Children's Home run by Safe Base Care Limited in Wirral

Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 1 SC480075 Registered provider: Safe Base Care Limited 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 provides 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people have positive experiences living in this friendly and supportive family home. The very high standard of individualised care is making a positive difference to their lives.  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 the local police, youth offending teams, social workers, schools and health professionals ensure that when risks to young people are identified they are managed exceedingly well. This is making a difference to young people’s lives because they are considerably safer from the risks of neglect, abuse, exploitation and criminal activity.  A positive and emotionally warm environment with consistent boundaries is providing young people with the structure they need to develop a strong sense of belonging and emotional security. Young people have trusting and

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Key findings from this inspection

meaningful relationships with staff. They accept advice and are managing their feelings and controlling their behaviour constructively.  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 in meeting all their needs. The registered manager and staff fight for young people to be safe from harm and have the chance to improve important relationships, and receive the support they need to achieve better health and educational outcomes.  Under the registered manager’s strong and effective leadership, 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.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager has a clear and accurate understanding of young people’s progress and the key priorities for each young person. His effective monitoring of the quality of care and support means that he has a realistic understanding of 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 young people get the support they need to understand their identities and previous experiences, and are enabled to express their individuality.  Ensure that the kitchen and bathroom provide young people with a clean and pleasant environment. Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 3  Ensure that young people and social workers provide their written consent for the use of any surveillance devices.  Ensure that each sanction is reviewed and evaluated by a manager or an authorised person, who had not been directly involved in the decision to use the measure.  Ensure that the registered manager has a copy of the record, the content and outcomes of their practice-related supervision.  Ensure that staff receive training in attachment theory, life story work, and working with children who have suffered abuse, neglect and trauma.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/10/2016 Full Good 17/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking into account of the child’s background.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, children’s support plans clearly show each child’s needs, relating to their identity and family history, including age, disability, ethnicity, faith, belief, gender, gender identity, language, culture, race and sexual orientation, and the arrangements for meeting these needs and supporting their development of a positive self-view. 31/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that children living in the home are provided with the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6(1) (2)(b)(vii)) 30/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 5 Specifically, the kitchen and bathroom are clean, decorated, furnished and equipped to a good standard that ensures they are pleasant environments for children to use.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring and surveillance.

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Requirement Due date

35: Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that (a) within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person makes sure that the sanction is reviewed and evaluated by a manager or an authorised person, who had not been directly involved in the decision to use the measure. 30/09/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered manager has a copy of supervision records, including the content and outcomes of their practice-related supervision. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3 and 13.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. In particular, provide all staff with the opportunities to build their knowledge and skills in understanding the assessed needs of the children in their care; including attachment theory, life story work, and working with children who have suffered abuse, neglect and trauma. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy positive experiences living in this safe, friendly and supportive family Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 6 home. One of them said, ‘All the staff are lovely and get on with other young people. It’s like a family and the best place I could be. I’ve made bonds with staff. They don’t talk down to you and want what’s best for you. They’re not miserable, you always wake up to a friendly face.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people get a very high standard of individualised care, which consistently meets their needs, brings stability to their lives, and helps them to make pleasing progress. Young people are increasingly happier, safer, healthier, more likely to take part in education, more able to accept help, and less likely to go missing or be involved in criminal activity. 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 and interpersonal skills help them to build positive and trusting relationships with young people, regardless of the complexity of young people’s needs and circumstances. Staff’s perseverance and unconditional support help young people understand that staff care about them, want them to be safe and happy. Staff engage naturally with young people and provide them with personalised

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

support and guidance tailored to their assessed needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff enable young people to express themselves as individuals and provide suitable freedom and choice in relation to the day-to-day arrangements for their care. Staff balance young people’s preferences against what they judge to be in the young person’s best interests and work out the best way forward. Young people are also fully involved decisions about their lives, including choices around seeing their family, education and training and plans for their future. Staff encourage and support young people to go to review meetings and talk about their wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Effective care planning and strong working relationships between the staff, families, placing authorities and other people involved in young people’s lives mean that they get the support they need on a daily basis. Everyone works extremely well together to ensure that the relevant plans for each young person’s care are reviewed on an ongoing basis to reflect their progress and continue to meet their needs and circumstances. The individual work that staff complete with young people is focused on specific issues identified in their plans, including relationships with their families, education, personal safety, healthy lifestyles and preparing for adult life. However, young people’s support plans do not clearly show all their needs, relating to their identity and family history, including age, disability, ethnicity, faith, belief, language, culture, race, sexual orientation and gender identity. Likewise, the plans do not show how staff are meeting these needs

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

on a daily basis and helping young people to understand their identities and express their individuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before the registered manager agrees for a young person to move in, he makes every effort to get all the available information about the young person’s needs and their views about coming to live there. He completes through assessments of the young person’s assessed needs, staff’s ability to meet them, and their compatibility with the other young people already living in the home. Young people feel that they are included in the plan and can make an informed choice. They usually come to visit before moving in and the registered manager visits them where they are living. Young people receive a warm Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 7 welcome when they first move in. A young person said, ‘Everyone was welcoming and I fitted in straight away.’ Another young person’s independent reviewing officer commented that the staff were ‘really supportive and helped him to get settled; they sorted meeting his health needs and setting up his education’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff fully take into account the particular needs of young people living a long way from their family home. They help them maintain important links with their family and ensure that they see their families frequently. For example, staff are supporting a young person to spend the summer holidays with his mother and brother. 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. 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 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. Young people’s attendance has improved since they first moved in. Staff work well with schools, colleges and the virtual school headteachers to support and improve young people’s education opportunities. They have been successful in overcoming the barriers to young people’s learning. For example, staff have supported a young person to return to full-time education and helped him to discover new interests in information and communications technology. While he was not at school, staff made sure that he had a daily routine and activities that prepared him to return to school. They supported him to complete meaningful schoolwork based on online courses recommended by the virtual school headteacher. The registered manager and staff have

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

also encouraged all of the young people to complete the same vocational and educational online courses that staff do, including e-safety, mental health, fire safety, first aid, health and safety, and awareness of drugs and alcohol. The young people are well motivated to learn and develop their knowledge and skills. They very much see it as a new chance to improve their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff actively promote young people’s health and emotional well-being. Young people are in good physical health and their diet, nutrition, physical health and dental care continue to improve. Staff have been particularly successful in getting young people to regular health checks. A young person said, ‘I’ve not been to the dentist for four years, and they got me there in the first week I was here.’ The staff actively ensure that young people get good support from health services to meet their needs and help them understand about healthy lifestyles, including support from drug and alcohol services. Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s specific health needs and manage their health with sensitivity and confidence. They encourage young people to take suitable responsibility for their healthcare and express their views about the treatment they receive. For example, staff are helping them to talk to the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

doctor when they feel that medication is not making any difference and help them to understand that the doctor may be able to recommend something else that may suit them better. Staff closely monitor young people to make sure that they are healthy, and Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 8 ensure that young people always get suitable medical advice and treatment when they are feeling unwell. They always take suitable action when concerned about their health, including checking on young people’s welfare throughout the night.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff work hard to ensure that young people get the right support and guidance to help them develop their life skills and prepare for moving into their own accommodation. Young people are fully involved in planning their futures. Staff ensure that young people have every opportunity to develop practical life skills, including shopping, cooking, managing money, setting up a new home, know where they can get support when they need it, and understand their rights and entitlements as care leavers. The development of the basement into a separate space for young people has the potential to be a helpful stepping stone towards living more independently with the benefits of staff’s support. They have recently helped a young person move into his own flat. They also recognise that this has been a stressful time for him and continue to support him emotionally and practically. He said that ‘I have moved to my own flat now

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

but I have been back a couple of times and they are still there for me.’ This continuous support is helping him to build his confidence, find his feet and deal with any difficulties he may face.

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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 safer from the risks of abuse, neglect, bullying, self-harm, exploitation and criminal activity. 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, ‘You can speak to them about anything and everything. They helped me when I was upset, they came to check I was alright.’

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

The registered manager are staff are vigilant and take prompt and decisive action to deal with any concerns about the young people’s safety in line with the statutory requirements. They work effectively with social workers, the police, youth offending teams, schools and health professionals to identify and manage the risks facing young people. The registered manager and staff actively assess risk for each young person and take appropriate action that manages the assessed risks on a daily basis, for example taking reasonable safety precautions to protect young people who are victims of crime. This has included fitting close circuit television to monitor the exterior of the house and an area of high risk inside. The arrangements for the use of this device carefully balance protecting young people and their need for privacy. Young people and their social workers are aware of the use of closed circuit television, but the registered manager has

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

not yet gained their consent in writing.

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

The registered manager and staff’s warm and reliable relationships with young people are clearly making a positive difference to young people’s lives. They form the basis of giving young people stability and a strong sense of belonging and emotional security. Young people’s lives are more settled and they feel safer; as a result, they are more willing to accept help and make positive choices. Staff are helping young people to understand risk and develop the skills to manage risk and keep themselves and others safe. This is allowing young people to take appropriate and reasonable risks to promote Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 9 their personal growth, including spending time with friends in the community and knowing how to use technology and social media safely. Staff are also supporting young people to understand what makes a healthy relationship and to recognise friendships that are not good for them. Importantly, young people are no longer getting involved in

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

criminal activity or at risk of exploitation from gangs. A social worker said, ‘The staff have played a very important role in helping him to avoid a possible custodial sentence. They have given him stability for the first time in a long time and given him the chance he needed. He is acting with maturity and responsibly.’ His worker from the youth offending team said that ‘He is for first time properly making plans for his future rather than surviving from day to day.’

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

The number of times young people have gone missing from the home is reducing. Staff help young people to understand the risks and dangers involved if they go missing, and make sure that they know how to get help. When young people have gone missing, staff always act quickly to try to find them by actively looking for them, making contact with their family and friends and informing the police and social workers. A police officer said, ‘When children are reported missing, they go over and above to locate the missing child and communicate effectively with police and national social care organisations.’ Staff talk to young people about the reasons they go missing. Quite often it has been about young people wanting to see their families. The registered manager has used this information to work with social workers to find ways that young people can see the important people in their lives in a safe and managed way that reduces their need to run away. After

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

young people 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 often, the registered manager has appropriately called a multi-agency risk management meeting to assess and manage the risks for the child.

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

The registered manager and staff have created a calm and friendly atmosphere where young people can sort out their problems and disagreements without using aggressive behaviour. When young people struggle to manage their feelings and control their behaviour safely, staff invariably remain calm and give the young person time and space to feel safe enough to talk about what has upset them. Young people respond positively to this approach. Staff are also coaching young people to learn the skills to manage their feelings and disagreements constructively. For example, recently when two young people fell out, staff supported them to talk it through and resolve the problem themselves. Both young people confirmed that this helped them to realise that what happened was silly and had to sort things out because they live together. One of them said, ‘It only took three minutes to sort it and then we were playing a game together.’

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

Staff use reasonable sanctions to attempt to address young people’s negative behaviour. A greater use of restorative approaches is helping young people to learn about the impact of their behaviour on other people. For example, a young person is building a new wardrobe to replace the one he damaged. The registered manager and other leaders review the use of behaviour management strategies; however, this is not routinely done by a manager who had not been directly involved in the decision to use the measure. This means that there is a lack of independent scrutiny to evaluate the Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 10 effectiveness of the measure and identify trends and patterns and work out what works best for each young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides consistently effective leadership with a strong focus on making a meaningful difference to young people’s lives. He ensures that young people live in a friendly, supportive and safe family home where they receive a high standard of individualised care. He is an experienced manager with the appropriate leadership and management qualification. He has formed a strong leadership team with the responsible individual and the senior member of staff. They work together efficiently to make sure that the support young people get is always in line with the ethos and objectives of the statement of purpose. The high quality of care that young people get consistently meets their assessed needs. It is bringing much-needed stability to their lives that is helping them to make considerable progress in all aspects of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team has established the right environment for staff to provide young people with a very good level of care and consistency. The staffing arrangements ensure that there are always enough knowledgeable, experienced and skilful members of staff available to meet all of the young people’s needs. The enthusiastic and competent members of staff clearly enjoy spending time with young people and are keen to make a positive difference to young people’s lives. Young people are looked after by people they get to know well. They receive the continuity of care that helps them form positive attachments and relationships with the people caring for them each day. The staff team works cohesively to make sure that the day-to-day care of young people is well planned and focused on meeting their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and other leaders provide each member of staff with excellent support, guidance and encouragement. Staff have regular opportunities through practice-related supervision and team meetings to reflect on young people’s progress, their own progress and performance, share skills, and develop their skills and knowledge. New staff follow a suitable induction programme that equips them well to carry out their roles. The registered manager encourages and supports staff to develop professionally, including completing the relevant level 3 diploma. The registered manager carries out regular formal assessments of each member of staff’s performance and fitness to carry out their job. His assessments take into account young people’s views about the member of staff’s work. He highlights areas of strong practice as well as addressing poor performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team receives practice-related supervision from a person with appropriate professional qualifications and experience in residential childcare. This is giving them the opportunity to reflect critically on their practice with a person who can provide them with effective professional challenge, support and guidance, and identify areas for their continuing professional development. However, the registered manager is not receiving a written copy of the content and outcomes of his supervision. It is important that he has this information to help him reflect on his performance. Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 11 The leadership team supports and encourages staff to build their skills and knowledge through guidance and coaching. The registered manager also ensures that staff get training relevant to the needs of the young people. This has included training in: safeguarding and exploitation; using the internet and social media safely; supporting

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

young people to manage their behaviour; understanding mental health, self-harming behaviour, the use of alcohol and drugs; and managing medication. However, the training plan currently does not provide staff the opportunities to build their knowledge and skills in understanding all of the young people’s assessed needs. Training in attachment theory, life story work, and working with young people who have suffered abuse, neglect and trauma would develop staff’s expertise in helping young people understand and recover from their previous experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team uses clear and thorough monitoring systems to review the quality of care that young people get and to measure the impact on their lives. Monthly visits by an independent person provide detailed and impartial scrutiny of the running of the home. Consequently, the registered manager and the other leaders have a good understanding of what is working well, can identify any areas of weakness and take effective action to make improvements that benefit young people. For example, the registered manager has worked effectively with young people, their families and social workers and the police to reduce considerably the number of times young people have gone missing. Likewise, he has taken action to improve the fire safety of the building following a recent fire safety inspection, including providing additional training for staff and replacing the internal fire doors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team is working hard to make sure that young people have a pleasant and homely place to live. They think carefully about the design, decoration and furnishing of the house. For example, they have chosen fire doors that do not give the building an ‘institutional’ impression. Young people have their own personal space and enough room for their belongings in comfortable bedrooms. Work has been completed on the basement and it now provides one of the young people with a homely space to live and to develop his life skills. This is helping to prepare for living independently within the supportive environment of the home. However, the bathroom and kitchen are not in a good condition and both rooms are in need of refurbishment to make pleasant places for young people to use.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the other leaders have a detailed understanding of 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 get the best possible help. Young people clearly know that the registered manager and staff make sure they get the right help when they need it. A young person said, ‘They fight for us and do everything they can for us.’ This has included arranging planning meetings with social workers to look at how best to support a young person to manage his feelings and control his behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the staff have productive and collaborative working relationships with the social workers, teachers, health workers and the police. They work Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 12 together effectively to secure positive outcomes for young people. The registered manager assertively challenges placing authorities and other services when he sees that young people are not receiving the support they need to meet their assessed needs. This has included working with a virtual school head to ensure that a young person received an appropriate education and using strong partnerships to ensure that young people’s health needs are properly assessed. He has escalated concerns that another young person was not getting the support he needed when he had moved into his own accommodation.

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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: SC480075 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Safe Base Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 The Pines, Liverpool L12 0QU

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Christopher Phillips

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480075 14 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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