Children's Home run by Keys ACE Limited in Bury

Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 1 SC420388 Registered provider: Alliance Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and registered to accommodate four 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

Date of last inspection: 30 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children and young people benefit from engaging in a range of stimulating and exciting activities and opportunities, which greatly enhance their childhood experiences.  Children’s and young people’s wishes and views are listened to and taken seriously, as they are supported well by the staff to be involved in the decisions that affect their lives.  Staff advocate strongly for children and young people to ensure that they remain involved and central to their own care planning.  Staff confirm that they are well supported in their roles by the manager.  Staff receive regular training, supervision and attend regular team meetings. This ensures that staff are well equipped to meet the individual needs of children and young people in this home.  Professionals are complimentary about the care and support that the manager and staff provide to children and young people. They attribute the good progress that children and young people make to the care and support that they

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Key findings from this inspection

receive from the manager and staff.  Staff are recruited safely and supported well by managers to deliver a good standard of care to children and young people.  The manager clearly understands children’s and young people’s needs and is proud to celebrate their individual achievements.  The manager has a detailed understanding of what works well for children and young people and identifies areas for improvement. This is because she uses the established internal and external monitoring systems exceptionally well.

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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

 Placement planning meetings do not take place in a timely way. Furthermore, placement plans do not always identify the individual needs of all children and young people. Consequently, children and young people of compulsory school age do not promptly access a full-time education provision that is suitable for their needs.  Recording should be improved. Records of all the sanctions used should be maintained. All records should be signed and dated by the author, and senior management oversight is required with physical intervention records when the manager is involved in these.  All staff should be provided with appropriate physical intervention training. Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 3  Administration systems should be improved to ensure that Ofsted is notified following any significant incident, such as a prolonged missing from home episode or any allegation of assault.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/10/2016 Full Outstanding 08/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 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

8: The education standard (1) The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their education potential and are helped to do so. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— (viii) help a child who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. 27/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard (1) In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure that children are protected from harm. (2) In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure that— (b) 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. This is in particular reference to ensuring that the responsible person monitors and evaluates any physical interventions that the registered manager has been actively involved in. 27/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control or discipline in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the name of the child, a description of the measure and its duration, the person who used the measure and the effectiveness of the consequence of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(iv)(vi)(vii)) 27/10/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all their staff have been adequately trained in the principles of restraint and any restraint techniques appropriate to the needs of the children the home is set up to care for as defined in the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.57)  The registered person must ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. This is in particular reference to physical intervention records. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in Regulation 40(4)(a)–(d) occurs. Examples of incidents that are likely to be considered serious affecting

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Recommendations

the welfare of a child include a child being the victim or perpetrator of a serious assault or serious concerns over a child’s missing behaviour. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.11)  Where it is not possible to draw up a placement plan in advance of the placement, a placement plan must be made within five working days of the start of the placement. This is to ensure that appropriate information is shared and contact given in a timely manner to support the child, especially in regards to meeting their education needs, to support the child and carer in the placement. (‘The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations Volume 2: care planning, placement and case review. June 2015’, page 89, paragraph 3.182)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people have positive relationships with staff. Professionals report that staff consistently provide clear boundaries and guidance for children and young people, and attribute this to the good progress that children and young people make in many aspects of their lives. One professional said, ‘They have been consistent with [name of young person]. They have provided structure and boundaries and [name of young person] has responded really well.’ They went on to add, ‘They have worked well in supporting [name of young person] to move on with their semi-independent living skills. Their care plan is progressing better than we thought it would. The consistency and boundaries have really worked.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support children and young people to build positive childhood experiences. Children and young people are offered a wide range of interesting activities and experiences. Most children and young people have enjoyed holidays abroad and for some this is something that they have not experienced before. Other children and young Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 6 people have received support to maintain community-based activities so that they can develop their individual interests, hobbies and skills, while maintaining and enhancing their friendship groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children and young people well to maintain their sense of identity and belonging. Staff are very aware of the fluid family dynamics that some children and young people share with the adults who are important to them. Staff offer children and young people support and guidance in developing and maintaining these relationships. They offer a good level of emotional support and assistance when these relationships become stained. Consequently, children’s and young people’s sense of identity is strengthened and they maintain a good level of contact with those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are central to their care planning as the manager uses a number of ways to ensure that children’s and young people’s wishes and views are obtained. Regular formal meetings, such as children’s and young people’s meetings, life space interviews, key-working sessions and manager’s consultations, and informal discussions ensure that children and young people have a say in menu planning, activities, new admissions, staffing and all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As children and young people are empowered to share their views, they are confident and able to raise any issues or concerns. They can identify the people and agencies that are available to support them with this. This detailed knowledge of the services and support that is available to them, along with the support and assistance from the manager and staff, has enabled children and young people to challenge their placing authorities effectively when they have been unhappy about decisions that affect them. This ensures that children and young people feel listened to, empowered and remain central to their care plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Effective partnership working with specialist health teams and the provider’s in-house therapist ensure that children’s and young people’s emotional health needs are met. The manager is proactive in seeking out referrals to the child and adolescent mental health teams to ensure that children and young people receive the support and services that they need promptly. This cohesive and managed approach is now assisting some children and young people in identifying strategies that are more appropriate to manage their emotional responses, which have on occasion led to some of them engaging in risk- taking behaviours, for example self-harmful behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into and out of the home are sufficiently managed. The manager ensures that children and young people who are new to the home are matched well to those who already live in the home. Good assessment and transition planning, which includes tea visits to the home, ensures that everyone is aware of, and happy with, new children and young people joining the home. This thought, care and sufficient planning by the manager ensures that children and young people feel safe and happy about their move into the home and that a stable, settled and harmonious home environment is maintained for all involved. Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 7

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

Children and young people benefit from living in a large, safe, comfortable home. Safe recruitment practice and a variety of health and safety checks ensure that children’s, young people’s and staff’s safety and welfare is promoted effectively. Furthermore, staff respect children’s and young people’s privacy, and the size of the home allows them to enjoy their privacy and time alone, while also having the option of enjoying spending time together.

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

Keeping children and young people safe is central to practice for the manager and staff. Staff complete individual work sessions with children and young people to develop their knowledge and understanding about keeping themselves safe. Regular key-working sessions give children and young people the chance to think about their actions and the consequences and the impact that this has on themselves as well as others. Consequently, some children and young people have modified their behaviours and for some their risk-taking behaviours have reduced.

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

Staff educate children and young people on making good and safe decisions. Staff enable children and young people to take managed, age-appropriate risks that have been agreed in consultation with them and their placing social workers. For example, children and young people are encouraged to socialise with their friends out in the local community, travel independently and manage their own finances while maintaining contact with the home and staff, when this is assessed as safe and suitable to do so. This allows children and young people to gain skills and confidence in a safe and managed way.

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

Staff understand children’s and young people’s needs and vulnerabilities well. They consistently follow the updated risk management plans that are in place and challenge children’s and young people’s inappropriate behaviours well. Staff support children and young people to consider and manage their risk-taking behaviours so that they can make positive changes to the way that they react to their surroundings and experiences. The time that staff spend with children and young people reinforcing positive behaviours and actions allows children and young people to gain a better understanding of their behaviours and the risks associated with these. Consequently, children and young people are able to make safer choices and in doing so, have not engaged in going missing from home behaviour since February 2017. This promotes the safety and welfare of children and young people, as they no longer go missing from home, and do not engage in any

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

behaviours, such as alcohol or drug misuse that compromises their health and well- being.

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

Physical interventions are used very rarely. These are used as a last resort to safeguard children and young people when diversionary techniques have been proven unsuccessful. All but one member of the staff team are fully trained to implement this care practice safely. Children and young people are offered time after the incident during life space interviews and during key-working sessions to consider and reflect on their behaviours and subsequent actions to minimise any further incidents. Although this practice is minimal, two shortfalls have been identified with the recording and evaluation Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 8 of these incidents. The current physical intervention records do not identify the date on which the manager has evaluated and reviewed the records. Furthermore, there is no clear evaluation and scrutiny provided by the responsible person when the manager herself has been involved in these. Consequently, there is no independent oversight

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

offering additional scrutiny, monitoring and evaluation to these physical interventions to ensure that children’s and young people’s safety and welfare is promoted.

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

Staff have supported and encouraged children and young people to modify and improve their unacceptable behaviour and for some, this has worked well. Staff promote good behaviour through positive role modelling, support and financial incentives. They celebrate and reward children’s and young people’s achievements and they acknowledge and praise positive behaviour. Although children and young people are aware of their individual goals and targets, some feel that the use of some of their sanctions are unfair. This was difficult to explore throughout the inspection as not all consequences are recorded. This lack of recording hinders the managers and the regulators ability to assess if the use of the present systems are fair, appropriate and effective.

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

The manager ensures that all significant incidents and events are shared with placing authorities and the police in a timely way. Although the manager has informed Ofsted of one of these incidents as required, two further incidents concerning an alleged assault in the local community and a prolonged period of going missing from home were not shared. Although this administration error inhibits the regulator’s ability to assess the effectiveness of the safeguarding procedures that followed, this did not have a detrimental impact on the safety or well-being of the children and young people concerned as the police and placing authorities had been notified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children and young people benefit from living in an effectively managed home. The manager was registered with Ofsted in July 2017. She holds the required management qualification to undertake the role well. The manager presents as an eager, committed and passionate leader who places the welfare and safety of children and young people at the heart of her practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children and young people are looked after well by a stable core staff team. The staff team is supported and experienced to deliver a good standard of care to ensure that the commitments identified in the home’s statement of purpose are fulfilled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitable number of competent staff members, which ensures that each child’s and young person’s needs are appropriately met. All the staff team members have acquired the required level 3 childcare qualification, and a number of staff members are expanding their knowledge and skills further through the completion of the level 5 childcare qualification. The manager and staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals, which they confirm supports them to reflect and develop their care practice. This ensures that children and young people consistently receive a high standard of care that supports and enables them with their ongoing development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although the home is now fully staffed, there have been short periods of time when Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 9 agency staff have been used. These staff support the permanent members of staff to maintain the home’s commitments as identified within the statement of purpose. When agency staff are used, the manager completes an induction checklist prior to their shift commencing so that they are aware of the individual needs of each child and young person. Furthermore, the agency staff member’s details are stored within the agency file. The manager uses this to ensure that all of the relevant safety checks are completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager grasps all opportunities to continually develop and enhance the services that she provides. She has taken action to meet any recommendations made within the independent person’s monthly reports and is committed to driving forward the experiences and progress of children and young people. The manager understands the strengths of the home and areas for improvement and regularly reviews and updates the home’s development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although the manager advocated and supported some children and young people well with their care plans, the manager had failed to ensure that placement planning meetings had taken place in a timely manner when children and young people moved into the home. Furthermore, these meetings had failed to identify sufficient information in regards to education arrangements. Therefore, it is unclear who is responsible for taking these plans forward and this allowed delays to occur. Subsequently, one young child has not been provided with any suitable, full-time education since they arrived in the home in July 2017. This lack of education hinders children’s and young people’s ability to gain the building blocks that they need to continue with their education successfully.

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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 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: SC420388 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Alliance Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Brow Top Farm, Quernmore, Lancaster LA2 0QW

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Inspector(s)

Janine Shortman-Thomas: social care inspector Sarah Billett: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 11 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)

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

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