Children's Home run by Frances House Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report children's home: SC403462 1 SC403462 Registered provider: Frances House Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is operated by a private organisation and is registered to care for up to five young people. The home cares for young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are making good progress across all aspects of their lives, due to Inspection report children's home: SC403462 2 the care and support that they receive.  Young people are well settled in the home. They receive their support from a consistent team of staff who know them well and understand their needs.  Young people enjoy very positive relationships with staff. As a result, they feel safe and secure, and are engaging well.  Young people are encouraged and supported to positively engage in activities and participate in their local community.  Due to consistently positive support, young people are developing aspirations and attending education.  Staff help young people maintain contact with their families. As a result, young people enjoy improved relationships with those who are important to them.  The risks to individual young people in areas such as going missing or offending have significantly reduced due to the care and support that they receive.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff understand the risks to young people’s safety and well-being and consistently follow agreed strategies to keep them safe.  The support provided to young people enables them to develop safe and appropriate behaviours.  Managers and staff work positively with partner agencies. This helps to ensure that young people receive safe and responsive support.  The registered manager uses quality assurance processes effectively, to support the continuous development of the service.

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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

 Some environmental improvements are required to ensure that young people are provided with a good standard of accommodation.  Processes should be implemented to ensure that young people’s care plans are updated in line with changes in their needs or circumstances.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/11/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/01/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC403462 3

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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

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s homes ‘overall aims and objectives it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular to ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(1)(c)(i)) 31/10/2017

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Recommendations

 Specifically relating to the updating of information; Staff should be familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who live in this home receive a very good standard of individualised care that meets their needs and supports their progress. All young people have made good, and in some cases outstanding, progress as a result of the care and support that they receive. Examples include: being more confident, attending education and managing their behaviours in a safer way. Young people recognise that they are well cared for and closely supported. Their comments include: ‘I don’t know where I would be now if I hadn’t come here,’ and, ‘This is the only proper home I have ever had, and the staff are my real family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from consistency and stability, which promotes their emotional well-being. They speak of warm and trusting relationships with staff and are clearly confident that they can depend on staff to care for them. One young person said, ‘The Inspection report children's home: SC403462 4 staff really want the best for us all the time.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff have a good understanding of young people’s needs and are able to speak confidently about young people’s care and support. Each young person has a comprehensive care plan in place, which details their day-to-day needs and highlights the things that are important to them. These documents are of generally good quality. However, there were a small number of examples of information that had not been updated following changes in a young person’s circumstances. A recommendation is raised to help ensure that all the information in young people’s care plans is current and fully up to date.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff demonstrate a genuine commitment to the young people in their care. They demonstrate their ability to support young people through difficult and challenging times. A social worker described how the home had continued to support a young person who had displayed some unsafe behaviours that would have caused some homes to serve notice. She said, ‘They did not give up on him as he perhaps expected.’ The social worker went on to describe how well this young person has now progressed, for example by attending education and engaging with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to share their feelings and express their views. When they do, staff listen and act on these, where possible. Staff ensure that young people’s choices are reflected in day-to-day arrangements, such as mealtime and activity planning. Young people also engage in individual key-work sessions, which provide opportunity for them to discuss their own care and progress. The registered manager ensures that young people benefit from independent advocacy services, which helps to ensure that they have support to express their views and wishes. For example, one young person was supported to access an independent advocate to assist her in expressing concerns about contact arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to maintain good health. They are helped to learn about, and adopt, healthy lifestyles through key-working sessions and educational group work. Arrangements to manage young people’s routine health care needs are clearly detailed in their care plans. Young people’s care records also demonstrate that staff are proactive in ensuring that any concerns are quickly addressed. One young person recently presented with some symptoms and was promptly supported to access her GP. This led to the diagnosis of a condition. The registered manager immediately arranged training for staff and the young person around management of the condition to ensure that she was provided with the correct support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to maintain important relationships and work closely with young people’s families. Staff have helped one young person to re-establish contact with a close family member after several years. This has had a good outcome, and the young person is enjoying regular contact with this relative. Contact is well supported and any practical assistance required to maintain contact is in place for each young person. Assisting young people to maintain important relationships supports their sense of identity and emotional well-being. Inspection report children's home: SC403462 5 From their starting points, each young person has made positive progress in education. Two young people have recently started college courses of their own choice, and attendance is good. Other young people are now benefiting from increased education, having previously had very minimal provision in place. One young person is engaging in

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

education for the first time in several years. A social worker commented that the young person she supported had achieved improved education attendance as a result of increased confidence, which she felt was due to the care that she had received at the home. An education professional commented that the home always communicated well with school and ensured that young people’s education was well supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to pursue their interests and take part in enjoyable activities. Young people are able to take part in a range of leisure activities, such as going to the cinema or to local events. Young people are encouraged to engage in their community and have established some positive relationships. This was highlighted recently, when neighbours celebrating Eid brought food and treats for the young people. This positive engagement provides young people with a variety of experiences and supports them to achieve and grow in confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are being supported to develop independence skills, in line with their individual needs. For example, they are currently gaining skills in areas such as independent travel, budgeting, meal planning and meal preparation. This will help equip them for their next steps as young adults living independently.

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

Young people receive care that promotes their safety and well-being. They are supported by a competent staff team that has a good understanding of safeguarding. Managers and staff are aware of risks to the young people, including risks outside of the home, and remain vigilant at all times. They recognise potential safety issues quickly and take effective action, ensuring that the relevant agencies are alerted, when appropriate. This helps to ensure that young people receive the necessary support to keep them safe.

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

The registered manager works closely with partner agencies to ensure that risks to young people’s safety are carefully managed. External professionals express confidence in the registered manager’s proactive approach and describe positive, partnership working. A social worker commented, ‘Any safeguarding concerns are reported to all the necessary agencies and professionals. Meetings are attended and organised by staff if they feel that it is necessary.’

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

Staff ensure that young people are equipped with valuable life skills through individual and group-work sessions. These take place on a regular basis and help young people develop their understanding and knowledge of important areas, such as safe relationships and online safety. The registered manager closely monitors the sessions to ensure that they address the areas relevant for each young person.

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

At the point of their admission, there were significant concerns about the safety and well-being of each young person who lives at this home. Young people arrived with Inspection report children's home: SC403462 6 histories of unsafe behaviours, such as being frequently missing from home. For each young person, there has been a significant reduction in these unsafe behaviours. This demonstrates that young people are safer as a result of the care that they receive.

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

Each young person has a range of individualised risk assessments in place, which are regularly reviewed. Clear risk management plans provide staff with guidance about how to maintain young people’s safety. This guidance is regularly reviewed and is updated, when any new information is identified. This helps to ensure that staff have clear and current information about how to keep young people safe.

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

Young people who live at this home do not go missing on a frequent basis. Since the last inspection, there have been a very small number of such incidents, and, in each case, the young person has chosen to return after a short period of time. Clear procedures are in place to ensure that staff are aware of the action that they must take to safeguard any young person who is missing.

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

All staff receive training in recognised behaviour management techniques. Staff support young people to manage their emotions and develop safe behaviours. They know the young people well and have a good understanding of their emotional responses. As a result, staff are able to de-escalate potentially volatile situations effectively, and situations rarely reach crisis point. For one young person in particular, there has been a remarkable reduction in serious incidents from the point of their admission to the home.

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

On occasion, young people may be requested to undertake reparation or a consequence to assist them in understanding the impact of a negative behaviour. Records show that consequences are not excessive and are proportionate to the behaviour in question. The registered manager monitors consequences carefully to ensure that they are used in an appropriate way.

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

Robust recruitment procedures require all prospective employees to undergo a range of background checks prior to being offered a post. These include a full employment history and police record checks. This minimises the risk of young people being exposed to adults of unsuitable character and therefore helps to safeguard them. In one example, some minor shortfalls were identified in relation to the recording of employment history checks. However, the registered manager was able to provide evidence that these had been carried out. It would be useful to ensure that clear records are maintained in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This home benefits from good leadership. The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced and demonstrates a clear child-centred approach. The registered manager has high expectations of the support provided to young people and clearly communicates these expectations to staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of each young person’s individual Inspection report children's home: SC403462 7 needs and carefully monitors their progress. She is quick to identify concerns and takes appropriate action to ensure that any such concerns are reported to the relevant professionals. Careful consideration is given to new admissions, and the registered manager does not admit any new young people without first ensuring that their needs can be properly met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals, such as social workers and education staff, speak highly of the registered manager and describe positive joint working. A health care professional commented, ‘The team have always been open and responsive to my involvement and have engaged well in the training we offered. I've been impressed by their thoughtful reflectiveness.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager confirms that she is provided with adequate resources to run the home in a safe and effective manner. The home is appropriately staffed in line with young people’s needs. However, the standard of young people’s accommodation requires some improvement. The registered manager is in the process of organising some refurbishment. As some areas within the home are not of an acceptable standard, a requirement is raised in relation to this matter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from a low staff turnover. This results in consistency for the young people, who receive their support from staff who know them well and understand their needs. Staff are well motivated and reported that they feel well supported by the management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff are provided with one-to-one supervision on a regular basis. This means that staff have the opportunity to discuss matters such as training, work performance or any concerns they have. Where necessary, the registered manager arranges additional supervision, for example when it is identified that a staff member requires an enhanced level of support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a range of training, which assists them in developing their skills and practice. This begins with a comprehensive induction at the start of their employment, which includes a variety of mandatory learning, such as in safeguarding and first aid. Ongoing training is in place, and is designed to equip staff with skills in meeting young people’s needs. The registered manager encourages all staff to obtain nationally recognised qualifications in caring for young people. Currently, fewer than half the staff team members hold these, but all those who don’t are in the process of completing them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager makes effective use of quality assurance processes, which enable her to monitor safety and quality across the service. Regular audits assist the registered manager to identify areas for development and address them. The home benefits from the external scrutiny of an independent visitor on a monthly basis. In addition, extensive health, safety and pharmacy audits are carried out by external professionals on a periodic basis. The registered manager makes good use of these processes and ensures that any recommendations are actioned. Inspection report children's home: SC403462 8 Effective systems are in place to notify Ofsted and other relevant agencies of any significant events. This means that people are kept informed and young people’s welfare is promoted. Adverse incidents and near misses are suitably reviewed. As a result, the registered manager is able to reflect and learn from events that happen in order to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

minimise risks and prevent reoccurrence. This means that young people benefit from a service which is continually improving.

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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: SC403462 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Suite 16, Linden Business Centre, Linden Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 9BA

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Pamela Forrester

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC403462 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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