Children's home run by Cherish Children’s Care Limited in Fylde

Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 1 SC476868 Registered provider: Cherish Children’s 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 home is owned and run by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children or 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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: 27 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good progress from their starting points and enjoy day-to-day life at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 2  Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff. Staff take time to listen to young people and understand what is important to them.  Young people’s views, wishes and feelings are listened to and acted upon.  Staff understand the barriers that young people face to engage in education and work to support them to achieve.  Structured therapeutic programmes promote young people’s emotional well-being.  Young people enjoy a wide variety of activities, which helps them to achieve, grow in confidence and independence.  Young people are supported to reduce their engagement in risk-taking behaviour, such as being missing from home.  Managers and staff work positively with partner agencies, who report good levels of satisfaction with the service. Transitions into the home are well managed, with

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Key findings from this inspection

young people having the opportunity to visit before moving in.

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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

 Risks to some young people’s safety and well-being are not clearly identified or reviewed. Furthermore, risk management plans are not always followed.  Safeguarding procedures are not always followed correctly in terms of reporting to external agencies in a timely fashion.  Some young people’s care plans do not contain fully up-to-date information in relation to areas such as education and contact.  Current data protection arrangements do not sufficiently protect young people’s personal information.  Quality assurance monitoring systems are not used effectively to identify and respond to practice issues, patterns and trends. This means that opportunities for improvement are lost.  Arrangements to ensure that significant events are notified to Ofsted without delay are not consistently effective.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/07/2016 Full Good 25/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 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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The protection of children standard

12. (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure — (a) that staff — (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; In particular, risk assessments must be factual, up-to-date, contain sufficient information, including strategies to manage risks, which must be followed at all times. (Regulation 12(2)(a)) 08/09/2017

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12: The protection of children standard

12. (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure — (a) that staff — (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(2)(a)) 08/09/2017

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13: The leadership and management standard

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must — (2)(f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of 08/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 4 the quality of care provided in the home; (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(f)(h))

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21: Privacy and access

The registered person must ensure that — (a) the privacy of children is appropriately protected; (Regulation 21(a)) In particular, that children and young people’s personal information is maintained in a confidential manner. 08/09/2017

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40: Notification of a serious event

4) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if — (b) an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; (c) there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; (e) there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(b)(c)(e) 08/09/2017

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Recommendations

 The following elements of the workforce plan should be included in the Statement of Purpose: (in accordance with Schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20)) the arrangements for supervision of staff practice, including external supervision of clinical practitioners. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.10)  The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand and where possible, address any negative trends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.19)  Both the arrangements for contact and any contact details (telephone numbers, etc.) must be included in the placement plan agreed between the registered person and the child’s placing authority and updated regularly. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph

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Recommendations

11.15)  Staff need to have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 5 and training targets and their next steps for learning. If a child’s progress is not in line with their agreed targets or next steps, staff should seek expert advice from education professionals, such as the Virtual School Head, SENCO, learning mentor or teacher. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.11)  Registered persons have a key role in seeking to develop the home’s effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons which may include services, individuals (including parents), agencies, organisations and establishments that work with children in the local community, e.g. police, schools, health and youth offending teams (regulation 5 – engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)  Some records may be kept electronically (regulation 38) provided that this information can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. Electronic records should be held at the individual home in accordance with data protection principles. IT systems should ensure the safe storage of these records and business continuity planning should be in place to prevent loss or damage to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from good-quality care and support, which is tailored to meet their individual needs. The majority of young people make good progress from their starting points, for example by growing in confidence and showing increased emotional well- being. A social worker commented, ‘[X] is a different child, he even looks physically different. He struggled to engage with anybody when he first came. Now he is always out and about, really enjoying himself. He gets on really well with all the staff. He has grown in confidence. He is able to talk about how he feels now, which is a huge step forward.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person has been admitted to the home since the last inspection. Careful consideration was given to the young person’s needs and whether they could be met before agreeing to offer him a place. The young person’s introduction was well planned, with arrangements for him to visit the home on several occasions before moving in. This gave him the opportunity to meet staff and other young people and find out about life at the home. It also enabled managers and staff to plan his care effectively. Well-planned introductions help to ensure that young people settle quickly and receive the right care and support from the outset.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people in a positive manner and take time to understand the things that are important to them. Good-quality direct work is a strength of this home. Staff Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 6 take time to plan direct work in a thoughtful way so that it is meaningful to the young person. This means that young people are more likely to engage with direct work and benefit from the opportunity to explore things that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager ensures that young people are aware of advocacy services. She took steps to discuss the benefits of an independent advocate with young people in a recent meeting and as a result, one young person chose to engage with advocacy services. Having access to an advocate helps to ensure that young people’s wishes and feelings are represented.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage young people’s involvement in the general running of the home. Young people’s meetings are regularly held, during which they are consulted about their views and opinions. Young people have recently been involved in planning the home’s refurbishment. One young person explained that he had chosen the colour scheme for the lounge and said that he enjoyed having this responsibility. Listening to and acting upon young people’s views gives them a say about their day-to-day lives and helps them to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are examples of positive work carried out with young people to support the relationships that are important to them. For example, some good outcomes have been achieved in relation to the quality of contact that young people have with their family members. However, one young person’s care plan lacks detail regarding important matters relating to contact. Increased information and guidance for staff would help to ensure that they are aware of how to support the young person’s contact arrangements in a safe and effective way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from structured therapeutic intervention, which is planned and overseen by an in-house therapist. The therapist provides direct support to young people, which is carefully planned in conjunction with external professionals, such as mental health workers. The therapist also works closely with the staff team to ensure that their work is supported by the staff on a day-to-day basis. The effectiveness of the therapeutic intervention is regularly monitored through ongoing assessment and evaluation. This helps to ensure that young people receive effective and responsive care, in line with their changing needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to enjoy good health. Each young person has a healthcare plan in place, which details arrangements for their routine care, as well as any specific healthcare needs they have. Staff support young people to engage in healthy lifestyles, ensuring that they have the opportunity to be active. For example, during the inspection, young people were observed going out for a bike ride with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff work closely with young people to help them overcome their barriers to education. Outcomes have been variable for the young people. One young person is achieving excellent attendance at his full-time placement and staff closely support him to maintain this progress. Other young people have struggled to maintain their education placements and have experienced changes in their provision. Managers and staff work positively with educational professionals to support the young people. One education Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 7 professional described effective communication with the home. However, this is not always supported by formal planning and recording. One young person’s care plan did not include up-to-date information about his current education provision. It was also noted that this young person had not had a formal education planning meeting since his admission to the home. This lack of planning could result in a young person not

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

receiving the support they need to succeed in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are provided with the opportunity to engage in a wide range of activities; examples include cinema trips, cycling and visits to various places of interest such as a football museum. One young person talked about going to see football matches with staff, which he enjoyed very much. Young people have also recently enjoyed camping trips and short-break holidays with staff. Providing opportunities such as these helps young people to develop skills and confidence and enhances their day-to-day lives.

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improvement to be good

The care and support that young people receive helps to keep them safe. From their starting points, there is a demonstrable reduction in young people’s high-risk behaviours, such as being missing from home. This helps to reduce risks to their safety and well- being.

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improvement to be good

Staff are provided with training in safeguarding, which is regularly updated. They demonstrate good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and express confidence in the registered manager to deal with any concerns in an effective manner. However, this inspection highlights shortfalls in some aspects of safeguarding. The home’s statement of purpose states that there is a designated safeguarding officer in place. However, the registered manager confirmed that this was not the case and that there was no internal designated safeguarding officer identified at the home.

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improvement to be good

Clear safeguarding procedures are in place, which are designed to help to ensure that any safeguarding concerns are immediately shared with the relevant agencies. However, on one recent occasion, the correct safeguarding procedures were not followed. This failure to follow safeguarding procedures resulted in a delay in an allegation being referred to all the relevant parties. This omission had potential to compromise the subsequent investigation.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager has an overview of all safeguarding concerns raised at the home. However, these reports lack information in relation to the action taken as a result of the concerns. There are no chronologies in place to provide details of action taken or the outcomes of investigations. The registered manager advised that these would be available at the organisation’s head office. However, this information should also be retained by the registered manager to demonstrate effective safeguarding processes and to ensure that any potential learning is identified and cascaded to the staff team. A requirement is raised in relation to safeguarding practice.

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improvement to be good

There is a range of risk assessments in place for each young person designed to assess Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 8 risks to their safety and well-being. Some risk assessments are of a good standard and include detailed guidance for staff about how to support young people in a safe manner. However, others do not fully reflect changes in young people’s circumstances and have not been updated to reflect new information. For example, one young person had a risk assessment in place that did not include new risks identified in relation to his behaviour. This means that staff may not have all the necessary information required to maintain young people’s safety.

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improvement to be good

It was also identified that on occasion, staff failed to follow guidance about managing risks to young people. For example, one young person had a risk management plan in place, which stated that he should be supported by two staff when travelling in a car, due to risks relating to his behaviour. It was identified that on a recent occasion, the young person had been supported to travel a significant distance in a car with only one staff member. In addition, the young person had been transported in the car at a time when his behaviour was heightened and an adverse incident was narrowly avoided. In discussion, the registered manager advised that a ‘dynamic risk assessment’ had been completed to ascertain that travelling in this manner would be safe. However, there was no record of the rationale for this decision and it was difficult to ascertain how it had been reached. This meant that the young person was not sufficiently protected from

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improvement to be good

harm. A requirement is raised in relation to managing risks to young people.

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improvement to be good

The young people who live in the home do not frequently go missing. Individual assessments and protocols address any risks associated with young people being missing from home. Clear guidance is in place to inform staff about the actions they should take to reduce the risks to young people if they are missing. Staff understand young people’s vulnerabilities to exploitation and work positively with partner agencies to ensure that these risks are managed.

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improvement to be good

The young people living at the home generally get along well and interact in a positive way. However, there have at times been some relationship issues, which have resulted in some clashes between the young people. The registered manager has been proactive in addressing this. Careful monitoring is in place and staff are carrying out regular direct work with young people to address the issues. One young person, who is identified as being at the highest risk of experiencing bullying, has been provided with additional support in the form of training. He was also encouraged to present a bullying training course for staff, which he and staff spoke very positively about.

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improvement to be good

All staff receive training in positive behaviour support, which helps to ensure that they are able to manage potentially volatile situations in a consistent way. Each young person has an individualised behaviour management plan in place, which provides further guidance about their emotional responses and how best to support them at times of difficulty. The plans are written in partnership with the home’s therapist to aid staff in understanding why young people may behave in particular ways.

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improvement to be good

Incidents where young people have presented challenging behaviour are recorded in detail and carefully monitored by the registered manager and therapist. Any staff member involved in situations where they have been required to intervene physically to Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 9 safeguard a young person is encouraged to reflect and discuss any potential learning from such incidents.

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improvement to be good

Staff work with young people to help them to modify their behaviour and to manage their emotions in a safe way. Consequences are sometimes used to help young people recognise the impact that a negative behaviour has had. Records of such consequences demonstrate that they are proportionate and always relative to the matter in question. For example, one young person recently gave up some time to assist staff in repairing some damage he had caused at the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff are carefully recruited. All prospective employees are subject to a range of background checks before they are offered a post in the home. This reduces the risk of young people being exposed to adults of unsuitable character and as such, helps to safeguard them.

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improvement to be good

Young people are provided with safe and secure accommodation. A range of environmental audits and health and safety checks are regularly carried out. These enable the registered manager to identify any potential safety issues and address them without delay.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is led by a suitably experienced registered manager. The registered manager is currently in the process of completing her leadership and management award.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager confirmed that she is provided with adequate resources to manage the home in a safe and effective manner. For example, additional staff resources have been made available to support young people to enjoy camping holidays and additional activities over the summer break from school.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager ensures that the admission of new young people to the home is managed very carefully. When considering whether to admit a new young person, careful consideration is given to the group dynamics in the home and any potential impact that a new young person would have on those already living there. The registered manager advised that there was no pressure from the provider to fill vacancies. This careful management of admissions and effective matching process help to protect young people’s well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

At the last inspection, a requirement was made in relation to information included in the home’s statement of purpose. It was found during this inspection that the requirement was largely addressed. However, information relating to staff supervision and arrangements for external supervision of clinical staff is still outstanding. A recommendation has been made in relation to this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

External professionals, such as social workers, speak highly of the service and express high levels of satisfaction regarding the outcomes experienced by young people. They describe positive relationships with the registered manager and confirm that effective Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 10 communication is in place. The registered manager demonstrates that while maintaining professional relationships with external partners, she is able to challenge external services on behalf of young people when they are falling short of what is expected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

However, this inspection identified that there have recently been some difficulties in communication with a person involved with the service. These difficulties have not always been managed well. The registered manager acknowledged that some aspects of communication with the person are likely to have exacerbated the situation. For example, more careful consideration could be given as to how language used in emails could be interpreted by others is required. In addition, when such difficulties are being experienced, a clear record of all communication should be maintained to ensure transparency. A recommendation is raised in relation to this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has experienced a high turnover of staff since the last inspection. The registered manager advised that this has been due to a number of reasons and that no particular theme or trend has been identified. It is recommended that a process should be implemented for the formal monitoring and review of the patterns and trends of staff turnover. This will enable the registered manager to identify and if necessary, address any negative trends.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager continues to prioritise recruitment of new staff. While agency workers have been used to support the staff team, care has been taken to achieve consistency in the agency staff employed. This helps to ensure that young people receive their care from a stable staff team whom they know well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The high turnover of staff has had an impact on the numbers of staff who hold nationally recognised qualifications in caring for young people. Currently, less than half of the staff team hold these qualifications. The registered manager has recognised this as an area for development and has taken steps to ensure that all new staff are supported to undertake these qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has a confidentiality policy in place, which gives an undertaking that all personal information will be protected. However, during this inspection, it was identified that some personal information relating to a young person had accidentally been sent to a person who should not have had sight of it. This was a serious information breach, which should have been reported to the relevant authorities, including Ofsted, but was not. Furthermore, the incident should have been thoroughly investigated to ensure that any actions possible to minimise the chance of it happening again were taken. It was confirmed that no record had been made of the incident and no formal investigation had taken place. A requirement is raised in relation to this matter. In addition, it is recommended that procedures to be followed in the event of an information breach such as this are implemented, so that managers and staff are clear about the action to take.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

It was identified during this inspection that the registered manager did not always notify Ofsted of significant events in a timely fashion. This means that relevant authorities are not always kept informed about matters relating to young people’s welfare. A requirement is raised as a result. Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 11 The registered manager does not always make effective use of internal quality monitoring systems. Adverse incidents are not always recorded in a prompt manner, which means they could be overlooked during monitoring exercises. Action taken as a result of matters such as complaints or safeguarding concerns is not always clearly recorded. Not all serious incidents are reviewed effectively. As a result, opportunities to reflect and learn from adverse events in order to minimise risks and prevent reoccurrence are lost. This does not support the ongoing improvement of the service. A

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

requirement is raised in relation to this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Five requirements and six recommendations are raised following this inspection to secure further improvement. This further highlights the need to improve processes for monitoring the quality and safety of the service, so that areas for improvement can be identified and addressed independently of external scrutiny.

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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 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: SC476868 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherish Children’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17/19 Park Street, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire FY8 5LU

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC476868 13 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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