Children's Home run by Radical Services Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 1 SC487549 Registered provider: Radical Services 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

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is one of several operated by a private provider.

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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: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have created a warm and welcoming environment that enables young people to feel safe and appropriately secure. The home is well furnished and maintained, providing young people with a comfortable living environment.  Staff possess a good knowledge and understanding of young people’s needs and the support that they require to meet their needs. This is underpinned by effective placement planning that successfully addresses of all aspects of their development.  Staff work in good partnership with other professionals and organisations to ensure that young people receive the support and care they require.  Young people feel cared for and valued by staff. They say that staff listen to their views and opinions and take them into account, and that their views contribute to the daily running of the home.  Young people are engaged in full-time education and are making good progress in relation to their starting points.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people benefit from good access to health services, ensuring that their physical, emotional and psychological needs are appropriately met.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Door alarms, as detailed in the home’s statement of purpose, have been damaged. These need to be repaired or replaced to maintain young people’s safety.  The home’s statement of purpose published on the provider’s website does not adequately reflect current arrangements. This published version should be up to date and reflect current arrangements in the home.  The home does not currently have a computer that can be accessed by young people. This means young people do not have ready access to the internet to support their learning.  The six-monthly management review is too child-specific in content and lacks clear evaluation of the service. This report should outline success or otherwise in the service’s performance, and address areas for development in the next review period ahead. Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 08/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. This relates specifically to ensuring that door alarms are operational in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 12(1) and (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, repair or replace bedroom door alarms, which are featured in the home’s statement of purpose, to promote and maintain young people’s safety. 17/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

If a home has a website, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on that website unless the registered person considers that such publication would prejudice the welfare of children in the home. This specifically relates to ensuring that a recent copy is published that accurately represents the home. (Regulation 16 (4)) 17/07/2017

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Recommendations

 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 5 to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19)  Decide what each six-monthly review should focus on based on the specific circumstances of the home and any areas of high risk to children. The review does not need to address every part of the quality standards but should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed.

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Recommendations

The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4.)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides young people with a warm and welcoming environment that helps them to feel safe and appropriately secure. Staff show warmth, empathy and skill in nurturing positive relationships with young people. This helps them to feel safe and appropriately secure, promoting trust in their relationships. Young people are comfortable to share any worries or concerns they may have and seek the support they need. One young person said, ‘I trust staff and I feel cared for.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy the calm and relaxed atmosphere in the home. Staff regularly use humour and fun activities to engage positively with young people. As a result, most young people settle quickly into the home, achieving stability and a sense of belonging. One young person commented, ‘The home should have got outstanding. I think we are better than good.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage young people to participate fully in their placement planning. This ensures that they have sufficient opportunity to influence the care and support they receive. Young people’s placement planning is highly individual and personalised to ensure that their specific needs are understood and positively addressed. They are well supported to contribute their views and wishes during meetings and reviews to ensure that their voice is heard. One young person commented, ‘The manager makes sure she is here with me when my social worker comes. She fights your corner. She helped me to have contact with my friends in my home area.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health needs are well understood and appropriately managed. Upon admission, all young people are immediately registered with local health practitioners to promote their physical health needs. Staff are proactive in supporting young people to achieve good emotional health and well-being. Staff are good advocates for young people, ensuring that they receive timely and appropriate intervention. For one young person with complex needs, this meant that the home was successful in challenging health opinion and sourcing an external specialist adolescent mental health service to provide direct support that was not readily available in the locality. Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 6 Young people are encouraged to follow healthy lifestyles and enjoy regular exercise. One young person commented, ‘I eat healthy and I’m asked what I want on the shopping list every week.’ The home make frequent use of a local gym and trampoline centre. As well

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

as providing good opportunities for physical exercise, this enables young people to spend time with peers socialising and having fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people regularly attend school and are making good progress from their starting points. This is a considerable achievement for some young people who have been disengaged with education for some considerable time. There is a good partnership between the home and the provider’s independent school that enables staff to have a good understanding of young people’s educational targets and achievements. Staff show appropriate interest and encouragement in young people’s learning, regularly helping with homework and revision for exams. The good communication that exists between home and school is a positive factor in engaging and settling young people back into education. However, young people are somewhat disadvantaged with not having access to a computer in the home to assist them with their studies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are provided with regular opportunities to express their views and preferences. Currently, this tends to happen on a one-to-one basis with dedicated keyworkers or other staff members. Although young people’s meetings are regularly scheduled, the young people have shown little interest in these meetings, expressing their preference to simply ‘talk to staff’. Despite this, staff were recently able to get their combined views for some redecoration of the home. Together, young people were able to agree on colour schemes and on some new soft furnishings for the living room.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are placed some distance from their home authority. However, staff work well to ensure that there is good communication with young people’s social workers, independent reviewing officers and family members. Staff are proactive in facilitating young people’s contact with family, accompanying them on home visits as well as making family members welcome in the children’s home. Young people are also encouraged to have regular telephone contact with their family and friends. This ensures that young people have sufficient opportunities to keep in touch with those people who are most important to them. A parent commented, ‘I could ring anytime. The home is okay, staff cared for him well.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to experience age-appropriate independence. For some this includes learning to manage laundry, acquiring cooking and baking skills and managing on a budget. These experiences are successful in helping young people prepare for adult life.

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

Staff are knowledgeable and confident about how to keep young people safe. They are familiar with child protection procedures and safeguarding practice. Training is regularly provided to ensure that their knowledge is kept up to date and that they have a good understanding of best practice in keeping young people safe. One young person Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 7 commented, ‘Staff have protected me, I’ve never been left alone. They make me feel safe, I have no worries.’

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

The rural location of the home has proven suitable for a number of young people where child sexual exploitation (CSE) has been a concern. Staff are trained and familiar with using online resources to support young people who have been victims of such abuse. Staff show sensitivity and seek regular and creative opportunities to help those young people explore their thoughts and feelings and guide them to a better understanding about the relative dangers. One young person commented, ‘I’ve learned a lot of stuff about CSE situations. I didn’t realise at the time but now I can see the danger in some situations, like having an older boyfriend.’

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

The home is able to demonstrate considerable success in the decline of risk-taking behaviours such as going missing from home and alcohol and substance misuse. These issues have been a significant factors in young people’s previous histories. Young people rarely go missing from this home. However, on those occasions when someone has left the home without permission, staff follow them and take appropriate action to ensure their safe return to the home within a short period of time.

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

Staff show skill in managing and supporting young people’s behaviour. They are guided by careful placement planning and comprehensive individual risk assessments that help them to fully understand the risks and challenges that young people may present. Staff use a wide range of de-escalation techniques to address difficult and challenging behaviour, only ever using physical intervention when it is absolutely necessary to protect young people and staff. One member of staff commented, ‘We understand triggers and likely behaviours and use known strategies to avoid conflict and disruption. Young people are rewarded for positive behaviour and understand that consequences exist when their behaviour drops below expectation.’

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

The home provides a safe environment for young people. For example, all hazardous substances and medication are suitably locked away to promote young people’s safety. Fire safety appliances and emergency lighting are regularly checked and maintained to ensure that they can be used effectively in the event of a real emergency. However, some young people’s bedroom door alarms have been damaged and are in need of repair or replacement. While this has not significantly compromised young people’s safety, as the home has benefited recently from additional staffing that includes waking watch, it is a surveillance feature described in the home’s statement of purpose to ensure young people’s personal safety in the home.

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

Recruitment and selection practices are robust. The home follows safer recruitment practice, ensuring that all staff are appropriately checked and vetted before coming to work in the home. This ensures that young people are only cared for by staff who are deemed qualified, experienced and suitable to work with young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 8

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led and managed effectively by a registered manager who is confident in her role. She has benefited from a peer mentoring arrangement and is progressing successfully towards the completion of her level 5 qualification in leadership and management, children’s residential services. A new deputy manager has recently been appointed to the home, strengthening the management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has confidence in their management arrangements and feel well supported in carrying out their roles. The team is well established and morale is good. A comprehensive induction programme assists new staff who join the staff team. It provides time for new staff to become familiar with young people, the home and how it operates. One member of staff said, ‘This is my first experience of working in a children’s home. During my induction I found the home very welcoming and I felt quite inspired. I absolutely love it here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff continue to be supported through regular supervision. Staff also meet regularly to share their understanding of young people’s needs and the help they require. Training events are regularly scheduled throughout the year to ensure that staff have good opportunities to attend and update or renew their knowledge. Staff performance and development is formally appraised and reviewed regularly to ensure that staff possess the skills and experience required to care for young people who have varying and complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Ofsted is kept well informed of the progress of young people and activity at this home by regular monthly reports received from the home’s independent visitor. This external scrutiny, along with the registered manager’s six-monthly monitoring report, provides a good insight into how the home functions. However, the most recent six-monthly report received by Ofsted attempted to cover all parts of the quality standards and focused heavily on individual young people’s progress. As a result, it was weak in providing a critical evaluation of the service that focused on concluding with a plan to support the home’s continuous development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All requirements and recommendations resulting from the home’s last interim inspection in March 2017 have been successfully addressed. Young people’s records are well organised and maintained. Specifically, young people’s plans and assessments have improved, providing necessary and essential detail. These have been successfully improved to help the reader understand events and the progress young people are making on a day-to-day basis. Records support the positive relationships the home shares with other professionals and the considerable efforts staff make to work in partnership with placing authorities, other professionals and agencies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is adequately resourced and operates in accordance with its statement of purpose. There are always sufficient staff to meet the assessed needs of young people in the home and staffing rotas are organised to ensure that there is always at least one person on duty in the home who has a suitable first aid qualification. Ofsted is appropriately notified and provided with a revised copy of this document when changes Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 9 occur. However, the published version of this document on the home’s website was out of date and did not reasonably reflect arrangements within the home.

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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: SC487549 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Radical Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rouse House, 2 Wyther Lane, Leeds LS5 3BT

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Rebecca Dixon Nicola Jesko

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC487549 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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