Children's Home run by My Choice Children’s Homes Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 1 SC359832 Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is one of nine children’s homes operated by a private company.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

Good

How well children and young people are helped and protected Good

p.1

Good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

p.1

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

Good

Date of last inspection: 23 January 2017

p.1

Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

 Young people build strong trusting relationships with staff. This helps them to talk about difficult issues and learn better ways to manage their difficult behaviours. Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 2  Young people’s safety is prioritised and their views are respected.  How young people move in and on to live somewhere else is well thought out and managed effectively.  Young people’s involvement in how the home runs means that they are assisted to develop independence skills for later life and develop a sense of belonging.  The staff build good relationships with others, which helps them to work together to support young people effectively.  Staff are very good at managing difficult behaviours based on a detailed knowledge of each young person’s needs.  Leaders and managers know the strengths and weaknesses of the home and use these to improve any shortfalls they identify.

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Health and safety checks in the grounds do not ensure that all areas are maintained appropriately.  Young people’s engagement with formal education or employment is poor.  Records of one-to-one discussions with young people are not child friendly and may reduce young people’s ability to reflect on what has been discussed.  Guidance for staff on what they are expected to do should a young person go missing does not include sufficient information.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2017 Full Good 30/08/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 3

p.2

What does the children’s home need to do to improve?

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (2)(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(2)(d)) In particular, that the safety of the grounds is reviewed and action taken to ensure the oil storage tank poses no risks to young people and staff. 18/08/17

p.3

Recommendations

 Measurements of progress should include qualitative information, such as how well the child is being prepared for their next stage of education, training or employment. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.2) In particular, retain evidence that shows how staff support young people to re- engage with their education and participate in learning when not in education.  Records must be kept of the administration of all medication. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15) In particular, ensure that medication records provide adequate space for staff to clearly record all aspects of medication administration.  The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including

p.3

Recommendations

the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28) In particular, make clear the provider’s expectations about how staff should respond throughout the period during which a young person is missing.  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20) Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 4 In particular, the registered person should ensure that they are clear about what the regulatory framework requires in relation to all areas of practice and ensure that their policies and procedures adequately take these into consideration.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are very positive about living here and how staff look after them. One said that it’s, ‘great here’ and, when asked why, the young person said it was because the staff, ‘really care’. Young people make good progress which reflects their individual needs and circumstances. External professionals are impressed by the strong, meaningful relationships staff have with young people. They consider that these relationships help young people to discuss difficult feelings and issues, learn to be more independent and have their health needs met effectively. Young people improve their health as a result of living here. Staff are particularly skilled at supporting young people in improving their emotional well-being. Staff build strong links with relevant health professionals so that they can provide suitable healthcare for young people, understand particular health risks, and have access to prompt medical support should this be necessary. Medication management is well

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

organised and reviews include assessments of the skills of staff members. However, medication records do not conform to the medication administration records provided. This means that there are more possibilities for medication errors to occur and the accuracy of records is difficult to check. Education is supported and encouraged. However, no young person is currently in education or employment. No young person currently accommodated is of compulsory school age and staff are working to re-engage young people with their education. For example, staff have helped one young person to apply for an apprenticeship. They also take opportunities to engage young people in learning things through any interests they show. Learning about the stars on a starry night was used as a starting point to look at constellations and space. A young person developed her mathematics and investigatory skills when costing a holiday. Staff do

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

not always utilise learning opportunities for young people, nor do they regularly record the educational work that they do. This absence of clear recording makes it difficult to evaluative how thorough or effective this work is. Young people’s independence skills are well planned and recorded. Young people increase their abilities to look after themselves through formal programmes of support which are integrated into everyday life. Staff use every opportunity to help young people develop and know about how to manage their adult lives in the future. This enables young people to take this at their own pace and develop appropriate skills for living independently. Young people are involved in their day-to-day lives and the decisions made about them. They develop a sense of belonging and self-worth and staff provide sensitive support to young people about their identity when appropriate. Staff listen to young

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 5 people’s views and explain the reasons why these cannot be acted on if this is the case. Young people are aware of advocacy services and staff will offer to act as an advocate if young people want them to. Young people make changes to their behaviours because of their greater involvement in the home. For example, one young person causes less damage to the property because she was involved in repairing and replacing items. Complaints are quickly dealt with and appropriately managed. There has been one complaint from a young person since the last inspection. Staff treated her concerns respectfully and involved her in the final outcome meeting. This enabled the young person to have a say in how this was resolved and to confirm she was satisfied that the complaint should be closed. The premises reflect young people’s tastes and needs. As they put it, they have

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

added a little sparkle to the lounge. The young people’s bathroom needs refurbishing. Managers have plans to complete this in the near future. Staff thoughtfully support young people to move in or on to another home. Staff help young people to retain ties and good memories of their time here. They skilfully involve young people in how this move happens. For example, staff celebrate young people’s time living here and find ways of creating a lasting memory for the young person and others, such as a poem written by the young person being hung on the wall of the home.

p.5

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

Young people feel safe here and staff help them keep themselves safe. The approach enables young people to engage with staff to reduce risk and reflect on any concerning behaviours that they may display. Young people are rarely restrained and infrequently go missing. One young person has gone missing more frequently; however, this usually occurs when the young person is on contact. Staff discuss the reasons for this behaviour with her and have raised their concerns with the local authority about contact arrangements. Up-to-date risk assessments cover the range of young people’s needs. However, in some instances, the risk assessments lack sufficient guidance to support staff in knowing what action they are expected to take. In particular, risk assessments regarding young people going missing give insufficient guidance of what staff should do to search for a young person once they have gone missing. Staff do not,

p.5

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

therefore, necessarily take all possible actions to find a young person as quickly as possible. Staff work effectively to safeguard young people. They know the safeguarding concerns for each young person and they keep themselves and others updated if these change. Staff appropriately refer any concern to the relevant safeguarding agency. They help young people understand risks that they take and to develop lifestyles which result in their being less at risk. The staff team has learned from a previous safeguarding concern and taken steps to ensure that this would not occur again. Staff challenge any lack of response from other agencies in order to keep young people safe, and make appropriate decisions about how to manage risk in any Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 6 circumstances where they have not yet had guidance from a local authority. For example, the manager has challenged one local authority which did not keep to the

p.5

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

agreed protocol to protect a young person. One-to-one discussions (key-work sessions) with young people support them to make better choices and to keep themselves safe. The manager has identified and is working with staff to improve how these one-to-one discussions are structured and recorded. Records are detailed and provide a good picture of how staff help young people to think about achievements and issues in their lives. However, these are not written in a child-friendly manner. This reduces opportunities for young people to easily reflect on their successes, progress and the challenges of the future. Health and safety is managed well within the internal environment of the building. The manager has a number of monitoring systems to ensure that staff undertake required checks which protect young people’s health and safety. However, the checks on the home’s grounds are not as well performed or monitored. The oil tank

p.6

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

for the heating system in the garden has no security measures to prevent unauthorised access. In addition, a tree in the garden requires attention and there were nettles which fell across pathways around the house. The managers ensured that all three of these issues were noted for action in the maintenance plan during the inspection.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leadership and management are effective. Since the last inspection in February 2017 there has been a change of manager. The new manager has relevant experience of working with young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. She has applied to Ofsted for registration and is undertaking the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential care qualification. The change of manager has worked well and the current manager has successfully introduced changes which have assisted young people’s care to remain stable through this period. Staff are positive about how the new manager supports them and the changes she is introducing. Young people did not report any concerns. The manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She takes action to ensure that any shortfalls are acted on. For example, she has ensured that the requirements and recommendation made at the last inspection were met. In

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

particular, she has focused on further developing young people’s participation in the home, which has resulted in young people engaging better with each other and staff. Sufficient suitably qualified and trained staff are on duty at all times of the day. Staff training plans support them to develop appropriate skills and knowledge to care and support young people’s individual and collective needs. Staff support systems meet their needs. Regular supervision takes account of a particular specific situation of individual staff members. It celebrates their strengths and assists their development. The provider is in the process of developing some safeguarding scenarios which managers can use to monitor staff’s safeguarding Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 7 knowledge and competence on an ongoing basis, which will further strengthen this practice. Relationships with external professionals are very strong. Professionals were

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

extremely complimentary about the home and staff team; they would recommend it to others. They have confidence in the staff, who they consider support young people well and maintain good communication with them. One independent reviewing officer was particularly positive about how staff manage risks in conjunction with other services, such as health professionals and the youth offending team. Monitoring and reviewing systems are improving. There is a better foundation for considering how the services benefit the young people who live here. The manager is developing systems to ensure that required actions and records are monitored effectively, but this is not fully operational in all areas of practice. The manager has increased the information staff record as a part of the night check and is developing staff members’ understanding of monitoring and review systems. One member of staff has recently been identified to assist her in completing the six-monthly reports

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

on the quality of services provided. Leaders and managers do not have a good working knowledge of the regulatory framework and underpinning guidance that relates to a children’s home. This impedes them from knowing what to monitor and review and what action Ofsted may take if it identifies any shortfalls. For example, the statement of purpose did not fully meet the requirements of legislation, although this was rectified during the inspection.

p.7

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.

p.7

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: SC359832 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd, Unit 3a, Mill Green Business Estate, Mill Green Road, Haywards Heath RH16 1XQ

p.8

Inspector

Ruth Coler, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9