Children's home run by Derbyshire County Council in Derbyshire Dales

Inspection report children’s home: SC441513 1 SC441513 Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

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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 home provides care and accommodation for up to six children and young people who have learning disabilities. It is owned and managed by a local authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC441513 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make excellent and sustained progress in all areas of their physical and emotional development.  Young people receive exceptional care from a committed, nurturing, and inspirational staff team.  The managers and staff understand the difficulties faced by families. They provide families with the help, reassurance and support that they need to maintain relationships with their children.  Young people have grown in confidence and are trying new activities. Where once they were anxious and worried, they are now outward looking and confident.  The young people are significantly safer because the incidents of self-harming behaviour have decreased. The quality of life for some young people has dramatically improved because of this.  Managers treat any incident of behaviour management extremely seriously and use excellent analytical tools to identify trends and patterns.  The staff team receives excellent support from managers.

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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

 Staff should have access to training on caring for young people with autistic spectrum disorders.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/09/2016 Full Good 17/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/10/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC441513 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) This is with particular reference to training on autistic spectrum disorders.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people make excellent progress. Staff have an in-depth knowledge of each young person’s needs and treat them all as individuals. The staff use a variety of communication methods with young people. They use symbol and picture communication to good effect. Very effective communication helps young people to make excellent progress. One grandparent stated, ‘The staff have done a marvellous job. I have nothing but praise for what they have done for my grandson.’ The managers and staff work very well in partnership with families. Staff and managers understand the difficulties faced by families caring for young people with learning disabilities. The staff ensure that there is excellent communication with families to provide them with all the information that they need about their children. One family member wrote, ‘Staff are fantastic and very professional, always on the phone. The thing most helpful was a text or call every evening.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people who move from the home to adult services receive exceptional help and support. Managers and staff really understand the challenges young people face when moving from the home. They prepare young people with thoughtful, careful explanations and diligent planning. Young people have a choice about where they want to move. Staff take young people and their family members to view potential placements and ensure that young people have sufficient information. Good partnership working takes place between managers, social workers and the adult care placement provider. The transition plan is subject to regular review. Moves take place over time and at a pace that suits the young person. This thoughtful and careful approach helps young people to make a successful transition, and continue to progress when they move. Young people become more confident and secure. Some had previously displayed socially anxious behaviours, such as not wanting to eat with others, or engage in group

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

activities. The same young people now eat with others, show excitement about group activities and enjoying going on holiday. Young people take greater pride in their appearance and engage in age-appropriate activities, such as going to concerts and other live events. Young people present as happy, contented, and enthusiastic about their lives. Inspection report children’s home: SC441513 4 The managers and staff embrace the diversity of young people. Young people receive support from staff to participate fully in their religious communities. Some young people have needed support to understand changes in their bodies because of puberty and adolescence. The staff have provided information and detailed guidance to help young people understand the physical and emotional changes that they are going through. This thoughtful work, dispelling the uncertainty and confusion that often accompanies developmental changes, has been hugely beneficial to young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The education of young people remains a high priority for the manager and staff. The young people attend a local school. Their educational attendance is excellent. Information sharing between school and the home takes place daily in both written and verbal forms. Staff at the home and school complete daily diaries for young people. Staff from the home will also provide teachers with a verbal handover of information at the start of the school day. School achievement targets are transferred home. This means that the home and school work towards the same objectives, increasing the likelihood of success. These targets are subject to review at personal education meetings and formal reviews of care to ensure that they remain ambitious and achievable. A social worker for two young people stated, ‘Both the young people are doing really well and both have come on really well.’

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

The safeguarding of young people is the primary concern of the manager and staff. Staff implement consistent behavioural boundaries that young people understand. These boundaries provide young people with a feeling of safety and security. Staff have high expectations of young people and communicate these expectations very clearly. There have been occasions when the staff have had to use physical intervention to keep young people and staff safe. These interventions have been proportionate. Detailed recording enables highly effective evaluation and review of restraint practice. The staff and young people receive excellent debriefs that provide support and enable lessons to be learned. The deputy manager completes a detailed analysis of all behaviour management incidents. He uses this analysis to support the training of staff. The information is also used in the completion of behaviour support plans. His analysis demonstrates that there

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

have been fewer incidents of challenging behaviour, and that the staff team is adept at managing challenging behaviour. Some key information from analysis included:  Incidents of self-injurious behaviour from young people have decreased.  Aggression from young people has decreased.  Anxiety at mealtimes and during personal care has decreased. The managers and staff have made significant progress in helping young people who harm themselves to reduce and stop this behaviour. One young person had previously used protective headgear because she repeatedly banged her head. Because of the remarkable progress achieved, the young person no longer requires headgear. The anxiety leading to the behaviour has lowered and her quality of life has significantly improved. Individual risk assessments for young people are exemplary. They are detailed and take into account the risks and vulnerabilities of each young person. The assessments take

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC441513 5 into account information from partner agencies and others with a good understanding of the young person. The documents set out the specific risks and actions required to manage these risks. These documents are completed in a specific team meeting held to review and update risk assessments. These meetings harness the views of all staff that know the young person. By fully including staff, managers ensure that risk management plans are comprehensive and implemented consistently. New staff receive robust and effective vetting before commencing work at the home. They receive a thorough induction and spend time observing experienced colleagues. They complete all core training, and read the young people’s files. New staff then spend time building positive relationships with young people and understanding how to communicate before working independently. This attention to detail enables very high

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

quality care to be delivered. The manager ensures that effective action is taken following significant incidents. When concerns have been raised over the behaviour of staff, a comprehensive investigation is completed to ensure that young people are fully protected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team is ambitious and constantly strives to improve the service. The registered manager demonstrates considerable clarity of direction and focus. He has an appropriate management qualification. Additionally, he is undertaking the level 5 diploma in leadership and management. He receives excellent support from two deputy managers who have a good level of experience, knowledge, and skill. They work together well. They each have designated areas of responsibility for service development and all share the same determination to drive the service forward. Young people enjoy living in a safe and well-maintained environment. They live in self- contained flats. This means that they can use cooking facilities and socialise with other young people. The flats and young people’s own rooms are decorated to a high standard. The young people enjoy and take a pride in their rooms and living areas. Young people also benefit from having a well-equipped sensory room and ball pit, as

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

well as the use of a hydrotherapy pool. Consequently, the young people enjoy, and make the most of, their home. Staff receive high-quality supervision. This helps them to provide excellent care for young people and aids their own professional development. Supervision meetings between the staff and managers take place monthly. Staff report that they enjoy supervision and feel well supported by managers. Staff feel that their views are important and matter. The managers undertake development reviews with staff. Recently, the organisation has developed a career pathway for those staff that may wish to develop into management. However, although there are a number of young people with autistic spectrum disorders, there is no bespoke training course for staff in this area. Staff members have mutual respect for each other and benefit from regular opportunities to meet and share ideas. Team meetings take place monthly. The manager

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

has promoted team meetings to help ensure that attendance is good. He encourages staff to attend because he knows these meetings are crucial in achieving good staff Inspection report children’s home: SC441513 6 communication. Staff enjoy team meetings and have the opportunity to share ideas and approaches to care. Managers are strong advocates for young people. They support young people and will complain on their behalf. For example, one young person was planning to attend a concert and was treated poorly by the venue. The managers complained on behalf of the young person, ensuring that her rights were upheld. This was excellent practice. The manager responds quickly to any complaints or concerns from young people. He will meet with them and seek to understand their concerns. He responds quickly and resolves any complaints to the satisfaction of young people, when possible. The manager regularly writes individual letters to young people, using symbols, to highlight

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

their strengths and achievements. He seeks the views of young people and their families to improve the service, and ensures that the views of young people are central to the development of the service.

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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: SC441513 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3AG

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Inspector

Phillip Morris, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC441513 8 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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