Children's Home run by Family Care Associates Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 1 SC020595 Registered provider: Family Care Associates Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home for up to four children 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 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: 19 December 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children develop positive relationships with staff and are happy to be at the home.  Care planning is detailed and follows the expectations of the child’s placing authority.  Staff are well prepared for children’s statutory reviews. Staff encourage and Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 2 support children to be involved in their reviews.  Staff promote children’s health needs. This includes their mental health.  Children are aware of a range of award systems used by staff to promote positive behaviours.  Children’s school attendance improves and consquently their academic ability advances.  When safeguarding events occur, the staff respond swiftly.  Staff receive support through regular supervision and staff meetings.

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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

 Staff fail to ensure that all restraints are accurately recorded.  Repairs are required around the home, in particular to doorframes.  The home’s locality risk assessment does not fully show the possible dangers of living in a semi-rural area.  Records of team meetings fail to show which staff have attended and if staff have read the minutes.  Staff training does not include improving staff awareness of the risks surrounding radicalisation.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/07/2016 Full Requires improvement 01/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 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 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home a record is made which includes the name of the child; details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(i)(ii)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)) 21/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, 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 has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35(3)(b) (i)(ii)) 21/07/2017

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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 promote their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 11/08/2017

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression, with particular reference to the damage around the doorframes. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standard’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home’s care, with particular reference to team meetings. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standard’, page 53, Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 4 paragraph 10.20)

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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, with particular reference to the lack of lighting in the area. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standard’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy being at the home and are making progress due to the level of support that they receive from the staff team. Relationships between staff and children are positive. Children enjoy spending time with all of the staff members. Good interaction was observed throughout the inspection. This was age appropriate and enabled children to participate with different activities with staff. One child told the inspector that ‘It’s nice here and the staff are good fun, they look after me good.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement plans are detailed and in line with the expectations of the plans from the placing authority for children looked after. Placement plans give direction to the way that children’s needs are to be met by the staff team. Staff and children are fully involved with statutory care reviews. One independent reviewing officer told the inspector: ‘The staff were always well prepared, with reports being available prior to the meeting. They are proud of children’s achievements, and open and honest where there had been difficulties.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a good range of activities, with trampolining and football being highlighted as favourites by one child, who was eager to discuss how well he got on with a football team. The home is well resourced, with a range of age- appropriate activities, including a new trampoline which was being built with the help of the children during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff promote family contact. Arrangements form part of the initial placement arrangements to enable children to stay in touch with important family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health is supported, and staff ensure that children attend regular appointments with various health professionals. The home’s therapist provides guidance to the staff team, with effective behavioural strategies to enhance children’s development. Medication arrangements are appropriate, and keep children safe and well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children make significant improvements in their academic ability while being at the home. One child won an attendance award through his placing authority at a recent prize-giving ceremony. All children attend education regularly. Staff work hard to ensure that children attend the provision that is most appropriate to each Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 5 individual’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has undergone some improvements in decor since the last inspection, including new flooring and an increase in the number of pictures on the walls. This has made the home more homely and comfortable. Children have a say in the colour scheme of their rooms and their bedding, increasing the feeling that the home is theirs. There continue to be cracks around the doorframes, although plans are in place for them to be responded to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to through key-working meetings and house meetings. Their views are considered and responded to. This means that children are confident that their ideas are respected and are important to the development of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Arrangements for children’s transitions into and from the home are well considered. Staff support new admissions. This includes children being encouraged to visit the home, which helps to decrease levels of anxiety prior to the child’s move. A parent of a previous resident praised the staff and their commitment to finding the best future place for their child, stating, ‘I know that they worked really hard to try to find somewhere that would be able to help him the most.’

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improvement to be good

Children are kept safe through staff having a good knowledge of safeguarding procedures. However, staff fail to complete restraint records in line with regulation. This failure to capture all essential details could put children at risk.

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improvement to be good

Monitoring systems are in place to check health and safety issues regularly. This helps to keep staff and children safe. The locality risk assessment includes the views of the local police services and examines risks relating to living at the home. However, there is a lack of information relating to its semi-rural location and the poor lighting at night. This may affect the well-being of children and staff if they go on the roads near the home at night.

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improvement to be good

When safeguarding concerns are raised, they are dealt with well. A clear, chronological record shows that good links are in place with the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the designated officer in the local authority. This helps concerns to be responded to swiftly. When concerns arise, they are fully investigated in line with the local authority’s and home’s safeguarding procedures. The manager ensures that other professionals are kept up to date with any investigations. This helps to promote the well-being of the young people.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of children going missing are rare. Staff respond well to such situations and an independent person completes a discussion with those involved in an attempt to prevent any future events.

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improvement to be good

When concerns are raised relating to self-harm, risk assessments are put in place to Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 6 support children’s safety. However, this behaviour is rare at the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote positive behaviours through a range of reward charts, praise and ‘golden tokens’. The children like these awards and work hard to achieve their set goals. In addition to the rewards charts, staff have access to therapeutic plans that help them to respond consistently to challenging behaviours that the children can display.

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improvement to be good

Sanctions are appropriate and in line with restorative justice. This helps to develop children’s awareness of the effects of their behaviours. However, the computer system does not notify the manager when sanctions have occurred, and there has been a recent occasion when a record was not completed.

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improvement to be good

Children are restrained when they put themselves or others at risk. Staff have not completed restraint records for all incidents when younger children are moved against their will. Staff explained that this might be because they did not need to use the restraint techniques taught to them in training. One restraint that was observed during the inspection was appropriate and used for the correct reason, but was not fully recorded. This lack of a full recording could affect the safety of children.

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improvement to be good

When bullying has occurred, it is responded to well, with discussions and sanctions being used where appropriate.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment checks are undertaken in line with regulations. This ensures, as far as possible, that the right people are employed to work with vulnerable children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good range of qualifications and experience. He is qualified to level 4 in management and care, and is currently completing a degree in social work. The home is well staffed by enthusiastic individuals who are able to discuss with confidence the work that they complete with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A recently updated development plan shows that the manager is aware of the strengths of the staff team and the developments that are necessary to improve the level of care given. These areas include staff’s progress with the home’s computer system and an increased awareness of the evaluation model to be used with all children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the home is completed through management having an awareness of necessary records and through regular visits by the independent visitor. Monthly visits have improved since the last inspection, increasing the interaction with children and external professionals. This increases the manager’s ability to improve the service further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has created good relationships with professionals linked to the home. Positive responses have been received through the home’s own quality assurance Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 7 system, both from social workers and independent reviewing officers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff work in line with the home’s statement of purpose, with admissions being assessed to ensure that children are suitable to live with other children at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported through an effective supervision and appraisal process. This enables staff to examine their own practice and put a training plan in place to further the development. A good range of basic training courses are completed by all staff. However, not all staff have completed training in radicalisation. Staff have regular meetings to update the team on the progress of the children and any issues that affect the care being given. However, it is not clear from team meeting minutes who has attended or subsequently read the minutes. This could affect the consistency of the way that staff work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the need to notify a range of professionals following a significant event. Reports are detailed, showing the current outcome of the situation. This keeps all those involved with the child up to date with their safety.

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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: SC020595 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Family Care Associates Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Families@Familycare Ltd, Old Mill House, 60 School Lane, Bamber Bridge, Preston PR5 6QE

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Inspector

Andrew Hewston, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC020595 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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