Children's Home run by Lytham Care Limited in Knowsley

Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 1 SC454035 Registered provider: Lytham Care Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 September 2017

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Young people’s risk assessments need to be updated to ensure that all known and potential risks are assessed, and that there are strategies in place to manage the risks.  Staff at the home do not take appropriate action to safeguard young people when they suspect that they are under the influence of a substance.  Although the manager and staff have made progress in beginning to re-engage the young people in education, they continue to refuse formal education. The manager and staff are also struggling to get the young people to engage in education-based activities in the home.  Monitoring and review systems in the home are not yet robust. Therefore, they do not ensure continuous improvement in the home.  Recording systems in the home require improvement to ensure that records and plans are up to date, and reflect each young person’s current situation, risks, and care plan.  Records do not demonstrate that when young people have been missing from

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

the home, they have received an independent return interview in line with statutory guidance.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The home has made progress in addressing the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection.  A new manager in post has started to make changes to the day-to-day running of the home. Therefore, some progress has been made on the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection.  The new manager has developed positive relationships with staff and young people.  Staff engage effectively with a range of professionals in order to meet the needs of young people.  Fire safety has improved in the home. The fire service has recently carried out a fire safety inspection of the home, and reports that the home meets the fire safety requirements.  There has been an improvement in the home environment. Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 3

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2017 Full Inadequate 09/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 05/07/2016 Full Good 17/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 4

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

p.4

Requirement Due date

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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) and (2)(a)(i)(ii)(b) 27/10/2017

p.4

Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

p.4

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.4

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(a)(c)(e)(h)) 27/10/2017

p.4

Requirement Due date

35: Behaviour management policies and records 27/10/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 5 The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (‘the behaviour management policy’) which sets out – how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. The registered person must ensure that - 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 name of the child; details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to

p.4

Requirement Due date

use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (‘‘the user’’) and any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; Within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’) - has spoken to the user about the measure about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(2)(3))

p.5

Recommendations

 Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must, in the interim, support the child to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 6 meals suitable for each child’s needs. Where appropriate, children should be involved in choosing and preparing meals, and opportunities to sit together and eat should be promoted. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8) This relates specifically to ensuring and demonstrating that young people are

p.5

Recommendations

provided with regular meals.  Ensure records are kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home and actions taken by staff. In particular, support provided to young people on their return home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. Those undertaking the role should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. In particular, if the information provided is inaccurate this will need to be challenged and amended. (‘Guide to the children’s

p.6

Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

p.6

improvement to be good

Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 7 Young people in the home have made some progress since the last inspection. Professionals reported that young people have spoken positively about the improvements in the home, and the new manager. Young people are happy that they now have more opportunities to engage in social and recreational activities. Young people said, ‘it stops us from being bored’. Staff have supported young people to register at a local gym, and they have enjoyed a range of social activities including shopping with staff, golf, going to the cinema and laser quest.

p.7

improvement to be good

Although the young people continue to be out of formal education, the home has taken effective action to address this. Records, and discussions with professionals during the inspection, demonstrate that staff have taken appropriate action to challenge education professionals about the education arrangements for young people. Furthermore, the home now has education planners in place to support young people to re-engage in their education. However, the young people are struggling to engage with this approach. They said, ‘We don’t want to do education in the home, we want to be properly educated in school.’

p.7

improvement to be good

Relationships between the staff and young people appear to have improved since the last inspection. Staff are spending more time with the young people to help to build their relationships. This includes the staff and young people engaging in social and recreational activities together, and having regular key-work sessions to address specific issues relating to each young person. Relationships between the new manager and the young people are generally good. The main issue currently affecting the relationships between the staff and young people is the amount of money the young people receive each week. The young people have not responded well to the new bonus system in place. However, the manager and staff recognise that they need to speak to young people further, and to continually review the practice in place. The new rewards and bonus system has resulted in the young people receiving a games console for the home,

p.7

improvement to be good

and one young person has received a new bicycle.

p.7

improvement to be good

Individual placement plans for the young people provide a basic outline of their individual needs. However, they lack sufficient detail to demonstrate the progress that the young people make. Furthermore, they do not include the young people’s views, wishes and feelings. The manager acknowledged that improvements were required.

p.7

improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the manager and staff have taken action to improve the home environment. Consequently, the home offers the young people a safe environment. Some of the home’s décor has been improved, and all young people now have suitable furniture in their bedrooms. The home was clean and tidy, and this ensures that young people live in a homely, nurturing environment.

p.7

improvement to be good

The young people have access to specialist health services that support their individual health needs. These services include substance misuse services, bereavement counselling, sexual health services and the looked after children’s nurse.

p.7

improvement to be good

The manager and staff fully understand the importance and benefits of the young people Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 8 maintaining positive contact with their family and friends. Staff work collaboratively with social workers, family members and friends of the young people to plan and arrange contact. One young person who has not had direct contact with his parents for some time has now had the opportunity to stay at home for a couple of nights, and one of his parents has also visited him at the home and taken him out to a local safari park. Furthermore, the home has been proactive in arranging overnight contact for a young person at her friend’s home. The registered manager arranged for the relevant assessment and checks to be undertaken to ensure that the contact was safe. This contact has resulted in a reduction in the number of times the young person is missing from the home. The young people have also had the opportunity to do joint activities

p.7

improvement to be good

with friends, and spend time together in each other’s homes. The arrangements in place to support the young people in maintaining contact with people who are important to them supports them in sustaining attachments, and this further supports their identity.

p.8

improvement to be good

Young people’s individual risk assessments have been updated since the last inspection. Although the risk assessments outline the individual risks for the young people, they do not demonstrate that the home has taken appropriate action to monitor the young people when they have returned under the influence of a substance. Furthermore, there was no evidence of staff seeking medical guidance when young people are known to be under the influence of a substance. This requires improvement.

p.8

improvement to be good

Behaviour management in the home has been strengthened since the last inspection. Incidents in the home have reduced in frequency, and more recently in their severity. This improvement has been supported by more robust behaviour management plans, clearer expectations, rules and boundaries, and a new bonus system. When there has been the need for the use of physical intervention, the details are appropriately recorded. However, the records relating to room searches do not demonstrate that effective action has been taken to remove items of concern. However, this has not resulted in the young people being placed at risk of harm.

p.8

improvement to be good

Records in the home and observations during the inspection demonstrate that the staff are appropriately challenging young people when they do not adhere to the expectations, rules and boundaries in the home. When the young people are verbally aggressive, threatening and using discriminatory language in the home, staff have appropriately challenged them. This approach supports the young people to develop insight into their behaviour and its potential impact on themselves and others.

p.8

improvement to be good

The staff have benefited from recent safeguarding and child sexual exploitation training. This has enhanced their knowledge, skills and understanding of the issues young people may face, and how they can safeguard them effectively. Key-work sessions have taken place with the young people to address the individual risks that they face. This helps the young people to recognise risk, and helps them to keep themselves and others safe.

p.8

improvement to be good

Fire safety in the home has improved due to the home taking effective action to repair Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 9 the fire doors. Furthermore, a fire safety inspection has been carried out by the fire service, which has confirmed that the home meets the fire safety requirements. Arrangements are now in place for the young people to hand in lighters at night, and staff consistently remind young people that they are not allowed to smoke inside the home.

p.8

improvement to be good

The home has taken effective action to encourage a young person to comply with his youth offending referral order. Incentives are now in place to support his engagement with the order. This has resulted in improved attendance and engagement in his sessions with the youth offending service. Consequently, staff have supported the young person to avoid further criminalisation and to develop a fuller understanding of the impact of his offending behaviour.

p.9

improvement to be good

Missing-from-home records demonstrate that the home has effective links with the police, social workers, and families and friends. However, records do not demonstrate that the young people are always offered an independent return interview in line with statutory guidance. Therefore, the young people do not always have the opportunity to discuss why they went missing and any risks they may have encountered during this missing episode. This is a missed opportunity to gather useful information about the reasons why the young people are going missing, in order to further reduce the risks and ensure that young people are safe.

p.9

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

The home now has a new manager in post who is suitably qualified and experienced. He plans to submit to Ofsted his application for the registered manager post in the near future. He has taken effective action to address the shortfalls raised at the last inspection and, with the support of the company leaders and staff, suitable progress has been made in a short space of time. However, the provider accepts that further improvement is required to ensure that the home continues to provide a good quality of care and meets the needs of the young people.

p.9

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

Prior to the new manager taking up his post, the home experienced a period of instability, which impacted on the leadership in the home. The service manager stepped in to stabilise the home until the new manager took up his post. The service manager took the decision to restrict the number of placements in the home to three young people until the home addressed the shortfalls identified at the last inspection. Consequently, the home is more settled and progress is being made on the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection. The home has a ‘smart’ action plan in place that it continues to work on. Together, the leaders and managers, staff and young people are working together to make improvements, and make the home a nicer place for the young people to live.

p.9

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

Recording systems in the home require improvement to ensure that records and plans are up to date, and reflect each young person’s current situation, risks, and care plan. In addition, records need to be signed and dated by the author and contain the manager’s comments or evaluation, to demonstrate effective management oversight. Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 10 Arrangements are in place for the monitoring and review systems in the home to be improved. The service manager has met with the independent person to develop a process whereby the independent person monitors the progress being made on the shortfalls found at Ofsted inspections. However, this new process has yet to be fully implemented. Furthermore, the new manager plans to introduce his own quality assurance and management oversight systems. Therefore, the improvements in monitoring and review systems were not fully demonstrated during this inspection.

p.9

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

The home’s statement of purpose is currently being updated to reflect recent changes in the policies, procedures and staffing in the home. Once this is completed, the manager will provide a copy to Ofsted.

p.10

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

Staff reported that they could see improvements in the home and had noticed an improvement in staff morale. They feel supported, and accept that practices in the home needed to change to ensure that the needs of the young people are met. A member of staff said, ‘Despite the difficulties, the new manager has done a good job in making the home a much better environment for both staff and young people. Things have started to improve.’ During team meetings and supervision sessions, the staff have the opportunity to put forward their views and suggestions regarding improvements in the home. A member of staff said, ‘The new manager is a breath of fresh air. We all accept that improvement was needed and the new manager is providing a new set of eyes to support the improvements. We now have a mentoring system in the home for the more experienced members of staff to support the less experienced and this is working well.

p.10

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

The manager encourages us to reflect on what we do and offers us constructive criticism.’ Consequently, the quality of care provided to the young people has improved.

p.10

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

Since the last inspection, the staff are all up to date with their supervision. They have benefited from additional team meetings to support the home in making improvements and moving forward. Furthermore, they have had the opportunity to undertake training to support their continuous professional development.

p.10

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

The manager and staff have strong working relationships with a range of professionals, family members and friends, to ensure that the young people receive the best possible support to meet their identified needs. Furthermore, this results in a consistent approach in supporting the young people. A member of staff from the virtual school said, ‘The home have taken appropriate action to address the unmet educational needs of the young people and escalated their concerns in the lack of education provision in place to senior education staff.’ A parent said, ‘The home provide me with weekly updates. They are currently 100% fighting for the young people, especially in relation to their education.’

p.10

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 11 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.

p.10

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: SC454035 12

p.11

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lytham Care Limited

p.12

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lytham Care, 400 Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 9DB

p.12

Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC454035 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.12

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.13

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.13

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.13