions when placements break down unexpectedly, the staff ensure that the young person can settle in their new placement, for example by taking them to their new placement, staying with them until they feel settled and providing them with items of comfort, such as their own duvet and pillow.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home promotes contact between young people and their friends and family. Where contact has previously been an area of high risk, staff at the home allow young people to work towards developing trust and then, in conjunction with the young person’s social worker, allow them to try again. This has been particularly successful for one young person who has contact with a friend a very long distance from the home and has recently been able to have safe contact visits, which he has enjoyed.

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

Risks for young people are very well understood. The home’s risk assessments are dynamic and staff are responsive to changes in young people’s risks. Young people’s risk assessments highlight areas of concern that are specifically to be monitored each month, which is useful because it identifies current risk areas. Risk assessments are detailed; they identify triggers and warning signs that a young person may be at heightened risk and also prevention and intervention strategies.

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

Where a young person has significant missing-from-home risks, the home works in partnership with police and social care to reduce and manage the risk as well as they can. One young person had a multi-agency safety plan around her high-risk missing incidents. The home works particularly hard to prevent young people from going missing, initially by distracting and diverting them and then by following the young person and trying to persuade them to return. One young person had a high number of missing incidents, but many more were prevented by staff’s efforts to return her home. When young people go missing, staff make every effort to find them, and liaise closely with the police to ensure that there is good communication with regard to where a young person might be. The staff actively think of ways to deter young people from going missing, for example they subscribe to Netflix and bought an Xbox that they

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

hoped might reduce one young person’s missing episodes. Following missing incidents the home always requests an independent return interview from the placing authority.

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

The home uses Barnardo’s’ SERAF (sexual exploitation risk assessment framework) to assess young people’s child sexual exploitation risks. Where a young person is at high risk, the home is involved in multi-agency safety planning. The home also requests strategy meetings with young people’s placing authorities when their missing and child sexual exploitation risks are heightened. Inspection report children's home: SC443765 7 Staff complete a detailed incident report for each safeguarding incident that occurs, and this identifies actions to reduce further incidents. Incidents are reviewed at regular intervals to identify whether there are any patterns or whether any strategies that have been put in place are working. Young people who are settled have very few safeguarding incidents recorded, which shows the progress they have made since their starting points, when they had higher risks and more frequent incidents.

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

Young people are encouraged to behave positively through a target and reward system. They have targets linked to attendance at education, behaviour and for completing certain tasks within the home. Some young people are highly motivated to achieve their rewards and work well within this system, regularly meeting all of their set targets. There are also consequences for certain incidents linked to young people’s behaviours. They are encouraged to express their views on these consequences and there is management oversight of the effectiveness of these consequences. Boundaries and rules are communicated clearly to all staff via team meetings to ensure that they are implemented consistently. A social worker commented that the firm approach of the registered manager in respect of her child was extremely beneficial to his ability to adhere to rules and boundaries.

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

The home rarely resorts to using physical intervention to manage young people’s behaviour. There has only been one incident of this since the interim inspection, which was low level and very short-lived. The recording of this incident is clear and cross- references to other records. The record also shows that numerous de-escalation techniques were used prior to the physical intervention and that staff remained with the young person for two hours following the incident to try to settle her. Incidents are reviewed for learning opportunities and ideas which may prevent incidents from arising in future are put forward for staff to try.

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

The home shares any concerns about staff appropriately with the local area designated officer. When allegations are investigated and the outcome is unfounded the home tries to undertake restoration work with the young person and staff member involved.

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

None of the young people at this home are thought to be at risk of radicalisation or extremism. The home encourages young people to complete the online Prevent and Deter training and staff have completed this also.

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

The home provides a physically safe environment to young people. The location risk assessment does not identify any high risks, and fire checks are completed regularly, with a fire safety form completed each night.

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

The home currently has no registered manager in post. The deputy manager along with the head of care and the registered manager from the company’s other home are managing the home in the interim period until the new manager is in post. The Inspection report children's home: SC443765 8 responsible individual has been proactive in respect of recruitment to this post and the appointed manager is waiting for checks before commencing as manager of the home. The responsible individual has not informed the regulator of the interim arrangements, although this was rectified shortly after this inspection.

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

The home has had three registered managers in the last three years and is shortly to be getting a fourth. This impacts on stability and consistency for young people and staff and the home would benefit from a longer term manager to provide continuity for young people and staff.

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

The previous manager had good monitoring systems in place, which included feedback from young people and external agencies as part of the monthly manager checks. This allowed her to gain a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and to put plans in place to address any areas that have been identified for development. Young people’s views are gathered through feedback forms, key-worker sessions and young people’s meetings to inform the development of the home. The independent visitor’s reports do not evidence that consultation is taking place on a regular basis with staff, young people, parents and external agencies; such consultation would improve the depth of the reports, which are otherwise thorough.

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

Updates to the home’s statement of purpose in respect of staff changes have not been sent to the regulator within the required timescale. A requirement is made in respect of this, as it hinders the regulator’s ability to monitor the home’s staffing.

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

There have been some changes to the staff team since the last full inspection, although some staff are stable and consistent figures in young people’s lives. New staff members are making a positive contribution and young people are developing positive relationships with them quickly. Staff are well trained and report that they feel well supported in their roles through supervision, informal discussion and team meetings. The home is not fully staffed, although at this time it has one sole resident and has more than sufficient staff to care for him.

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

Staff meetings are a particular strength of the home. They are recorded in a good level of detail and cover a range of relevant topics. They also consider which strategies are working with young people, and discuss alternative ways of managing behaviour. This shows that the care given to young people is well considered and can be implemented consistently because all staff are aware of the discussions.

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

The standard of record-keeping in the home is good. Documents relating to young people are kept up to date, with any new information recorded in a way that is easy to identify. Records relating to incidents in the home and missing-from-home episodes are detailed and show that processes have been followed. Many of the records are reviewed by a manager for detail and effectiveness.

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

Managers show that they have aspirations for young people and support them to achieve as well as they can. Managers understand when young people are making good progress and work hard to ensure that this is continuous, for example by changing Inspection report children's home: SC443765 9 young people’s targets when they are consistently achieving all of them. They also understand why some children do not progress and work with the young people’s placing authorities to identify ways of rectifying this.

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

Staff at the home have developed positive relationships with external agencies to ensure a good level of all-round support is given to young people. The home works collaboratively with a number of agencies, but particularly with schools in respect of young people’s education, and with police regarding child sexual exploitation and missing incidents. The police regularly visit the home to speak to staff and young people on an informal basis and share local intelligence in order to inform safeguarding practice.

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

The home actively promotes tolerance, equality and diversity. Key-worker sessions address intolerant beliefs and attitudes with one young person. One young person’s cultural heritage is supported in a number of ways, for example by providing him with language lessons, researching traditional recipes and adhering to certain customs.

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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: SC443765 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: ABC Care and Education Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Alston House, Whitecross Industrial Estate, South Road, Lancaster LA1 4XF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Kennedy

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Inspector

Charlie Bamber: social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children's home: SC443765 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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