Children's home run by Willows (Devon) Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 1 SC484790 Registered provider: Willows (Devon) 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 owned by a small private organisation and is registered to provide care for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The company also runs its own school, located nearby, which the young people attend.

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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: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people make noticeable progress in this home and they are thriving. This is a place where they begin to settle and manage to break the cycle of moving swiftly between different placements. Young people become part of the Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 2 local community using the amenities in the local town, attending local clubs and securing employment.  The team is strong and provides consistently good care. Young people are treated with dignity and respect. The team delivers care with a genuine passion to provide the best experiences possible. Relationships between the team and the young people are positive and sincere.  Helping the young people to understand risk and how to stay safe is a strength of the home. When young people go missing the team takes effective action to find them and supports them to come home. They work through the reasons why they went missing. The team focuses on building the young people

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Key findings from this inspection

resilience and self-esteem. This has positive outcomes such as reducing self- harm.  The team has high aspirations for the young people and encourages them to help identify the ways in which they can best be supported. The team is skilled in recognising how past experiences may impact and link to the young people’s behaviour. The young people can take ownership of their support plans and write them with the team if they wish. They also create their own incentives and rewards systems that promote positive behaviour.  The home has committed and reliable leaders and managers who deliver good quality of care to the young people. Leaders and managers have a strong presence in the home, and they understand the young people’s needs exceptionally well. Monitoring is effective and leaders and managers have a positive vision for the home that focuses on the needs of the young people and what will help them to progress and achieve further.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/08/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/05/2016 Full Good 01/09/2015 Full Requires improvement 12/05/2015 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 3

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Recommendations

 Review how the team can support children to use the internet wirelessly that supports and educates them to use the internet safely and independently. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, para 5.19)  Improve the risk assessments that assess the impact that new placements will have on the existing group of children, to incorporate an analysis of the assessed impact. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, para 11.4)  Ensure that information about the child is recorded in a non-stigmatising way and in a way that will be helpful to the child. This particularly relates to the language that the team uses when recording information, such as calling the home a ‘unit’. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards, page 62, para 14.4’)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders, managers and the team are successful in creating a home that the young people can feel comfortable in, call their home and make progress. The home sits in idyllic surroundings on a small country lane. It has a beautiful and calm décor, and good quality furnishings, and it is surrounded by a large gardens and a wooded area. The young people have been integral in organising the outdoor space so that they can grow vegetables, look after rabbits and guinea pigs, create a den, and have space for swings and a hot tub.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Mealtimes are an occasion where everyone comes together. On hot sunny days, meals are enjoyed outdoors as the young people and team chat among themselves about their day and their plans for the evening. One young person who has now moved on noted this as a positive experience for her. She stated, ‘I enjoyed a lot of things here but the main thing was mealtimes. I’ve started to appreciate it a lot now that I have left and am living independently. I miss giggles and terrible jokes around the table.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have positive day-to-day experiences that promote their well-being. The young people all attend the school that is connected to the company. The team sets the boundaries in terms of education prior to the young people moving in, and there is an expectation that the young people attend school if they live here. The team recognises that some young people have not attended school for some time and supports them to reintegrate back into a school environment with strategies such as gradual timetables. This approach produces positive results. Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 4 The young people make progress in all aspects of their lives and the team gets to know them well. This helps the team to identify specific areas where the most support is needed. The team helps the young people to pick out what they are good at and interested in, and links these interests to local groups and clubs. This builds the young

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

people’s self-esteem and confidence. Some of the young people work in the local town. The home is also set up with various DVDs, board games and outdoor games, so there is plenty on offer. In addition, the young people go out shopping and for coffee with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is limited staff turnover, so the team has been consistent for some time. As a result, the quality of the relationships between staff and the young people are sound. There is a lot of laughter in the house and good-humoured banter that indicates how strong the relationships are. The team listens intently to the young people when they want to talk to them. The team has high aspirations for the young people and gives them a sense that they can achieve anything.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans and other documents that detail the needs of the young people are in good order and provide a wealth of essential information. Goals and aspirations are a strong feature in these plans, guiding the team on key areas. When children are moving on, the plans around this, and how the team will support them, are clear. The team recognises how important it is for young people to keep in touch with their family and friends. These arrangements are explicit in care plans. In addition, the team is proactive in looking ahead to examine how it will support the young people to achieve more time with their families. Planning for time with families at Christmas is already underway, giving the young people a realistic goal to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback about the quality of care from professionals and parents is exceptional. One parent said, ‘I cannot praise the staff enough with how they have helped her progress.’ A professional said, ‘She has a really good relationship with the staff, she seems happy here.’

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

The home offers a safe environment for the young people to live in. Regular health and safety checks take place, and the team ensures that any actions are swiftly dealt with. The internal doors are being replaced with more fire resistant doors. Fire drills take place frequently, and these include all of the young people and the team. The pond close to the home has a risk assessment in place for its location and two life rings stationed are on the water’s edge.

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

Leaders and managers implement an effective child protection policy, and the team has a clear understanding of this. The team identifies when the young people are at risk and reports these concerns with consistency. Leaders and managers understand their role in safeguarding children. Safeguarding information is passed immediately to designated officers and multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH) in the local authority. Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 5 The team has an understanding of how the young people’s previous experiences and trauma may impact on their behaviours. The company commissions a clinical psychologist to support the young people and the team, in terms of meeting the young people’s emotional needs. The team works hard to help new young people settle into the home and supports the existing group. Leaders and managers assess the impact of anyone new moving into the home, and consider the impact that this may have on the

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

existing group. This assessment document could improve with some further analysis recorded. Leaders and managers identify patterns in terms of the young people’s behaviour and notice trends that link to new young people moving in, such as increased missing incidents and incidents of physical violence that require restraint. Predominantly, the team is successful at helping the young people to settle. However, on one occasion leaders and managers decided to end a placement as they acknowledged that they could not meet the young person’s needs.

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

The team is proactive when young people go missing from the home. The team conducts immediate searches and follows an individual missing protocol, reporting to the police and all other relevant agencies. The team makes constant attempts to contact the young people and works with the police until they are found and they return home safe. When the young people come home, the team makes sure that they are well and offers them comfort, a drink and some food. The young people are encouraged to talk about where they have been and what further support will help them to stop going missing. Training equips the team to identify when any of the young people are at risk of sexual exploitation and abuse. The registered manager identifies shortfalls in the independent return home interviews system, and is challenging other agencies with the statutory responsibility, to provide this service more efficiently to the young people.

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

Positive relationships enable the team to respond attentively to the young people and offer emotional support. If the young people self-harm, the team helps them, gets them checked out with a health professional if necessary, talks to them and offers guidance. Access to agencies that offer counselling or support for emotional well-being is good.

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

There have been some occasional significant incidents that have resulted in a young person being physically restrained, to prevent the team from being physically assaulted. The restraints were for short periods of time. The team talks to the young people about the restraint and checks that they are okay afterwards. Leaders and managers monitor restraints and incident records frequently, and identify areas of learning.

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

The ethos of the home is one that promotes positive behaviour and provides strategies, incentives and rewards to help the young people to behave positively. The young people choose their own rewards and incentives with the team. These may be an activity or a trip to the hairdressers or beautician for a treatment.

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

Leaders and managers have good knowledge of the young people and translate this into thorough behaviour support plans and risk assessments. The young people help to write these. Time away from the home independently is something that the young people earn. This can occur once the team has got to know the young people and is dependent on age. One of the young people said, ‘I think the rules are fair and keep us safe.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 6 Internet access is available through the home’s computer, and some young people have access through data on their mobile phones. There is no provision from the home for the young people to access the internet wirelessly. It is not clear how the team can support the young people with accessing wireless internet safely in their home in preparation for them moving on to live independently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is well established in her role and has worked for the company for a number of years. She is suitably qualified and has the necessary skills to lead the home. Since the registered manager’s appointment, she has continued to drive improvements, resulting in positive outcomes for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers prioritise the needs of the young people. They personally provide direct care for the young people, particularly when they first move in or when their behaviour is unsettled. This does have some impact on their ability to ensure that documents such as the development plan and workforce development plan are maintained. Despite this, leaders and managers have a clear vision for the home and are driving forward improvements. The young people are included in this process and they have just written a new statement of purpose for other young people moving into the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads the home with passion to achieve the very best for the young people. The systems in place to monitor the quality of care such as reviewing records and observing the practice are robust and efficient. The registered manager provides helpful critique to her team, which focuses on improving day-to-day experiences for the young people. The team keeps detailed records about the young people. However, the language in these can occasionally be institutional, such as using the word ‘unit’ instead of ‘home’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The young people’s influence is evident in all aspects of the daily running of the home. The young people are confident to express their views and this this can range from items they want to buy for the home, to moving bedrooms or raising concerns about something. The team records one-to-one chats and debriefs with the young people, which the registered manager reviews regularly. The team also encourages the young people to meet regularly and discuss topics relating to the home and their views.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One member of the staff team is new, and leaders and managers ensured that the appropriate safer recruitment checks, to assess her suitability for the role, were in place. The training programme offers good opportunity for the team to develop its skills. There is also an opportunity to tailor training to meet the individual needs of the young people that are living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are proactive in engaging with local services that may benefit the young people. They have developed positive working relationships with their local police, youth intervention worker and local policing team. An external professional said, ‘The Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 7 manager is always quick to contact me and arrange meetings when she is concerned about the welfare of any of the young people.’ Leaders and managers are determined to ensure that the young people have access to services to which they are entitled. They are strong advocates for young people.

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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: SC484790 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Willows (Devon) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Granary, Hinton Business Park, Tarrant Hinton, BLANDFORD FORUM, Dorset DT11 8JF

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Inspector

Nicola Lownds, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC484790 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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