Children's home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 1 SC411208 Registered provider: Safehaven Residential and Respite Care 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

This privately owned children’s home is operated by a national company. The provider also operates other children’s services in the same area. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people of either gender, who may 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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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Since the last inspection, young people have not always experienced good outcomes. In recent months, the home has settled and the manager has taken effective action to rectify the poor experiences and to keep young people safe.  The admission process and compatibility assessment for young people moving into the home requires improvement. The manager and staff have reviewed the criteria for accepting young people to ensure that it is in keeping with the ethos of the home.  Not all young people are provided with a sufficient education programme.  Some young people have gone missing from the home on numerous occasions. While they were missing, they put themselves at risk of harm. Incidents of young people going missing have now reduced.  Some young people have assaulted staff and caused damage to property. This behaviour has resulted in two young people being criminalised by the police.  A young person has not started the necessary intervention work with the fire

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Key findings from this inspection

service to learn how to keep themselves and others safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Despite the weaknesses, some young people have made good progress. This is most notable in their educational development, family relationships, self- confidence and independence skills.  Staff are well supported. They receive good training and opportunities to reflect on their practice.  Staff do not use restraint as part of young people’s routine behaviour management. Staff use positive re-enforcement measures to help young people make good choices.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/07/2016 Full Good 05/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/08/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 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

8: The education standard The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers, and help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)(x)) Specifically, ensure young people are provided with an education timetable incorporating all core subjects. 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

11: The positive relationships standard The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust and understanding about acceptable behaviour and positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone, and communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11(1)(2)(a)(ii)(iv)(v)) This relates to young people’s behaviour at the home. 30/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard The protection of children standard is that children are 30/06/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 4 protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child and to help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)) In particular, ensure that staff take the necessary steps to stop young people going missing from home. 13: The leadership and management standard 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

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Requirement Due date

and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes set out in the home’s statement of purpose and understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child, and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 31(1)(2)(a)(f)) 31/07/2017

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improvement to be good

The overall experience and progress of young people requires improvement to be good because staff do not consistently deliver good care for young people, so that they always have positive experiences and make good progress. The manager has addressed concerns from earlier in the year to ensure that, currently, there are no serious failures that result in young people’s welfare not being safeguarded. In previous months, some young people have assaulted staff and caused damage to staff’s property. The police were called as a last resort due to the seriousness of the assaults against staff and the risk to other young people in the home. This behaviour has resulted in two young people being criminalised. This is a poor outcome for both young people. Reparation work has been attempted with staff and the young people involved to rebuild their relationships. The manager recognised that staff were not keeping one young person safe and that

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improvement to be good

another young person is better suited to living by himself. Decisions were made for both young people to move from the home. One young person moved out four months prior to the inspection and another is due to move on one week after the inspection. The Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 5 action taken by the manager four months ago significantly improved the experiences for the two young people who continued to live in the home. One young person’s educational timetable requires improvement. Although the young person has made progress to engage with school since living here, he is not currently provided with sufficient educational opportunities. Leaders and managers are working with the education provider about this issue. The young person’s social worker reports that she is not happy with his education timetable and said that the local authority, ‘cannot have a young man of his age missing so much of his education’.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff are generally good at advocating for young people and challenging other agencies to ensure that young people’s needs are met. One young person has said that he likes the staff team, but does not enjoy living so far from his family home in such a rural setting. The manager has raised a complaint on behalf of the young person to his placing authority for their lack of response to the young person on this issue. As a result of the manager’s challenge, the placing authority has taken action to deal with the young person’s concerns and has started to look for a new placement closer to his home. In his time at the home, the young person has started to rebuild relationships with his family members. Another young person has made some good progress with his personal development and education since moving in. His independent reviewing officer states that living at the home, ‘has been a very positive experience for (name)’, and that he has been,

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improvement to be good

‘consistently impressed with the way that staff have managed (name).’ The young person’s relationship with his family has developed positively. He is now seeing his family regularly and joined them for a summer holiday. This young person has made very good progress in education. He had missed a significant amount of education prior to moving in and now participates in a full and varied timetable. He has now gained many awards through his education, including woodworking skills, motor vehicle mechanics, fishing and photography, as well as completing maths and English. Young people develop good relationships with staff members. They enjoy activities together such as trampolining, gaming and ‘Warhammer’. Staff also support the young people to learn independence skills, personal safety skills and provide guidance on health matters through regular one-to-one key work sessions. Staff encourage young people to

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improvement to be good

enter into smoking cessation contracts and engage them in fitness programmes. Young people become more confident as a result of staff’s guidance and support. One young person in particular will now try new activities and spend time in the local town by himself. Young people live in a homely and well-maintained house. Staff ensure that any damage made to the home during incidents is quickly repaired. Young people are provided with good-quality food and help choose their meals each week. Young people know how to make a complaint. No complaints have been made by the young people about the home or staff since the previous inspection. Young people have an opportunity to engage with a clinical psychologist who visits the home every week. Currently, the young people are reluctant to talk with her beyond informal conversations. Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 6 Young people’s current views of living at the home differ. One young person comments

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improvement to be good

that he does not want to live at this home because of its location, and another reports that he has everything he needs and he gets on really well with staff.

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improvement to be good

Young people have gone missing overnight from the home on a number of occasions since the previous full inspection. While one young person was missing, it was thought that he was misusing illegal substances and had stolen money. A second young person became involved in going missing with him twice. This young person said that, while he was missing, he was assaulted and slept on the streets. Staff did search for the young people and reported the incidents to their placing authorities and to the police. However, they were not able to keep the young people safe during this period and stopping them going missing. Independent return to home interviews were carried out when young people returned to the home. These interviews helped to provide information about their whereabouts when they were missing. The manager took effective action to resolve this unsafe situation by ending one young person’s placement in February 2017. She recognised that staff could not keep him safe

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improvement to be good

and that his behaviour was having a negative influence on other young people. Young people’s individual risk assessments are comprehensive and describe the control measures required to address their identified risks. A risk assessment in response to young people setting fire to objects is in place. The manager has shared the risk of fire setting with the necessary parties to ensure that they are satisfied with her measures to reduce the risks of this behaviour. However, the reduction measures are not complete until a young person has received the planned intervention work from the fire service. The work has not yet taken place so the manager is pursuing this on a weekly basis. There has only been one restraint used since the last inspection. Generally, staff will not restrain the current young people and they use alternative ways to de-escalate a situation. The recording and follow-up to the one incident where restraint has been used

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improvement to be good

is good. The manager ensured that the individuals involved in the incident were okay and that the young person’s placement was reviewed with the social worker. Staff do not use sanctions excessively. The manager has recognised through her monitoring that positive measures are more effective. Therefore, rewards and recognition of positive behaviour are used more frequently by staff than sanctions. The manager ensures that the required recruitment checks for new staff are thoroughly completed before they start working at the home. This includes checks on staff provided by an external agency. The physical and environmental checks of the premises are conducted at the appropriate intervals. Both a day and night-time fire drill has taken place within the last four months. There have been no recorded allegations against staff or child protection referrals made to children services since the last inspection. Managers and staff are clear of their

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improvement to be good

responsibilities and lines of reporting should any concerns arise. Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 7

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

The leaders’ and manager’s admission process for accepting young people into the home requires significant improvement in order to give adequate consideration to the needs of the young people already living there. One new young person’s compatibility risk assessment highlighted numerous serious risks that put the existing residents and staff at risk. Despite these risks, the young person was offered a placement at the home. Another young person did not have a compatibility risk assessment completed because the manager was on annual leave at the time. These weaknesses resulted in young people coming to live at the home but whose needs could not be met and, therefore, had a negative impact on other young people. The manager and staff have reflected on the events of this year and discussed the young people who have moved in. They plan to refine their admission process to ensure that the home is conducted more in line with the statement of purpose. Their aim is to

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

admit children or young people who are not physically aggressive and who want to be at this home. Staff said that this will mean they will be more able to provide all young people with a nurturing and holistic environment. Staff are provided with good training in keeping with the aims set out in the statement of purpose. They have received training in ‘attachment and trauma-informed practice’ and have weekly opportunities to meet with a clinical psychologist to reflect on their experiences and direct work with the young people. Staff receive regular and effective supervision. They feel supported in their role and morale is good. There are supervision arrangements in place for agency staff who work at the home on a regular basis. Supervision meetings are a two-way process. Sessions are used to monitor the quality of staff’s practice and also to discuss points raised by the staff members. The manager ensures that communication among the staff team is good. All staff attend

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

monthly team meetings and have the opportunity to meet with the psychologist. The home’s management team also meets regularly. This arrangement ensures that important information is shared across the leadership team and that expectations of care practices are thoroughly monitored. The manager works well with other agencies. She notifies Ofsted of all significant events at the home and had good communication with an inspector when difficult decisions were being made about young people’s placements. Social workers report that staff are very good at updating the manager. Independent monitoring of the quality of care provided in the home takes place regularly. This monitoring is informative and highlights areas of concern for the manager to address, as well as areas of good practice. The manager has a detailed development plan in place that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the service provided to

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

young people. The manager strives to make improvements. Leaders and managers took effective action to satisfactorily address an anonymous complaint that came to them via Ofsted. Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 8

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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: SC411208 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Safehaven Residential and Respite Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Five Rivers Childcare, 47 Bedwin Street, Salisbury SP1 3UT

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Inspector

Guy Mammatt, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 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 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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