Children's home run by Choices Home for Children Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 1 Registered provider: Choices Home For Children Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is a recently registered home. It is one of a number of homes operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make very good progress from the day that they arrive.  Young people have extremely positive relationships with staff. They also get on well with the other young people who they live with.  Young people feel happy and safe at the home. They thrive in a nurturing and supportive environment.  Staff have a good understanding of the young people’s needs and risks. Staff support them to make safer choices.  Staff know the young people well and they support them to develop their individual interests and aspirations.  Young people receive continuous and dedicated support, which enhances young people’s lives and enables them to achieve their full potential.  Young people engage well with education. They are making very good progress in their learning and development, and they are meeting their individual goals.  Staff support young people to have regular contact with their family. They help

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

young people re-engage in positive relationships with their families.  Staff have excellent relationships with other agencies and communication is very good. Other agencies are extremely positive about the home and the positive progress young people are making.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The statement of purpose does not reflect the range of needs that young people that live at the home have. Subsequently, some needs and risks are not identified and responded to in a timely way.  Risk assessments and plans do not reflect the young people’s needs and risks. They have information missing and are generic in nature.  The internal quality assurance system and management oversight is not robust enough. Consequently, practice is not routinely monitored and elevated. Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 3

p.2

Recommendations

 Homes are required to develop and keep under a review a statement of purpose and notify HMIC of any revisions (regulation 16 schedule 1). The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose indicates how the home provides individualised care to children in its care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards,’ page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and make sure that the plans in place to manage these risks are clear. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards,’ page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should develop and implement an internal quality assurance monitoring and reviewing system to ensure that practice is consistently good and ensure the continuous improvement of practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards,’ page 55, paragraph

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make very good progress living in the home. From the day they arrive, they make positive changes. Staff provide good, individual care that reflects young people’s needs and risks. However, not all needs and risks are satisfactorily assessed, and some areas of concern are missed. The statement of purpose has a clear focus on child sexual exploitation and staff have a good understanding of this area of practice. However, some young people have other needs and risk-taking behaviour. There is not a consistent assessment and response to these needs and, thus, young people’s care planning misses key needs and risks. Nonetheless, young people are cared for to a very good standard and are settled and happy living here. The relationships that young people have with staff are strong. Young people benefit from trusting and nurturing relationships, which enable them to feel safe and well cared for. Young people also develop good relationships with each other. They talk about

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

caring for each other and understand that they all have individual needs, which they receive support for. Young people enjoy going on joint activities together. They also support each other through difficult times. Two of the young people recently supported each other when they marked the loss of a loved one through releasing a balloon into the air. Young people receive good encouragement and support as they develop their interests and try new things. Should a young person exceed in a specific area or skill, staff Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 4 actively seek ways to access coaching and mentoring to support this. One young person has recently joined the local football team and says that he enjoys this, and another young person has horse-riding lessons. Furthermore, staff explore other interests with young people and encourage them to try new things. Staff inspire young people to progress and learn things that are a challenge to them. Young people speak fondly

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

about living at the home, their relationships with staff and each other and all the activities that they do. They are looking forward to going on holiday together over the summer holidays and speak fondly of the place that they are going. Young people are doing well in their education. When young people arrive at the home, they have poor educational attendance and attendance. Some young people have not been in education for a number of months. Young people soon start engaging in their education and make positive progress. One young person is accessing individual tutoring during the summer holidays with a clear aim and desire to gain as many qualifications as they can while living here. Their tutor speaks very highly of the young person’s commitment, determination and achievements. Young people are encouraged to achieve their full potential within their education and learning. They also receive support to

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

access educational provision that will meet their short and longer-term needs. For one young person, a school place was secured in a school near to their family address. This was to support the future transition back home. The young person was excited about going to school near their home and talked about having friends there, which made her feel happy. The home is welcoming, homely and well maintained. It has a positive atmosphere and is reflective of the young people living there. Young people are encouraged to personalise their home and there are pictures of young people around the home. Young people display their artwork on the walls. The young people benefit from a warm and nurturing therapy room. They speak positively about this room and enjoy spending time there. Young people have clear routines and boundaries, which have a positive impact on their behaviour, development and progress. While young people are not always in agreement

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

with the routines and boundaries, they understand that these procedures are there to keep them safe and speak about how they have helped in the positive progress that they have made. Young people are actively involved in the running of the home. They have regular young people’s meetings where they discuss issues, and agree actions, which progress in a timely way. Staff understand that young people have different cultural needs and support them in celebrating religious events, such as Eid, and eating food that they would have with their family. Young people assist with the food shop, and they prepare and cook food, which the young people and staff enjoy. Young people are actively encouraged to integrate into the local community, although not all young people are keen to do this. Some young people say that the home is isolated. They say that they ‘would like to pick the house up and put it in a less rural

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

location’. One young person, however, has developed friends in the local area and sees them on a daily basis. The young people also access local amenities, such as a slate park, which they enjoy. Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 5 Young people receive support to develop independent skills. Staff can see the progress that young people make and are able to develop independent plans accordingly. Young people can see that they have more opportunities to be independent and are trusted to make good decisions when they are unsupervised. This can be in their community or on long journeys home to see their families. Young people also receive support with practical skills, such as budget planning and menu preparation and planning. Young people receive the support that they need to understand and manage their behaviour, which enables them to make good choices. For example, young people that previously went missing from home now resist from this risk-taking behaviour. Young

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

people benefit from a nurturing and consistent approach. Subsequently, young people settle very quickly, and behaviour incidents reduce considerably. When incidents have occurred, these have been managed safety. However, staff are not always consistent in exploring the issues that have led to this behaviour, or how they can support the young people to manage their feelings in ways that are more positive. Young people receive support to access the services that will assist them in meeting their identified needs. Staff liaise with other agencies well. However, on occasion staff do not act on information that arrives with the young people. Furthermore, when further additional needs are identified, staff do not routinely respond to these in a timely way. This means that staff do not have a full awareness of all the young people’s needs and, as a consequence, they do not access the specialist services that the young person

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

needs. Young people have regular contact with their family. This increases from supervised to unsupervised in a planned way. Young people look forward to seeing their families and have an understanding that, as their risk-taking behaviour reduces, they have more opportunities to see their families without the support of staff. One young person now visits her mother for overnight stays for the full weekend. The young person speaks positively about this. Furthermore, the young person can see how the support from the home has helped in improving the relationship with their mother, by providing the opportunity for them both to receive therapy to explore and improve their relationship. If families need any help with contact, staff will offer the practical and emotional support needed. This enables young people to build positive relationships with their families. Staff promote the achievements of the young people and praise them regularly. It is

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

evident that young people thrive on this and this encourages them to develop their interests, skills and abilities. Young people’s progress and achievements are captured in weekly and monthly feedback, monitoring and recording. The manager shares these with social workers and families, which enables them to see the progression and achievements that young people are making. Young people also have scrapbooks and memory boxes, which capture their positive experiences and progress.

p.5

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

Young people live in a safe and supportive environment. There is a real sense of care and compassion throughout and young people are responding positively to this reassuring atmosphere. Staff are very calm and caring in their approach and young people respond well to this. Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities to keep Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 6 young people safe. As a result, concerning behaviours considerably reduce and young people become content and settled. Young people say that they feel safe and that they now have an insight into their previous risk-taking behaviours. They go on to say that they now make safer choices. Two young people say that they know they would not be where they are if they had not come to live here. Young people benefit from specifically focused direct work. This work is planned, focused and relevant to the young people’s needs and societal influences. Appropriately

p.5

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

trained staff undertake this work. Young people also benefit from one-to-one sessions with a qualified therapist. This supports young people to understand their individual needs, risks and vulnerabilities and, furthermore, how they can develop the skills to manage these safely, both now and in the future. However, on occasion, direct work is not undertaken. This particularly relates to incidents whereby risk-taking behaviours occur, and where staff do not identify these and explore them with young people. Young people’s placement plans reflect the young person. They are young person- focused and highlight what the young people like and what they do not like. However, local authority documentation is not always up to date and, thus, current issues are not recorded. The monitoring of need, risk and the progress young people make is good. Monthly individual development plans are in place for each young person, which show

p.6

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

the progress made, and aims and objectives for the future. Young people are very much part of the process and are encouraged to complete these plans with staff. Young people’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans do not reflect young people’s risk-taking behaviour. They are generic and basic. They do not support the reader to understand each young person’s hazards, risks, and trigger points. Nonetheless, risk-taking and challenging behaviour reduces and staff have a good understanding of trigger points. Staff are able to use this knowledge to intervene at the very earliest opportunity. Young people respond well to this. As a result, heightened and risk-taking behaviours reduce. Staff and young people are clear about the standards of behaviour that are acceptable. Young people respect this. Staff receive training on behaviour management and the safe use of restraint. Staff are able to respond quickly to issues that arise. Subsequently, staff

p.6

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

manage and de-escalate incidents effectively with minimal need for physical intervention. When physical intervention is required, staff do this in a sensitive way and records are good. Furthermore, young people and staff receive supportive and meaningful debriefs. The recruitment and selection of staff is sufficiently robust. However, there are some errors made. Reference checks do not always identify previous employment where the member of staff has worked with children. The organisation has recently reviewed this and practice has changed, which ensures that a reference is requested for any previous employment with children. In addition to this, discrepancies in the timeframes of employment are not always explored prior to candidates taking up their role. Staff are vigilant and take appropriate steps to verify a visitor’s identity to protect young people. Health and safety checks are completed and this ensures a safe living environment. The

p.6

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

community risk assessment is in place and reflects all potential hazards and risks in the community. However, it does not identify the hazards that are within the vicinity of the home’s location, such as access for the emergency services, or a barn that is located close by with working machinery in it. While young people receive information about the Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 7 restricted zones around the property, there is no clear risk assessment and safety plan in place. Staffing levels are very good. This allows young people to have access to the levels of support that they need. In addition to this, appropriate staffing levels ensure that young people have the required safeguards in place and that the management of risk and need is effective. The home has good links and very positive relationships with other agencies. This supports the help that young people need to keep them safe and achieve good

p.6

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

outcomes. Social workers speak very positively about the manager and staff. One social worker said, ‘I think that the team at [name of home] has been absolutely incredible with [name of child]. He is a different child now to when I placed him. [Name of child] was such a complex character and they have really built such warm relationships with him and dealt with his individual issues appropriately.’

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A suitably experienced registered manager manages the home. While he has only been a registered manager for a short period, he has a considerable amount of experience in residential childcare. He is also working towards his level 5 diploma. A deputy manager supports the manager in effectively running the home. The management team has worked for the company for a considerable amount of years and the team members work within its ethos. They lead by example and are very child focused. The team seeks young people’s feedback and provides a variety of opportunities for young people to share their wishes and feelings. The management team listens to the young people and ensures that they are kept up to date with any information that is relevant to them. Staff are suitably qualified or working towards this. The team members work very well together and provide consistent care for young people. All staff have a clear

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

understanding of the needs of young people and they help them make good progress. Staff provide young people with consistent, positive messages that help them to grow in confidence and build up their self-esteem. Young people are clearly responding to these reinforced positive messages. They are happy and safe and enjoy living here. Staff say that their line manager supports them. They say that he is approachable and helps them to develop as a practitioner. They are encouraged to develop their knowledge and skills further and have access to carefully selected training that meets the needs of young people. The manager identifies and researches other areas of practice development and shares this with staff to enhance knowledge and skills, for example learning about the law on sexual communication, and Eid. Staff receive quality supervision, although sometimes it is not in line with the supervision policy of once per month. Nonetheless, when it does take place, it is focused,

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

meaningful, and reflective in nature. The home benefits from an external monitoring process that supports the home to develop. This process has supported the initial developments of the home. Internal monitoring is in place. However, the monitoring does not monitor some key areas of practice. Consequently, recording is sometimes ambiguous and, on occasion, there are Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 8 gaps. The evaluation of practice is not yet established. Thus, managers do not have full oversight of practice. This limits the opportunities to help staff to develop. Furthermore, staff do not routinely identify the needs and risks of young people in a timely way. The manager has an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and the home is making very good progress. A six-month development plan was set when the home was registered. The plan is young people-centred and has ambitious, yet

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

achievable, targets. In a reasonably short period, the manager and the staff have established a home that has good foundations for further positive developments. Liaison with other agencies is excellent. Agencies speak extremely positively about their relationship with the home and the progress that young people are making. They receive regular updates of the progress young people are making and any incidents are reported in a timely way. This strengthens effective safeguarding arrangements for young people and young people benefit from this partnership approach. A social worker said, ‘The level of communication is faultless. [Name of manager] and other staff members keep me regularly updated, and each Monday I receive a weekly progress report which gives me an overview as to how [name of young person] is doing.’ The social worker goes on to say, ‘This placement has been valuable for [name of young person] and it has been

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

refreshing to see [name of young person] flourish and make positive changes. We need more placements like [name of the home].’

p.8

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.8

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: 1252125 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Choices Home For Children Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Choices Home for Children Limited, 31 Wellington Road, Nantwhich, Cheshire CW5 7ED

p.9

Inspector

Lisa Gregoire-Parker, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1252125 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.

p.9

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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10