Children's Home run by Teen-Works Care Limited in Sefton

Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 1 SC423460 Registered provider: Teen-Works 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 run children’s home can accommodate up to three young people 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 outstanding

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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: 15 February 2017

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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: SC423460 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people have extremely positive experiences living in this friendly, nurturing and supportive family home. The very high standard of individualised care consistently meets their needs and is improving young people’s lives. They are happier, healthier, succeeding in education and enjoy the same social experiences and opportunities as other young people.  Exceptionally strong safeguarding practice is protecting young people from harm. Young people feel safe and trusted adults take their worries seriously. Well-established and highly effective partnerships with the local police, social workers, schools and health professionals ensure that when risks to young people are identified, they are managed exceedingly well. This is making a significant difference to young people’s lives because they are considerably safer from the risks of neglect, abuse and exploitation.  An extremely positive and emotionally warm environment with consistent

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Key findings from this inspection

boundaries is providing young people with the structure they need to develop a strong sense of belonging and emotional security. Over time, young people have built trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. The registered manager and staff are developing strong research-based practice, which is providing them with a better understanding of young people’s experiences and tools to help young people to recover from trauma. These insights are supporting young people to manage their feelings constructively and make sense of their experiences.  Effective care planning and productive working relationships between the staff, families, social workers, schools and health workers mean that young people receive the best possible support in meeting all their needs. The registered manager and staff fight for young people to be safe from harm and to achieve better outcomes.  Under the registered manager’s strong and effective leadership, caring,

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Key findings from this inspection

experienced, skilled, qualified and well-supported staff provide a high quality of care for each young person. The staffing arrangements are efficiently organised to provide young people with a continuity of care that meets their needs and provides opportunities for them to form positive attachments.  The registered manager has a clear and accurate understanding of young people’s progress and the key priorities for each young person. Her effective monitoring of the quality of care and support means that she has a realistic understanding of how well the staff are promoting and safeguarding young people’s welfare and the priorities for making further improvements. Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 3 The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Enhance further the quality of the written records to show young people’s views about their experiences and progress and make sure that health and care plans clearly set out young people’s needs and how they should be met.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/08/2016 Full Good 31/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 4

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Recommendations

 Enhance the quality of written records to ensure that they represent a significant contribution to understanding of each child’s needs, experiences and progress, and how to provide them with the best possible support. In particular, make sure that: each child’s health plan provides a concise and thorough picture of their individual health needs and how they will be met; each child’s care plan sets out the actions to be taken to address any unmet need; and encourage and help each child to contribute to their monthly progress reports in a way that reflects their voice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19 and page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a safe, nurturing and positive family home. They receive a very high quality of individualised care that consistently meets their needs and helps them to achieve better developmental outcomes. The registered manager and staff’s consistent personalised support has brought stability to young people’s lives, which has helped them to feel safe and make continuous and sustained progress. Young people are increasingly happier, safer, achieving in education, healthier and emotionally resilient, building confidence in their talents and abilities. They enjoy the same opportunities as other young people to spend time with their friends, have sleepovers at each other’s houses, take part in a wide range of activities in the community, and having a summer holiday in New York.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s characters, needs, interests and family circumstances. Staff are good at finding out what works for individual young people. Staff’s excellent communication and interpersonal skills help them to build positive and trusting relationships with young people, regardless of the complexity of young people’s needs and circumstances. The registered manager and staff’s enthusiasm, understanding and commitment have a positive impact on young people’s lives. Young people feel loved and respected, and encouraged to express their individuality. They develop a strong sense of belonging because they know that staff care about them and that they are interested in their welfare. Young people know that staff want what is best for them. Staff encourage and support young people’s talents and always take their wishes and feelings seriously. The quality of the young people’s

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

relationships with the staff is helping young people over time to build emotional resilience, improve their self-esteem and to make sense of their understanding of their experiences and circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff make every effort to make sure that young people are involved in the running of the home. This includes securing their views about the Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 5 selection of new staff and staff’s performance, where to go on holiday, the decoration of the home, and the design and content of the young people’s guide. Young people make day-to-day decisions about their choice of clothes, the food they eat, and how they spend their spare time. They are also fully involved in decisions about their lives, including choices about seeing their family, education and training and plans for their future. The registered manager and staff balance young people’s views against what they judge to be in each young person’s best interests and then they work out the best way forward.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Effective care planning and strong working relationships between the staff, families, placing authorities and other people involved in young people’s lives mean that they get the support they need on a daily basis. Everyone works extremely well together to ensure that the relevant plans for each young person’s care are reviewed on an ongoing basis to reflect their progress and continue to meet their needs and circumstances. Staff’s individual work with young people is focused on specific issues identified in young people’s plans and emerging issues, including relationships with their families, education, personal safety and worries about the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before the registered manager agrees for a young person to move in, she completes thorough assessments of the young person’s assessed needs, staff’s ability to meet them, and their compatibility with the other young people already living in the home. This thorough approach usually means that young people stay for a number of years and make significant progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff work hard to ensure that young people get the right support and guidance to help them develop their life skills and prepare for moving into their own accommodation. Young people are fully involved in planning their futures. Young people have every opportunity to develop practical life skills, including shopping, cooking and managing money. They are also helped to learn to drive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carefully planned arrangements help young people to spend time with their parents, families, friends and other people important to them. Staff work positively to help young people maintain and build meaningful relationships, understand their identity, feel part of their family and to improve their self-esteem. Staff work sensitively with young people and their parents, brothers and sisters to try to overcome any difficulties and to rebuild relationships. This includes making sure that seeing family and friends is a safe and positive experience for young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff provide structure, stability, encouragement and opportunities for young people to take part in education and to learn and develop their knowledge, skills and talents. The staff help young people see the importance of education in terms of enjoyment and for their future prospects. They work hard to tackle any barriers to young people’s learning; for example, how a young person’s lack of emotional security is affecting how well he is doing in school. Their priority is to work hard to help him secure and meet his basic needs well and gradually encourage his learning. Staff are interested in young people’s progress, always attend parents’ evenings and work well with schools, colleges and the virtual school headteacher to Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 6 support young people’s education. Staff have identified that a young person was struggling to understand the work he had been set and talked to his teachers about

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

making sure that the work was at the right level to meet his learning needs. Like any good parent, the staff have provided young people with additional support to improve their chances of success. Arranging extra Spanish lessons for one young person successfully improved his results. Since moving in, young people’s school attendance and achievements have improved significantly. Young people show an impressive commitment to gaining qualifications. One young person is on target to achieve good GCSE results next year. Another young person is busy completing level 2 in hairdressing and looking at working towards higher qualifications.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff make sure that young people have lots of opportunities to enjoy leisure time and develop their talents and interests, including playing football for local teams, going to the gym and cinema, and enjoying singing lessons. They also enjoy summer holidays abroad and days out to the countryside. Staff do their utmost to ensure that young people have every opportunity to participate in activities that they may show an interest in. This is helping young people to gain confidence in their abilities, have fun, acquire new skills and improve their social and emotional skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a healthy environment. Their physical health continues to improve because they have healthy and nutritious diets and get plenty of exercise. The staff support and encourage young people to attend health appointments. Young people receive good support from health services to meet their needs and staff members help young people to understand about healthy lifestyles. Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s specific health needs and manage their health with sensitivity and confidence. Staff closely monitor young people to make sure that they are healthy, and ensure that young people always get suitable medical advice and treatment when they are feeling unwell or they are concerned about their health. When young people are reluctant to attend health appointments, staff persevere to make sure that they attend eventually and receive the treatment they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people live in a homely, pleasant and comfortable place, which is furnished and decorated to a very high standard. They have plenty of personal space and their bedrooms and bathrooms are tidy and decorated to reflect their characters and interests.

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

The registered manager and staff have created an open and exceptionally strong safeguarding culture in this home. Young people feel extremely safe and are protected from harm. They feel able to talk to staff and know that they are listened to and that their worries are always taken seriously. A young person said, ‘I’m OK here and I can talk to staff.’ The excellent safeguarding arrangements protect young people and promote their welfare. The registered manager and staff manage risk safely and meet all the statutory requirements, including in relation to preventing extremism and the risk of sexual exploitation. The staff have a detailed knowledge of individual young people’s risks and vulnerabilities to abuse and exploitation. They are vigilant and take prompt and Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 7 decisive action to deal with any concerns about the young people’s safety. The registered manager and staff have extremely strong and effective relationships with the

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

local police, social workers, the local authority, schools and health professionals. This well-established professional network works together successfully to identify the risks facing young people and to take appropriate action that protects them. The registered manager is tenacious in making sure that concerns about young people are taken seriously and that young people get the right support from partner agencies. Young people, as a result, receive the help that they need to keep them safe. They are now significantly safer from the risks of self-harm, child sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation and violence in the community.

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

Young people usually do not go missing from this home. Staff help young people to understand the risks and dangers involved if they go missing, and make sure that they know how to get help. Young people are very good at keeping in touch with staff when they are out and usually come home on time. On the occasions when young people have gone missing, staff always act quickly to try to find them by actively looking for them, making contact with their family and friends and informing the police and social workers. When there have been concerns that a young person is going missing more often or may be at risk of exploitation, the registered manager has appropriately called a multi-agency risk management meeting to assess and manage the risks for the young person. When young people return home after being missing, they always have the opportunity to see an independent person to talk about what happened and the reasons for them not

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

Staff continuously assess the risks to individual young people and make sure that the arrangements for their care protect them. They balance protecting young people effectively with enabling them to take appropriate and reasonable risks to promote their personal growth. Staff take reasonable precautions to promote young people’s confidence and independence in the community, and to promote their understanding of how to use social media safely. Staff work with young people to help them to understand risks and to develop the skills to keep themselves and others safe. This has included helping young people to understand what makes a healthy and supportive relationship, and to learn the skills to resolve disagreements positively. Young people recognise that other people may encourage them to do things that may not be in their best interests or maybe harmful. This has included a young person making the positive

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

choice not to use drugs or alcohol, even when some of his friends do.

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

Staff clearly understand young people’s vulnerabilities and the risks associated with self- harming behaviour. They are very aware of the signs and behaviour that individual young people show when they are struggling emotionally. Staff recognise quickly when young people may be in a low mood or are quieter than usual and they seek to find out what is wrong. Staff listen to young people very carefully and respond effectively to help them. They always acknowledge how the child is feeling, try to understand the problems, provide calm reassurance, and work together to find a solution. This exceptional support is helping young people to feel safe and has encouraged them to ask for support from counselling services. Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 8 Young people’s behaviour is exceptionally good because staff build positive behaviour through trusting and meaningful relationships. Staff provide young people with clear and

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

unambiguous expectations for behaviour. They constantly praise, reward and celebrate young people’s achievements. The use of specific incentives for each young person, for example additional time using the laptop to play games, is helping young people understand the benefits of positive behaviour. Young people are significantly less likely to show aggressive behaviour. When young people have struggled to manage their feelings safely, they show a clear understanding that their behaviour was not acceptable, the impact of their behaviour on other people, and the maturity and skills to put things right.

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

The registered manager and staff’s work with young people is informed by a detailed understanding of attachment theory. They clearly understand how young people’s experiences and circumstances may leave them feeling anxious, frustrated and angry. They also understand that young people may struggle to trust adults. The registered manager and staff are using research about adverse childhood experiences and recovering from trauma to think of ways to engage with a young person who appears reluctant to accept help or join in activities. They have identified that he needs time and structure to start to form positive relationships and feel safe. They are trying to achieve this by providing him with clear routines in his everyday life, including regular meals, bedtimes and school, and clear boundaries. This work is still very much in its infancy, but staff have been able to measure some progress in relation to the young person’s

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

behaviour at home and through his improved school attendance.

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

The registered manager ensures that members of staff go through an extremely thorough and careful recruitment and selection process that prevents unsuitable people from working at the home. She makes sure that staff have the right personal qualities, enthusiasm, experience, skills and values to work with vulnerable young people. She collects all the available information about them to make the right decisions about a person’s suitability. This includes verifying by telephone information about a person’s practice, experiences and abilities from previous employers. Young people always take a significant part in the selection of new staff. They devise questions for the interview, share their views about what makes a good member of staff, and get the chance to talk to candidates and show them around the house. The registered manager always takes their opinions into account and their views influence decisions about the best people to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is highly experienced and suitably qualified. She has been providing consistently strong and effective leadership in this children’s home since 2011. She is very ambitious for young people to feel safe, to be happy and to do extremely well. This ethos is easily seen in every aspect of the quality of care that young people receive. The registered manager and staff make sure that young people are living in a caring, nurturing and fun family home that meets their needs and enables them to reach their full potential. Consequently, young people invariably make significant progress in all the areas of their development after they move into this children’s home. Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 9 The registered manager has a detailed understanding of the progress that each young person is making and ensures that they are cared for in line with their agreed plans. She is also quick to identify when young people are struggling and takes suitable action to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

make sure that they get the best possible help. The registered manager and the staff have productive and collaborative working relationships with social workers, schools and health services. They work together effectively to secure positive outcomes for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leaders and registered manager have created the right environment for staff to provide young people with a high standard of care and consistency. The staffing arrangements ensure that there are sufficient knowledgeable, experienced and skilful staff available to meet all the young people’s assessed needs. The highly motivated and competent members of staff clearly enjoy spending time with young people and are keen to make a positive difference to young people’s lives. Young people are looked after by people they get to know well. They receive the continuity of care that helps them form positive attachments and relationships with the people caring for them each day.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides each member of staff with excellent support, guidance and encouragement. Staff have regular opportunities through practice-related supervision and team meetings to reflect on young people’s progress, their own performance, and to share and develop their skills and knowledge. The registered manager encourages members of staff to use their initiative and suggest new ways of working with young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager supports and encourages staff to develop expertise through good-quality training relevant to the needs of the young people. Staff have appropriate qualifications in residential childcare, teaching and mental health. New staff complete well-designed and thorough induction programmes that equip them well for carrying out their roles. Leaders and the registered manager encourage and support staff to develop professionally, including completing the relevant childcare level 3 diploma and helping them to work towards higher qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Thorough external scrutiny by an independent person and the registered manager’s detailed reviews of the quality of care give the registered manager a detailed understanding of how well young people are being supported to meet their assessed needs. The findings inform the registered manager’s dynamic and specific development plan, which she uses to continue to improve the standard of support that young people receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The written records clearly show the quality and impact of staff’s work with each young person. Key-work records and monthly reviews of young people’s placement plans provide an in-depth analysis of young people’s progress and reflect critically on the effectiveness of the support that they are receiving, and identify priorities for their individual care and personal development. This accurate information is helping to give a detailed picture of young people’s lives that contributes to a better understanding of Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 10 their lives, feelings and worries, and the support that they need. However, some written records do not always provide a full picture of young people’s needs and how they are being met. Health plans are not ways detailed enough, care plans do not always set out clearly the work needed to support young people, and the monthly progress reports do not show young people’s view about their experiences.

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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: SC423460 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lonsdale & Marsh, Orleans House, Edmund Street, Liverpool L3 9NG

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 12 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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