Children's home run by Esland North Limited in Amber Valley

Inspection report children's home: SC063794 1 SC063794 Registered provider: Esland North 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 provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. At the time of the inspection, the home provided care to two young people. The service is operated and managed by a private organisation.

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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

Date of last inspection: 31 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children's home: SC063794 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make rapid and significant progress in respect of their behavioural, social and emotional development.  The staff’s positive approach to education means that young people quickly overcome barriers to their learning. As a result, they achieve academic success.  Staff provide young people with the skills, knowledge and opportunities to keep themselves safe.  Resilient and committed staff work hard to develop trusting and respectful relationships with young people.  Staff take every opportunity to listen to young people and advocate for them.  Excellent relationships between staff and partner agencies ensure that young people receive a coordinated approach to their care.  Managers and staff have high aspirations for young people.  Passionate, child-focused managers provide good support to staff.  Young people receive consistent care in line with the statement of purpose.

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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 registered manager has recently resigned and a suitable replacement has not yet been identified.  Staff changes have caused some young people to feel unsettled at times.  Staff have not fully assessed and reviewed the use of bedroom door alarms to ensure that they meet the needs of young people.  In one instance, staff planning was not sufficient to ensure that a young person’s transition to his new placement was successful.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/09/2016 Full Good 31/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC063794 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— any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised and allows children as much freedom as possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 09/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must appoint a person to manage the home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider is not, or does not intend to be, in day- to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a)(b)(iii)) 10/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home, and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)) 09/09/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person demonstrates every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted. This includes ensuring that the employment of temporary staff will not prevent the children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1) Inspection report children's home: SC063794 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Intuitive staff tailor their care to meet young people’s individual needs. An independent reviewing officer told the inspector, ‘This has been one of the success stories. The support that she has had from staff has been excellent.’ As a result of staff support, young people make significant progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to develop positive relationships with young people. They make sure that they are available when the young people need them the most. For one young person, evening chats with staff before bedtime allows her to offload and share how her day has been. This sensitive approach helps her to manage her feelings of anxiety. Young people are surrounded by adults whom they feel able to open up to. Young people recognise that the staff care about them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide young people with many opportunities to voice their opinion and contribute to the care they receive. One young person said, ‘Staff do listen to me, yes, or most of them do. I have made a few complaints. I always get a good outcome.’ Young people believe that their opinion matters. They are empowered to speak up about the things that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some young people do not like the home’s rural location. Although young people say that they like the house and the staff, one young person expressed a clear wish to move to a less rural location and closer to her family. Staff have advocated the young person’s views to her placing authority. In the interim, staff have facilitated contact between the young person and her loved ones so that she feels less isolated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a clear expectation that young people go to school. The staff's matter of fact approach means that young people who have a history of non-engagement quickly engage in learning. An education professional told the inspector, ‘I like working with [the staff], they are excellent. We have a joined-up approach to working with young people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

With encouragement and guidance from staff, both young people have recently completed GCSE exams. Both young people are now exploring further education opportunities. Young people believe in themselves and are highly motivated. One young person wants to start her own business and the other is aspiring to be a barrister.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote young people’s health and well-being. They ensure that young people access relevant services, such as the optician, dentist and specialist counselling services. For those young people who are reluctant to engage with external counselling services, staff take every opportunity to consider and respond to young people’s emotional health needs. Staff encourage young people to talk and open up about what is causing them to be anxious or upset. Staff support young people to become more resilient. Inspection report children's home: SC063794 5 Staff enable young people to develop the skills that they will need for adulthood. Both young people are currently learning to manage their own budgets for food and clothes. Like a good parent, staff act as a safety net. They provide a home-cooked meal when a young person has not appropriately prioritised what to spend their money on. Young people learn and develop in an environment in which it is safe to make mistakes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On one occasion, the staff did not prepare a young person well for their next steps. The staff did not understand the type of placement a young person was moving to. Consequently, they did not prepare the young person for what to expect. The impact of this was that the young person’s move was unsuccessful and alternative emergency arrangements had to be made.

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

Staff are consistent in their approach. Young people mostly adhere to the clear boundaries that staff provide. The staff use rewards and praise to promote positive behaviour. A social worker said, ‘Their interventions and the way they develop relationships mean that young people buy into what they have to do.’ Skilled staff de- escalate challenging situations well. As a result, they rarely need to use physical intervention to keep young people safe.

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

Staff take every opportunity to encourage young people to make positive choices. A social worker told the inspector, ‘I have been incredibly impressed with [staff]. [The young person] has an extensive history of going missing. I have seen such a significant change even though it has only been a short time. She hasn’t even attempted to go missing.’ Dedicated staff provide young people with positive alternatives to risk-taking behaviours. As a result, young people become increasingly safe.

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

Although young people rarely go missing, staff plan well for such events. They follow clear missing from care protocols. When young people do go missing, staff act quickly and decisively, helping to end the incident swiftly. When young people return to the home, staff focus on reassuring them and understanding why they felt the need to go missing, rather than imposing punitive measures. This approach helps the staff to learn from each incident and develop more effective plans to keep young people safe.

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

Young people who are potentially vulnerable to child sexual exploitation are supported to develop the skills and knowledge to keep themselves safe online and in the community. Equally, staff are not risk averse and when the time is right they allow young people to have free time, access to a phone and the use of the internet. This ensures that young people learn to take responsibility for their own safety and have the means to do so.

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

Managers have not fully considered and reviewed the appropriateness of using bedroom door alarms. As a result, they cannot evidence that these are necessary and proportionate to meet the needs of young people. Although this has not had a significant impact upon young people, the habitual use of door alarms detracts from the domestic feel of the home. Inspection report children's home: SC063794 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has recently and unexpectedly resigned from her post. Despite the short notice, the registered provider has acted swiftly to appoint an interim manager, drafted in an experienced deputy manager and put in place weekly senior management visits to the home. As a result, the potential impact of this vacancy has been mitigated. Furthermore, the registered provider is taking steps to appoint a suitable long-term replacement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The loss of the registered manager is, however, compounded by a number of staff changes over the last 12 months. This created staff vacancies. It is positive that these vacancies have now been filled. A core group of experienced staff who have worked at the home for a lengthy period provide a level of stability and consistency for young people. Furthermore, the use of agency staff has been avoided. Staff have drawn upon a pool of bank staff who are familiar to the young people. Notwithstanding this, one young person has found the changes to staffing a little unsettling at times and it has caused her some anxiety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing changes have not had an adverse impact on young people’s progress. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘I know there has been a change of manager and I don’t think this has had a big impact.’ Young people receive personalised care in line with the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff use internal and external monitoring effectively to understand the quality of care afforded to young people. Staff supervision, team meetings and training contribute to a supportive environment in which staff continually develop their skills. This enables them to provide young people with the best possible support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have formed collaborative working relationships with a range of partner agencies including the police, schools and local authorities. This ensures that staff understand young people’s needs well and put in place the necessary support to help them thrive. Staff advocate for young people. For example, the timeliness of a move to semi- independence for one young person is being reconsidered because the staff have supported her to voice her opinion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback obtained by the inspector from partner agencies is overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic about the quality of care young people receive. Furthermore, a recent report from a local authority commissioning service noted, ‘There is a real sense that the staff are very committed to the young people as individuals and understand their individual backgrounds, needs, interests and aspirations. They are encouraged at every opportunity.’ Inspection report children's home: SC063794 7

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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: SC063794 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Paul Robinson, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC063794 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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