Children's home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Lancaster

Inspection report children's home: SC479632 1 SC479632 Registered provider: Hopscotch 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

The children’s home is operated by a small private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five 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 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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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff provide a warm and nurturing environment where children feel safe and appropriately secure. Inspection report children's home: SC479632 2  Young people are settled. They share good relationships with staff and show each other mutual respect.  Young people’s rights and views are well supported. They say they feel listened to and feel able to talk to staff if they have any worries or concerns.  Staff prioritise the importance of young people’s education and work in good partnership with placing authorities and education providers to ensure that young people’s needs are appropriately met.  Young people’s health needs are well understood and kept under review. They have good access to local healthcare provision, ensuring that their healthcare needs are promptly assessed and addressed.  Young people are well supported to keep in touch with family and friends to ensure that they maintain and have time to develop those relationships that are

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Key findings from this inspection

most important to them.  The registered manager is ambitious for young people and is effective in supporting and motivating her staff team to make a difference in young people’s lives.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 29/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC479632 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

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25 (1) (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring that fire extinguishers can be easily accessed by all staff in the event of an emergency, and the staff have a clear understanding of arrangements should any fire equipment be relocated within the home. 31/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child, and ensure that they are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1) (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This has particular relevance to item 20 listed in the schedule: the date and result of any review of the placing authority’s plan for the care of the child. 31/08/2017

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Recommendations

 Each child should have permission for staff to administer first aid and non- prescription medication from a person with parental responsibility for them recorded in their relevant plan. For children looked after, this permission should be sought and arranged by the child’s social worker. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.14.)  Ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non- Inspection report children's home: SC479632 4 stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4.)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has experienced a very settled period of late. Young people clearly benefit from the warm and nurturing home environment staff create. Their care is highly personalised, ensuring that all their specific needs are comprehensively addressed. Young people are thriving and making good progress from their individual starting points. A local professional regularly visiting the home commented of one young person, ‘He has made fantastic progress while he has been there.’ Staff encourage young people to take an interest in the appearance of the home, especially personalising their own bedrooms to reflect their particular taste and interests. They acknowledge the good quality of the relationships they share with staff and appreciate the support provided. One young person commented, ‘The house is very chilled. If you listen to staff, they listen to you. They are good and they try to help us out. They pretty much do everything for us.’ A social worker said, ‘When I visit the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

children’s home it feels as close to a home as possible and there are clearly strong relationships between the staff and the young people.’ Another social worker commented, ‘I’m impressed with the home. The respect other young people show is rubbing off on him.’ Young people’s rights and views are prioritised and well understood by staff. This successfully contributes to the smooth running of the home. Young people say that staff ‘always listen to them’ and that they do not have to wait until a young people’s meeting or an individual session with their key worker to be heard. Staff encourage and support young people to participate in their planning and review processes. For one young person, this proved to be an exceptionally positive experience. With his key worker’s support, he was able to attend and participate throughout his looked-after review for the first time in a number of years. The young person felt immense pride in this

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

achievement. His self-esteem was considerably boosted. Young people’s health needs are well understood and provided for. They are able to access both routine and specialist healthcare support locally to meet the range of their individual needs. All young people are registered with local health professionals to ensure their good access to assessment and treatment when required. The company has commissioned clinical psychologist support staff to provide advice and guidance in relation to young people’s emotional and mental healthcare needs. Young people’s needs are regularly assessed and reviewed to ensure that they get the appropriate support to optimise their emotional well-being. During this inspection, it was noted that for one young person there was an absence of written consent from the placing authority to medical treatment. This fell short of good practice to ensure in the event of an emergency that the young person could receive prompt attention and treatment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inspection report children's home: SC479632 5 Young people are well engaged with education and making good progress from their starting points. For those who were completely disengaged from education prior to coming to the home, this has been a considerable achievement. The home works in good cooperation and partnership with schools and education providers. Strong links have been established with education inclusion teams and virtual head teachers. This has enabled the children’s home on more than one occasion to challenge and negotiate improved bespoke education packages for young people when they have identified educational arrangements as being insufficient to meet young people’s needs. Staff are proactive in supporting young people’s learning. In addition to helping young people with homework and study, they are creative in providing learning experiences within the home and community. Staff encourage young people to pursue their own individual interests and hobbies. For

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

some, this includes joining and training with football clubs, attendance at army cadets, golf, and snooker. This ensures that young people have good opportunity to experience new sports and interests, have fun with staff and peers and have opportunities to form other relationships outside of the home. Staff actively promote young people’s independence. The young people are encouraged to participate in meal planning, shopping and food preparation. Additionally they undertake domestic tasks around the home, including keeping their own bedrooms clean and tidy. More intensive support is provided to those young people closer to achieving independent living to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge and experience of such things as managing finance, housing and work experience. Young people are well supported to keep in touch with family and friends. Staff communicate regularly with family members and social workers. They are flexible, taking

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

young people to visit family members as well as having family and friends visit the children’s home. Parents and placing authorities speak highly of the home and the support young people receive. One parent said, ‘I think they are doing a great job. He’s very settled. They phone me nearly every day, and also once a fortnight. They keep me well informed.’ A placing authority commissioner also reported, ‘We couldn’t have asked for more. Their approach is very different. They have helped him to engage and feel safe. The home has gone over and above our expectations.’

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

Young people say they feel safe and well protected in this home. One young person commented, ‘It’s homely here. It’s not like a care home. No one can mistreat you and I feel safe here.’ Another said, ‘The staff are really good to me. I can talk with any member of staff.’ Young people’s safety is at the centre of care planning and staff have a good understanding of young people’s individual vulnerabilities. Risks are understood and careful planning ensures that these are appropriately addressed and action taken to minimise the potential of harm. Due to the investment young people have in living in this home, they rarely go missing from home or leave without staff permission. However, there have been two recent episodes when young people have been reported missing and returned within a short Inspection report children's home: SC479632 6 space of time. These occurred during a difficult few days following the admission of a

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

new young person to the home. Staff acted promptly and in accordance with procedure, ensuring that young people returned to the safety of the home without delay. Young people are routinely provided with good opportunities to talk to staff and someone independent of the home on their return. One young person rationalised his behaviour by commenting, ‘I didn’t know I was coming here. My social worker didn’t tell me.’ Staff treat young people with warmth and respect and act as good role models, showing compassion and understanding. Staff encourage young people’s positive behaviour, clarifying what is expected of them and providing small rewards and incentives to motivate them. Young people are supported to understand that it is human to make mistakes and how to move on positively from these. As such, young people are able to recognise those occasions when behaviour is deemed less than acceptable and accept

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

consequences. One social worker commented, ‘The home has provided him with the supervision, boundaries and guidance that he requires and he has so far thrived in their care.’ Staff are proactive in supporting and promoting young people’s behaviour. Successful behaviour management planning ensures that staff have a good understanding of what may trigger challenging or unacceptable behaviour. It also ensures that staff are consistent in their approach with young people. They are skilled in using distraction and de-escalation techniques, ensuring that restraint is only ever used as a last resort and in accordance with regulation. For one young person specifically, this has meant a significant shift for him in learning how to deal with his emotions without staff needing to intervene physically. One professional stated, ‘We couldn’t have asked for more. They have helped him to engage and feel safe.’ Overall, the home is attentive to ensuring their responsibilities for health and safety are

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

fulfilled. Emergency lighting, alarms and firefighting equipment are regularly checked and maintained. Regular fire evacuation drills are carried out to ensure that young people are rehearsed on how to leave the home should there be a real emergency. However, due to one young person tampering with fire extinguishers, a small number of those previously located in hallways have been relocated into the staff sleeping room to prevent further misuse. Although staff are aware and understand the reasons for this action, the home’s fire risk assessment does not address this temporary change of location for these fire extinguishers or detail any necessary steps to ensure that all staff have immediate access to the room, avoiding any delay should a fire occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s registered manager demonstrates confidence in her leadership and management skills and is proving to be highly effective in leading and managing this home. Management arrangements are now well embedded and the registered manager has overseen some significant improvements within the home since she took up post. The registered manager is passionate to ensure that young people are provided with a high quality of protection and care, and she conveys this well to her staff team. As such, the staff team are well motivated to ensure that young people achieve stability and Inspection report children's home: SC479632 7 enjoy a consistency of care that supports their good progress. Staff value the advice and guidance they receive on a day-to-day basis from their manager, alongside the more structured staff supervision and appraisal arrangements. New staff receive a thorough induction programme, which has supported them to gain

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

skills and confidence prior to taking on their new roles. Consequently, they feel appropriately supported and confident in their role. Staff training is wide-ranging and appropriately prioritised. This ensures that they have good opportunities to keep up to date and successfully develop their professional practice. This enables them to continue to meet young people’s varied and complex needs. The registered manager’s internal monitoring activity complements the home’s external monitoring arrangements to provide a critical evaluation of the home’s performance and activity. Together, these arrangements successfully inform the home’s continuous development. There were no requirements or recommendations made during the home’s last inspection in March 2017. The home continues to further develop skill in planning for young people’s admission to the home while effectively supporting others to make successful transitions from the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

home. The home works closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that planning is well coordinated and effective to help young people make good progress. The home is operating in accordance with its statement of purpose and demonstrates transparency in keeping Ofsted and other relevant parties informed of any concerns or events as they arise. There has been one reported complaint concerning the home since the last inspection. However, this was formally investigated by the police and concluded with no further action necessary. The home works in good co-operation with partner agencies and has appropriate systems in place to respond to any formal complaints or concerns which may be raised. Young people’s information is safely and securely stored, ensuring young people’s rights to confidentiality and privacy. Their individual files and records are generally well written and maintained, ensuring that there is a good account of their day-to-day living, plans

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

and achievements. These successfully identified progress made and help to direct future planning effectively. However, on this occasion it was noted that there was a shortfall of statutory review minutes in two young people’s files. Despite some notes being taken by the manager and staff attending the review, these were not routinely filed with young people’s records. As such, the proposed actions and detail of who is responsible for these are not readily available to all staff. In addition, there was some use of colloquialisms in records that did not accurately reflect what was meant. Placing authorities say that they are highly satisfied with the standard of care offered by the home. One social worker commented: The staff have been fantastic in meeting his needs since he arrived at the home. They have been brilliant in contacting me to share relevant information and send me weekly reports as to his progress. I have no criticisms of the home and believe

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

that he will continue to flourish in their care. Inspection report children's home: SC479632 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. Whenever 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 and 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: SC479632 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Lancaster Road, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9LD

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC479632 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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