Tundra House

Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 1 SC043814 Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services 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 owned children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for 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 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

Date of last inspection: 11 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people have trusting and warm relationships with staff.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people have fun with staff doing activities like swimming, ice skating, bowling and trips out.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Sensitive staff listen to young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make significant progress in education, independence, managing their behaviour and talking about their feelings. Young people mature.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have aspirations for young people and are proactive in providing them with stimulating learning opportunities.

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Key findings from this inspection

 When young people leave, staff support them before, during and after their transition.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home is comfortable and young people are engaged in making it more homely.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are highly trained and experienced.

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Key findings from this inspection

 When young people go missing staff follow them and liaise closely with the police, the local authority and young people’s family members.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Regular review of detailed risk assessments enables staff to safeguard young people effectively.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people, parents and professionals say that staff keep young people safe. Staff help young people to become increasingly safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager and the team are strongly child focused.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager advocates on behalf of young people and challenges other professionals if she considers that young people’s needs are not being met.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff work effectively with other agencies to meet young people’s needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Professionals provide very positive feedback about the service. Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 3 The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some staff do not have up-to-date training in administering and recording medication.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The shared living rooms in the home are in need of redecoration, and there is no garden furniture for young people to use outside.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have used door alarms on young people’s rooms and locked the kitchen at night without sufficient review of the young people’s risk assessments.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There are not always sufficient staff to guarantee that young people will be provided with consistent care.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The locality risk assessment needs to be updated.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/08/2016 Full Good 27/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 4

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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

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

ensures that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1) and (2) (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the training to correctly maintain medication records. 15/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

ensures that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1) and (2) (d) (e)) 15/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46 (1)) 15/09/2017

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 5 In particular, redecorate the shared rooms in the home, and provide a kitchen table and garden furniture.

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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Recommendations

In particular, review the risk assessments regarding the use of bedroom door alarms for each young person and locking the kitchen at night.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people form warm and trusting relationships with dedicated and child-focused staff. Young people enjoy humour and jokes with staff, who engage them in fun activities like swimming, ice skating, bowling and trips out. The home is comfortable and young people like their rooms, which they have personalised. One young person is particularly keen on helping to make the shared living rooms more homely. He has chosen ornaments and suggested improvements to the garden. Young people are able to feel relaxed and settled in this welcoming environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have aspirations for young people and actively search for opportunities for them which will enhance their experiences and future plans. Staff have enabled two young people to gain places on college courses for the autumn term, which will enable them to develop skills in football and mechanics. Young people are looking forward to these courses.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make significant progress during their placements in education, independence, establishing family contact, managing their own behaviour and talking about their feelings. Young people become more mature. One young person worked hard to improve his behaviour and was delighted to be given the bedroom that he wanted as a reward. Young people feel that staff listen to them. They know how to complain and can confidently discuss any concerns with staff. Young people attend young people’s meetings where they can express their views, wishes and feelings, plan menus and activities and raise any other issues that they want to talk about. Staff enable young people to feel part of the home, and to feel that their achievements are recognised and rewarded. Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 6 When young people move out of the home, caring staff help them prepare for independence and support them throughout the move. After they have left, staff

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

continue to support young people by calling round to see them and being available on the phone. One young person, who has recently left, has benefited from this support and successfully settled near the home in her own accommodation, and has a new job. This provides a very positive message for young people in the home. They see that they can trust staff to help them through the challenges of becoming independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An area for improvement is the decoration of the home, which is in need of refreshing. Young people would also benefit from having some new garden furniture. This would make the home feel even more welcoming and enable them to make the best use of the space in good weather.

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

Highly trained and experienced staff work with young people to help them keep themselves safe. Key-work sessions discuss a range of important issues including the risks associated with going missing, safe sex, relationships, behaviour, free time and drugs.

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

The registered manager reviews and updates detailed risk assessments and behaviour management plans on a regular basis. They are also updated whenever incidents occur. This ensures that staff are fully aware of any changes to the risks to young people. This enables staff to plan and respond appropriately in order to keep young people safe. Behaviour management plans include valuable information for staff, including strategies outlining how to respond to behaviours and risks.

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

Young people become increasingly safe. They take more responsibility for coming back as agreed after free time, and listen to staff. When young people do go missing, staff are very proactive and follow them. Staff work closely with the police and the local authority to report young people missing, find them and ensure that they are safe and well. The social worker for one young person said: ‘The staff keep him safe. When he goes off they follow him and continue to search, they keep on searching. The local authority and staff are working together to sort out him having free time, as this is causing him to run off at present. The staff work with me is excellent.’

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

Staff know each young person well, which enhances their ability to help young people understand risk and think before engaging in unsafe behaviour. Staff are very effective at de-escalating tensions, and these positive relationships help young people to talk to staff when they are distressed or worried. Young people say that they feel safe, and professionals echo this. The independent reviewing officer for one young person commented that the staff show, ‘real commitment in ensuring that young people are safe’.

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

One young person commented that he is unhappy about having a door alarm on his bedroom, and that sometimes staff lock the kitchen at night. Staff have used these Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 7 measures to alert them should young people attempt to leave the home at night. However, staff have not reviewed specific risk assessments to ensure that these measures are required, or that their continued use is justified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager holds a level 3 diploma in health and social care and is currently undertaking her level 5 diploma. She has been a registered manager since November 2015, and has over ten years’ experience of working with children and young people in residential childcare. Staff either have a level 3 diploma or are undertaking the qualification. All staff are trained in first aid.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is child focused and takes a hands-on approach to the young people, evidencing in-depth knowledge and understanding of their care needs. Her highly committed staff provide young people with care that enables them to settle and make progress in their placements. The registered manager and staff advocate on behalf of young people and challenge local authorities when young people are not receiving the support or attention that they need. The registered manager has recently supported a young person to have free time. This is appropriate for his age, and his need to become more independent. His social worker has responded to this and is working closely with the home to ensure that the free time is managed safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides staff with regular supervision, which encourages reflection and enables them to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff speak positively of the manager. One staff member commented that she loves working at the home and feels strongly supported by the registered manager and the team. Staff attend team meetings where they can express opinions and make suggestions about ways to improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is aware of the strengths and areas for development of the staff. She is addressing their skills in the use of the new recording system and ensuring that all staff are trained in the playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy (PACE) model of working with young people. She uses supervisions and team meetings to ensure that new staff members are fully appraised of all areas of practice, procedure and polices, and that the knowledge of established team members is refreshed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well run. The registered manager ensures that complaints are dealt with fairly, and any shortages in staff practice are addressed. Staff are generally well trained. All training is relevant to the needs of the young people. Handover records are clear and are valuable working documents. The registered manager gathers feedback from young people, staff and professionals to inform her view of the service and her plans to drive up standards further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work effectively with a wide range of professionals in order to identify and meet the needs of young people. These include social workers, the police, health and education, prospective employers and therapists. Professionals provide very positive feedback about the service. One social worker said, ‘She is a brilliant home manager. Young people and Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 8 social workers get a very good service. The manager and staff really care about the young person, it’s not just a job to them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Areas for improvement are the need for all staff to have up-to-date training in administering and recording young people’s medication. The locality risk assessment needs updating. There have been some staffing shortfalls due to staff changes, illness and annual leave, which have not had a significant impact on the care of young people. However, the registered manager needs to ensure that there are sufficient staff to provide consistent care for young people at all times.

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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 differences 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: SC043814 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC043814 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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