Children's home run by New Horizons NW Limited in Sefton

Inspection report children's home: SC473475 1 SC473475 Registered provider: New Horizons (NW) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of three children’s homes that is owned and managed by a private company. The home provides care and support for up to five children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and who may have a learning disability.

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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: 20 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None. Inspection report children's home: SC473475 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people have positive experiences while living at this friendly and supportive family home. The very high standard of individualised care consistently meets their needs and is improving young people’s lives. They are happier and healthier, take part in education and enjoy the same social experiences and opportunities as other young people.  A positive and emotionally warm environment with consistent boundaries is providing young people with the structure that they need to develop a strong sense of belonging and emotional security. Young people are building trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. Staff help young people to manage their feelings constructively and make sense of their experiences.  Good safeguarding practice is protecting young people from harm. Young people feel safe and their worries are taken seriously by trusted adults. Well- established and highly effective partnerships with local police and social workers

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Key findings from this inspection

ensure that when risks to young people are identified they are managed safely. This is making a difference to young people’s lives, because they are considerably safer from the risks of neglect, abuse and exploitation.  Effective care planning and productive working relationships between the staff, families, social workers, schools and health workers mean that young people receive the best possible support to meet all their needs.  Under the registered manager’s strong and effective leadership, the caring, experienced, skilled, qualified and well-supported staff provide a high quality of care for each young person. The staffing arrangements are efficiently organised to provide young people with a continuity of care that meets their needs and provides opportunities for them to form positive attachments.  The registered manager has a clear understanding of young people’s progress and the key priorities for each young person. Improved external monitoring of

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Key findings from this inspection

the quality of care and support means that senior managers have a better understanding of both how well the staff are promoting and safeguarding young people’s welfare and the priorities for making further improvements.

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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

 Ensure that improvements are made to the physical environment. Specifically, ensure that the activity room is designed, decorated and furnished, the damage to bannister is repaired, the shelving unit stored on the first-floor landing is removed and any worn carpets are replaced.  Ensure that both the outcomes of young people’s suggestions, ideas and views and their participation in discussion in staff meetings are recorded to show their impact on the running of the home.  Ensure that the home’s development plan is used as an effective management Inspection report children's home: SC473475 3 tool to show that improvements are being made and to understand the impact of the changes on young people’s lives.  Ensure that there is an effective system to monitor and improve the quality of the records written about young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/06/2016 Full Good 01/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC473475 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that the house is maintained and decorated to a good standard to provide children with a welcoming and homely physical environment. In particular, ensure that the activity room is designed, decorated and furnished to a good standard; the damage to bannister is repaired; the shelving unit stored on the first-floor landing is removed; and any worn carpets are replaced. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that children should be able to see the results of their views about the home’s care being listened to and acted upon. In particular, the outcome of children’s suggestions, ideas and views should be discussed in children’s meetings and recorded in the minutes. Also, children’s contributions to staff meetings should be recorded. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should use thorough monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided. In particular, ensure that children’s case records are routinely audited to ensure that they provide a comprehensive picture of children’s needs and the arrangements for their daily care, and record the work that staff are doing to meet their needs, and evaluate the impact of this work on children’s lives. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55 paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should use the development plan as an effective management tool for continuous improvement in the home. In particular, it shows the progress being made to deliver any actions identified from the review of the quality of care provided. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy positive experiences while living at this safe, friendly and supportive family home. They receive a very high quality of individualised care that consistently meets their needs, brings stability to their lives and helps them to make progress. Young people are happier, safer and healthier, and are increasingly taking part in education and more able to accept help, manage their feelings and control their behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of young people’s characters, needs, interests and family circumstances, and find out what works for individual young people. Their communication skills help them to build positive Inspection report children's home: SC473475 5 relationships with young people, regardless of the complexity of young people’s needs and circumstances. Staff engage naturally with young people and provide them with a high quality of personalised support that is tailored to their needs. They notice young people’s previously unrecognised needs and look for ways to help. For example, staff are using visual prompts to help a young person to follow her daily routine and to remind her what is happening each day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff’s perseverance and unconditional support help young people to understand that staff care about them, are interested in their welfare, want what is best for them and always take their wishes and feelings seriously. One young person’s mother said that ‘the staff are brilliant with her. She can be tricky to understand, but they are getting there with her. They give her time and understanding. She is starting to open up to staff and talk about how she is feeling.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are also fully involved in decisions about their lives, including choices around seeing their family, education and plans for their future. Staff encourage and support young people to take part and have their say in the meetings to review their plans. Also, staff enable young people to express themselves as individuals and have suitable freedom and choice in relation to the day-to-day arrangements for their care and the running of the home. Young people make decisions about their clothes, the food that they eat, how the house is decorated and how they spend their spare time. Staff work hard to make sure that young people’s views are listened to and acted upon. They balance young people’s preferences with what they judge to be in the young person’s best interests. When staff feel that they cannot follow a young person’s wishes, they carefully explain and help young people to understand the reasons. However, the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

outcomes of young people’s suggestions, ideas and views and their participation in discussion in staff meetings are not recorded to show their impact on the running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have the support that they need on a daily basis because of the effective care planning and strong working relationships between the staff, families, placing authorities and other people involved in young people’s lives. Staff’s individual work with young people is focused on the specific issues identified in their plans and emerging issues, including relationships with their families, education, personal safety and worries about the future. Everyone works extremely well together to ensure that the relevant plans for each young person’s care are reviewed on an ongoing basis to take account of their progress and continue to meet their needs and circumstances. Staff keep social workers and parents well informed of young people’s care and their progress. A parent said: ‘They let us know straightaway what is going on. The weekly reports are really good at letting us know how our daughter is spending her time. It has been good to see

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

that she is doing things that she didn’t want to do before, such as going shopping for clothes and to the cinema.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before the registered manager agrees to a young person moving in, she makes every effort to obtain all the available information about young people’s needs. She undertakes thorough assessments of the young person’s assessed needs, staff’s ability to meet them and their compatibility with the young people already living at the home. A social worker Inspection report children's home: SC473475 6 said that the registered manager and staff were ‘really interested to find out about the young person and how to meet her needs’. The registered manager and staff give young people the right support and guidance to help them to move on. They have supported young people to return successfully to live with their families, including providing specific support once the young person has gone home. They also help young people to develop their life skills and prepare to move into their own accommodation. Young people are

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

fully involved in planning their futures. Staff ensure that young people have every opportunity to develop practical life skills, including shopping, cooking, managing money and setting up a new home, and know where they can find support when they need it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carefully planned arrangements help young people to spend time with their parents, brothers and sisters, friends and other people who are important to them. Staff work actively to help young people to maintain meaningful relationships, understand their identity and feel part of their family. Staff help young people to understand what makes a healthy and nurturing relationship. They work sensitively with young people and their parents, brothers and sisters to try to overcome any difficulties and rebuild relationships. They encourage young people to develop empathy and to try to understand how their behaviour affects other people. For example, a member of staff helped a young person and her sister to talk for the first time about the situation in their family and how it is affecting each of them. Staff understand that seeing their families may be painful and stressful for young people. They always make sure that it is a safe and positive

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

experience, and find out about how young people feel about it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff provide structure, stability, encouragement and opportunities for young people to take part in education, and to learn and develop their knowledge, skills and talents. They work well with schools and colleges to support and improve young people’s educational opportunities. All the young people have just completed their GCSEs and are planning to go to college. Like any good parents, staff encourage and support young people’s ambitions, and encourage them to try different things to help them to decide what they want to do in the future. They help young people to apply for college, prepare for interviews and take on suitable part-time jobs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that young people live in a healthy environment. Young people’s physical health and emotional well-being continue to improve. They have a healthy diet and take plenty of physical exercise. The staff support young people and ensure that they have good support from health services to meet their needs and help them to understand about healthy lifestyles. Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s specific health needs, and manage their health with sensitivity and confidence. They closely monitor young people to make sure that they are healthy and ensure that young people always receive suitable medical advice and treatment when they are feeling unwell or are concerned about their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people live in a large house that is decorated and furnished to provide them with a welcoming home. The dining room and lounge are bright and pleasant rooms. Young people’s artwork decorates the walls and they choose how to decorate their bedrooms. They have their own personal space in comfortable bedrooms and bathrooms. However, the activity room would benefit from being redesigned, Inspection report children's home: SC473475 7 redecorated and furnished to encourage young people to make good use of this space. The first-floor landing is cluttered with unused shelving which is lying on its side, the bannister is damaged by scratches and the stair carpets are becoming worn.

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

Young people feel safe and are protected from harm. They are increasingly safe from the risks of abuse, neglect, bullying, self-harm and exploitation. They feel able to talk to staff and know that they are listened to and that their worries are always taken seriously. A young person said that members of staff ‘are the best people to go to when you are upset. You can easily talk to them and tell them anything. They listen and don’t judge.’

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

The registered manager and staff continuously assess and understand the risks to each young person. They make sure that the arrangements for young people’s care protect them. The staff’s use of safeguarding arrangements protect young people, promote their welfare and manage risk safely. They meet all the statutory requirements, including in relation to minimising the risk of sexual exploitation. The registered manager and staff are vigilant, and take prompt and decisive action to deal with any worries about the young people’s safety. A police officer said that ‘the staff understand their roles in protecting young people and are very good at sharing information when they have concerns’. They have effective relationships with local police, social workers, the local authority, schools and health professionals. This well-established professional network works successfully to identify the risks that young people face and take appropriate

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

The number of times that young people have gone missing from the home has been significantly reduced. A young person proudly said: ‘I haven’t been missing since 1 December. Everything I need is here.’ Staff help young people to understand the risks and dangers involved if they go missing, and make sure that they know how to obtain help. When young people have gone missing, staff always act quickly to try to find them by actively looking for them, going to a place where they may have gone, making contact with their family and friends, and informing the police and social workers. After children return home, they always have the opportunity to see an independent person to talk about what happened and the reasons for them not wanting to come home. When there have been concerns that a young person is going missing more often or may be at risk of exploitation, the registered manager has appropriately called a multi-agency risk

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

management meeting to assess and manage the risks for the child. The registered manager takes action when she has concerns that the risks for certain young people are too high for them to continue living at the home safely.

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

Staff make every effort to help young people to understand risk and to keep themselves and others safe. They are helping young people to use technology and social media safely. For example, young people know why it is important not to let other people use their mobile phones. Staff have worked effectively with specialist services to decrease the risk that young people face from sexual exploitation. A social worker said: ‘Staff have been really helpful and fully on board with the work I’ve being doing with this young Inspection report children's home: SC473475 8 person. They wanted to know how best they could support what I was doing. They have helped to reinforce the messages.’

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

Staff successfully balance protecting young people and enabling them to take appropriate and reasonable risks to promote their personal growth, including spending time with friends in the community. They take reasonable precautions to make sure that young people are safe, and let them enjoy the same independence as other young people. This includes coming to know the young people’s friends, checking the arrangements with the friends’ parents, giving them lifts and picking them up after they have been out.

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

The registered manager and staff promote positive behaviour through their warm and constructive relationships with young people. They work hard to develop safe, reliable and stable relationships that help young people to build secure attachments, a strong sense of belonging and emotional well-being. They provide young people with structure and clear boundaries, and encourage positive behaviour through praise and rewards. Staff help young people when they struggle to manage their feelings and control their behaviour safely. They take appropriate action to help young people to feel calm and safe. Young people feel that staff are good at giving them the time and space to ‘take the heat out of the situation’, then the chance to talk about the problem calmly. Staff keep detailed records of the measures that they have used to deal with negative behaviour. These provide a clear picture of what happened and young people’s views,

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

and this assists the registered manager to identify what has worked or any worrying issues and trends. The registered manager uses this information to build on good practice and to ensure that the plans for support meet the needs of each young person.

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

Staff use young people’s views about what makes them upset and how best to help them as an important part of their approach to helping each young person to understand and manage their feelings constructively. When a young person is struggling to work out why they become upset, staff spend time with them to try to find this out together.

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

The senior managers and registered manager ensure that members of staff go through a thorough and careful recruitment and selection process. This prevents unsuitable people from working at the home. They make sure that staff have the right personal qualities, enthusiasm, experience, skills and values to work with vulnerable young people. They collect all the available information about candidates to make the right decisions about a person’s suitability. This includes verifying by telephone the information about a person’s practice, experience and abilities, and the reason why they left their last job with their previous employer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced registered manager provides consistently effective leadership, with a strong focus on making a meaningful difference to young people’s lives. She ensures that young people live in a friendly, supportive and safe home at which they receive a high standard of individualised care. Inspection report children's home: SC473475 9 The registered manager and deputy manager have created the right environment for staff to provide young people with a high standard of care and consistency. The staffing arrangements ensure that there are sufficient knowledgeable, experienced and skilful staff available to meet all the young people’s assessed needs. The highly motivated and competent members of staff clearly enjoy spending time with young people. They share the registered manager’s ambition to make a positive difference to young people’s lives. Young people receive the continuity of care to help them to form positive attachments

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

and relationships with the people who care for them each day.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered and deputy managers’ strong working relationship provides each member of staff with consistent and excellent support, guidance and encouragement. Staff have regular opportunities through practice-related supervision and team meetings to reflect on young people’s progress and their own performance, share skills and develop their skills and knowledge. The managers support and encourage staff to develop expertise through training relevant to the needs of the young people, including advanced safeguarding, the risks of sexual exploitation, behaviour management, self-harming behaviour and first aid. The managers provide new staff with suitable induction programmes that equip them well to carry out their roles. Leaders and the registered manager encourage and support staff to develop professionally, including obtaining formal qualifications relevant to their role, such as the level 3 diploma in residential

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

childcare and the level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s analysis of the quality of care gives her a clear understanding of young people’s experiences and how well they are being supported to meet their assessed needs. She knows the progress that each young person is making and the priorities for their care. The registered manager and staff ensure that young people are cared for in line with their agreed plans. They are also quick to identify when young people are struggling, and take the necessary action to make sure that they have the best possible help. For example, when a young person was at serious risk of child sexual exploitation, she made sure that a meeting took place with the social worker and safeguarding services to work out how to protect the young person. Importantly, the registered manager and the staff have productive working relationships with young people’s parents, social workers, teachers, health workers and the police. They work

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

together effectively to secure positive outcomes for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior managers have taken suitable action to improve the quality of the independent scrutiny of the home. This means that they have a better understanding of how well young people are being supported. The independent visitors are now providing a more detailed and evaluative assessment of the arrangements for meeting young people’s assessed needs and protecting them from harm. The independent visitors find out young people’s views about living at the home and how they are being treated, and take action when young people have concerns. For example, when a young person complained to them that her bedroom was too small and hot, she was able to move to another bedroom.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, the registered manager is not using the home’s development plan as an effective management tool to show that improvements are being made and to Inspection report children's home: SC473475 10 understand the impact of the changes on young people’s lives. The development plan is not an organic document that shows the progress being made to deliver any actions identified in the review of the quality of care. Moreover, the registered manager is not using an effective system to monitor the quality of the records of young people. Currently, young people’s case records do not always provide a comprehensive picture of their needs and the arrangements for their daily care, record the work that staff are doing to meet their needs or evaluate the impact of this work on children’s lives. This means that the case records are not showing all the information available to understand each young person’s experiences and progress to inform the plans for their support.

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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: SC473475 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (NW) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ground Floor, 18–20 Coronation Walk, Southport, Merseyside PR9 1RE

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Inspector(s)

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC473475 12 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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