Children's home run by Footsteps Care Homes Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 1 SC059782 Registered provider: Footsteps Care Homes 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

A private company owns this home. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 August to 1 September 2017

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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: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make positive progress as a result of the help and support they receive.  The staff are passionate about their role in helping young people to learn new skills and become more independent. Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 2  Young people experience genuine love and care from staff.  The staff work well together as a team. They value each other’s contributions and support each other through times of challenge.  The registered manager leads effectively. She promotes a child-centred culture within the home and maintains high standards of care.  The registered manager has excellent oversight of the quality of care provided to young people living in the home.  Written records in relation to care planning and risk management are clear, comprehensive and relevant.  Placing social workers report that the home is making a positive difference to the lives of young people.  The home provides care that is consistent with the Guide to the children’s

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Key findings from this inspection

homes regulations including the quality standards.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/11/2016 Full Good 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make excellent progress in all areas. Each young person has a detailed care plan. This sets out what the young person does well and identifies small steps for them to take to improve. Care plans record and celebrate success. They include the views of young people on what matters to them and these views inform how best to help them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people living in the home make significant progress from their starting points. One young person had a history of electing not to communicate verbally. Staff gently encouraged her and provided a safe space for her to talk. She is now able to communicate effectively with staff and is more confident. She is, for example, now able to purchase things in a shop and make her views known. She is learning to drive and engaging positively with education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A placing social worker said of a young person, ‘He is thriving as a result of the care he receives and has made improvements in self-care skills. I feel he is developing to his potential: his communication skills are improving, staff are enabling him to have a choice, and this is very empowering as it helps him to express his wishes.’ She described his key worker as ‘amazing’ and went on to describe how staff used Makaton to help him communicate. She felt that staff had a good understanding of his needs and were implementing effective strategies to support his learning and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A parent described staff as ‘friendly and welcoming… everything’s alright’. He felt that staff looked after his daughter very well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people report being happy in the home. One young person described how she loves her room and that she gets on well other young people and the staff. She talked about enjoying a range of activities and that she had enjoyed a fantastic caravan holiday with staff recently. Another young person was very positive about her experience of living in the home. All young people described positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector observed excellent practice in the home. Staff interacted naturally and positively with young people. They provided genuine warmth, hugs and praise to young people. The young people feel genuinely cared for and have deep and trusting relationships with staff members. This is particularly true of the registered manager of the home. Young people frequently come to her for attention, approval and reassurance. She always makes time for them and displays genuine love and care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people do well in education. They have a positive outlook to learning and staff provide the support and encouragement that they need to achieve progress. The manager of the home is proactive and advocates strongly within the professional network for young people who may not have a suitable education placement. This ensures that suitable resources are in place for all young people to support their learning Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 4 and educational achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home makes every effort to ensure that each child has a positive experience of care and that they can take part in a range of positive activities. Staff consulted young people about arranging a holiday for the summer and as a result, three different holiday experiences were arranged in response to the preferences of the young people. This shows that staff take account of the views of young people to inform care planning in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to make healthy lifestyle choices. They enjoy activities that promote exercise and well-being. There are a range of healthy food choices and young people are encouraged to have a healthy diet. Staff liaise closely with health professionals to better inform the help and support they provide to manage complex health needs. Young people attend regular health appointments and receive treatment when they need it. Medication is administered safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment is clean, homely and safe. Young people like their rooms and staff help them to personalise their space to suit them. Young people choose colour schemes, pictures and furnishings.

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

The home provides care for vulnerable young people with a range of complex needs. Some of the young people have a limited capacity to understand hazards or to learn from mistakes. Staff undertake comprehensive assessments in order to ensure that they understand the risks and vulnerabilities of each young person. They provide effective safety plans to reduce risks and to help young people stay safe.

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

High staffing levels ensure that there are always sufficient staff on duty to monitor and supervise young people. Staff ensure that the care they provide is not unnecessarily restrictive and the need to keep young people safe is balanced with the need for them to learn some skills for independence. Staff are mindful to respect young people’s privacy. They provide personal care in a way that promotes dignity and safe care.

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

Some young people have complex health needs and staff require specialist knowledge in order to care for them and keep them safe. Staff are trained to meet these needs and have an excellent understanding of how to promote health, prevent harm and respond to emergencies. New staff are not permitted to administer medications until they have completed training and can demonstrate that they are competent to do this safely.

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

Detailed care plans set out how best to support each young person. Staff work closely with young people to teach them skills to become safer. In one example, staff supported a young person to go out in the community independently. Staff taught her about road safety and stranger danger. They supported her to take small steps towards being independent until she was able to go to the local shop without staff being with her. She reported that she didn’t feel safe doing this and staff increased support to reduce her anxiety. This is an excellent example of how staff listen to young people and involve Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 5 them in care planning.

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

Many of the young people living in the home do not have the capacity to be safe in the community. The home has excellent security and monitoring systems to ensure that young people do not leave the home without permission. Each young person has a clear plan in place which describes how to keep them and others safe when out in the community. Staff have a clear protocol in place to take urgent action in the event that young people go missing from the home. In practice, young people do not go missing.

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

Young people report feeling safe in the home. They have positive relationships with staff and feel that they can share any concerns with them. They get on well with each other and staff provide close supervision to prevent bullying and to ensure that young people do not present a risk to each other.

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

Young people know how to raise concerns. They feel able to talk to the manager of the home if they are unhappy. All complaints are taken seriously and are managed well.

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

Young people are supported effectively to reduce the risks associated with the internet and social media. The internet service in the home has parental controls to ensure that young people do not access inappropriate content. Mobile devices are closely monitored to ensure that if young people use external internet links, they are not at risk. Staff undertake direct work with young people to teach them about the dangers of online grooming and cyber bullying.

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

Young people benefit from clear and consistent boundaries. Staff develop positive, caring relationships and look after young people in a way that displays emotional warmth. This helps young people feel safe and also helps them understand that some boundaries are necessary to keep them, and others, safe.

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

All staff are trained in behaviour management techniques, including the use of physical intervention. Care plans identify situations that may cause young people to become anxious and trigger unsafe behaviours. Staff use a range of techniques to divert and calm young people. This is usually effective at preventing situations from escalating. If behaviour becomes unsafe, staff sometimes use physical intervention as a last resort to prevent harm occurring. Each incident is recorded in detail and reviewed by the registered manager to ensure that practice in this area is safe.

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

The home has clear procedures in place to respond to any safeguarding concerns. These are understood by staff and the manager of the home. Information is shared appropriately with the placing authority and all concerns are investigated in line with agreed child protection procedures.

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

Good safeguarding practice in the home is underpinned by clear, accurate recording and well-informed assessments of the young people’s needs. Excellent management monitoring and oversight of care practice and recording help to ensure that young people are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 6 The registered manager has made significant improvements to the service since last full inspection. She has developed a more rigorous recruitment process to ensure that applicants demonstrate that they have the necessary qualities and skills to achieve excellence in the role. This, along with excellent induction and support for new staff, has strengthened the workforce and improved the experience of care for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has introduced a range of new initiatives to improve her monitoring of safeguarding practice and the quality of care provided to young people. This has improved practice in relation to administering medications and safe recruitment. Staff describe the manager as ‘firm but fair’. One member of staff said that the manager had high expectations in relation to care practice and recording. She went on to say that she felt that her manager always had the young people’s interests at heart and was very supportive to staff. The staff team gave a consistent message that the registered manager leads the team well and is available to them and to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular, formal supervision. They report that this helpful to explore how best to support young people and to identify areas for their learning and development. Supervision provides a safe space for staff to explore their own feelings and to help them manage the emotional impact of the work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that all staff are trained in key areas of child protection and that this training is regularly updated. Staff also undertake specialist training to address the specific needs of the young people living in the home. This includes understanding autistic spectrum disorder, working with young people who may elect not to speak and managing complex health needs. The manager recognises that online training has limitations and she ensures that staff get face-to-face training from experts. This helps staff explore more complex issues and directly relate them to their care of young people living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that staff reflect on their practice in relation to meeting the needs of young people from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. They promote diversity within the home and provide care that supports young people to develop to their maximum potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is very experienced in her role and has achieved the level 5 leadership award in residential childcare. She uses her knowledge and experience to drive improvement and raise standards in the home. She advocates effectively to ensure that her excellent understanding of the needs of young people informs care planning and the interventions to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has recently updated the home’s statement of purpose to ensure that it reflects the improvements she has made to the service.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 7 Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Footsteps Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anslim Narinesingh

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Inspector

Lee Kirwin, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 9 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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