Children's home run by Bright Futures Care Limited in Bolton

Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 1 SC456157 Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited T/A Cornerstones Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, learning disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a private organisation that also offers specialist educational provision and care and accommodation for adults who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 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

Date of last inspection: 15 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make significant progress in their development due to the high- quality, well-planned care that they receive from staff.  Staff know young people well and positive relationships were observed during the inspection.  Staff excel at supporting young people with transitions. They work exceptionally hard to ensure that young people are well prepared for transitions in their lives, such as moving on from the home or starting a new school.  Staff are proactive in supporting young people’s contact with family to ensure that this time is positive for everyone. This support by staff has resulted in an increase in contact with family members for some young people.  High staffing ratios and good risk management plans ensure that young people are safe in this home.  Behaviour management in the home is effective. There has been a decrease in restraint since the last inspection, reflecting staff’s skill at managing challenging

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Key findings from this inspection

behaviour.  Professionals are complimentary about the staff. They reported that staff work with young people to achieve good outcomes.  The registered manager has a ‘hands-on’ approach. He knows the young people exceptionally well and is passionate about achieving good outcomes for young people.

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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 the registered manager uses external monitoring systems to improve the quality of care in the home.  Ensure that the statement of purpose is updated as required and provided to HMCI within required timescales.  Ensure that the registered manager challenges other services, such as the local authority, when their responses are not effective, for example when young people do not have pathway plans on file. Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2017 Full Outstanding 27/10/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children's home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (d)) 03/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must ensure that the registered person must

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Requirement Due date

use of monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(h)) 03/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revision and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 03/11/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations', page 62, paragraph 14.4) This is in respect of recording feedback obtained by parents and professionals and team meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive individualised, well-planned care from an enthusiastic and Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 5 proactive staff team whose members know the young people exceptionally well. This has resulted in young people making excellent progress from their starting points in all areas of their development. One independent reviewing officer commented, ‘The care of [name] has been good. He has made significant progress in important ways. He has learned to shower and wash. Staff have managed to support him to make progress.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in an exceptionally warm and homely environment that is maintained to a high standard. Young people have spacious bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. Their rooms are individualised with pictures of family members or areas of specific interest, for example pictures of trains on the walls. The home is well furnished with photographs of young people around the home and each young person has an individual toy box in the living room. There is a large garden where young people enjoy spending time on the swing or riding bikes. As a result, young people are surrounded by their own belongings, which contributes to them being settled and feeling at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The day-to-day experience of young people living in the home is positive. Staff who know the young people well support them. This ensures that young people receive consistency of care and build secure and trusting relationships with those who are looking after them. Throughout the inspection, positive relationships were observed between staff and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the young people attend education. Staff take a proactive and creative approach to ensure that young people attend and settle well at school. For one young person, careful planning and preparation by staff over the school holidays resulted in a positive transition to the new school. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘She has only been there two weeks and it has been an easy transition for her. Staff were proactive during the summer holidays and she attended holiday clubs and after-school clubs at the school, which helped her settle. This was down to staff being proactive.’ Because of this approach, all of the young people attend school and have an opportunity to learn new skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff excel at planning transitions into and out of the home. Careful planning ensures that young people settle into the home well and that staff quickly learn each young person’s likes and dislikes. Young people have their own daily routine and activity planner. This means that that young people are engaged in activities that they enjoy, such as walks in the local area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that young people’s health needs are met. Each young person has an up-to- date healthcare passport. This provides a detailed overview of each young person’s health needs and how staff will support them. Staff ensure that young people attend health appointments, including medication reviews, Staff take immediate action to ensure that health advice is sought if there are any concerns. Some young people have complex health needs and good planning and effective partnerships with professionals, such as the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nurses, ensure that young people’s health needs are met

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive in supporting young people’s contact with their family in line with young people’s care plans. There are examples of contact with family members Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 6 progressing for some young people due to the help and support from staff. This has resulted in an increase in contact with family members for some young people. Professionals are very positive about how well staff have supported contact for some young people. A social worker said, ´Staff are proactive, showed adaptability to support the time at Mum’s and offered expertise and support. At one stage, they took [name of child] there and sat around the corner to support Mum if needed. They have done as much as they can.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that young people have choices and encourage them to be involved in decision-making about their lives. Staff have a good understanding of each young person’s preferred choice of communication. There is evidence of staff consulting with young people through young people’s meetings and via the use of pictorial symbols for food choices and activities. This ensures that young people are encouraged to participate in their daily care.

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

High staffing ratios and good risk management plans ensure that young people are safe in the home. Staff understand each young person’s risks and vulnerabilities. These are clearly set out in young people’s plans with actions for staff to follow to reduce any known risks. Staff follow risk management strategies consistently to ensure that young people are kept safe. There have been no episodes of going missing since the last inspection due to a high level of supervision and the young people’s developmental stage.

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

Staff know young people well and are skilled at managing challenging and complex behaviour. Each young person has an individualised behaviour management plan, which identifies individual triggers and the best strategies to use to de-escalate behaviour. There is evidence of staff using the strategies detailed in young people’s plans effectively. Staff spend time trying to understand young people’s presenting behaviour. They seek specialist support from professionals such as ADHD nurses or a private multi- agency consultancy service. This provides occupational therapy, speech and language, and physiotherapy support. As a result, young people receive an individualised and consistent approach, which is effective at helping them overcome challenging behaviour.

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

There has been a reduction in restraint used in the home, reflecting staff’s skill at managing challenging behaviour. When this is used, it is used as a last resort and in line with the legislative framework. Staff are trained in team-teach, which is the model they are expected to use to manage challenging behaviour. Recorded within each young person’s plan are the agreed holds that are appropriate and it is evident that staff implement this in practice. The registered manager evaluates all incidents of restraint, which enables him to monitor his staff’s practice in this area. This ensures that young people are kept safe and any challenging behaviour is managed in a safe way by staff.

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

There have been no safeguarding incidents, allegations or complaints since the last inspection. All staff are trained in safeguarding and know what action to take if they have a safeguarding concern about a young person. This ensures that staff know what Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 7 action to take if any safeguarding issues arise.

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

The registered manager ensures that all new staff are vetted and all checks are completed prior to them commencing employment in the home. Consequently, young people are protected by safer recruitment practice. Staff receive specific training to meet the needs of the young people. An effective induction process ensures that training is completed prior to staff undertaking shifts in the home. All new staff undertake medication training and are assessed in their competency in administering medication. Consequently, all young people’s medication is correctly administered and there are no medication errors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An enthusiastic registered manager who is passionate about ensuring that young people’s well-being is central to practice manages the home. The registered manager is suitably qualified for the role. He has obtained a level 5 diploma and has a wealth of experience in working with young people who have disabilities. The registered manager is well supported by the registered individual and management team who all take a ’hands-on’ approach and continue to work shifts in the home. This ensures that they know the young people well and have a good understanding of how the home is functioning and that staff provide care in line with the aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Professionals spoken to during the inspection were all complimentary about the management team. An independent reviewing officer said , ‘ [name of manager] and [name of registered individual] are two enthusiastic members

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has been through a period of transition, with a number of new staff appointed since the last inspection. This is due to a number of staff moving with young people to their new placements. Staff feel well supported by the management team and all staff have regular supervision. Supervision notes demonstrate good support and regular conversation about work, but the notes are not detailed enough to gain a full understanding of conversations that challenge and aim to improve work practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work hard to ensure that care records reflect young people’s day-to-day lives. The progress that young people make is recorded in their files and photographically in life- story books and reports. The registered manager provides copies of these in meetings such as looked-after child reviews. This ensures that young people’s progress is recognised and recorded in a way that is meaningful for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the home. He has taken effective action since the last inspection to ensure that he now consults parents and professionals about the quality of care provided. However, he does not always keep an accessible record of this feedback. This limits its effectiveness, as it does not provide the best evidence of stakeholders’ views of the service. Furthermore, it does not provide an audit trail of how he is using this feedback to develop the service. The registered manager has a development plan in place that identifies areas of development for the home. However, it does not list outcomes or how progress will be measured. Therefore, it is difficult to establish what Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 8 action has been taken and what progress has been made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work effectively with professionals to ensure that young people receive the support they need in all areas of their development. Feedback from professionals is consistently positive about communication with staff and about how staff have worked with young people. One social worker said, ‘Communication is excellent and I get a good answer within a good time. The placement are helping to maximise her potential.’ The registered manager does not, however, always challenge other services such as the local authority when their responses are not effective, for example when young people do not have pathway plans on file. This could potentially lead to drift in planning in the future, given the complexities of placement transitions for young people who have disabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager does not keep written records of team meetings. This made it difficult to evidence whether areas for development or practice are discussed. External monitoring of the home had previously highlighted this, but the registered manager had not taken effective action to address actions raised. Consequently, staff do not have a written record of discussion and actions agreed at team meetings. The registered manager has not kept the home’s statement of purpose up to date with recent changes in staffing and has not notified Ofsted of revisions. This means that stakeholders do not have the most up-to-date information about staff members who are working in the home.

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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: SC456157 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited T/A Cornerstones

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Regency House, 45–51 Chorley New Road, Bolton, Lancashire BL1 4QR

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Inspectors

Sarah Billett, Social Care Inspector Paula Thompson-Jones, Her Majesty’s Inspector (Social Care) Inspection report children’s home: SC456157 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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