Children's home run by New Horizons (Stockport) Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 1 SC386837 Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) 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 registered to provide care for two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home forms part of a small social care company.

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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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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are highly skilled in developing positive relationships with young people. Young people engage well and invest in the home.  Staff and managers work effectively in partnership with professional stakeholders and families to provide consistent and stable care for young people.  Young people make exceptional educational progress from their starting points.  Young people feel safe. They make good progress and are rarely missing from Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 2 home.  Staff support effectively young people’s relationships with their families and friends, when the relationships are safe and in their best interests. This promotes young people’s identity and security.

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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

 To develop monitoring and reviewing systems to prevent shortfalls in obtaining essential children’s documentation from the placing authority, keeping organised records of agency staff and in recording staff’s debriefs following the use of restraint.  To ensure that all staff receive an annual appraisal of their role to ensure their continual development.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/08/2016 Full Good 02/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/05/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 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

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that – (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential: and (b) promotes their welfare. In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must ensure the registered person uses monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(h)). With particular reference to keeping records of agency staff and in recording staff’s debriefs following the use of restraint. 24/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records for each child which – (a) include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to a child: (b) are kept up to date; and (c) are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)) 24/11/2017

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Recommendations

 All staff must have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 61, paragraph 13.5) Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive highly individualised care. Staff care about young people and spend time getting to know them, and what is important to them. Staff work effectively in partnership with families and professional stakeholders. This ensures that young people benefit from consistent care which allows them to invest in the home. Professional stakeholders and families recognise the staff’s skill and care for young people. A psychologist said:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘I would say that that the staff and atmosphere at the home stand out for me as one of the exemplars of good practice in that they strive exceptionally hard to develop a meaningful relationship with a very troubled young person. They engaged them extremely well.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote education. Staff work effectively with social workers, virtual school headteachers and education providers to secure the most appropriate placement for young people. Even those young people who have disengaged from education for years are re-integrated and begin to achieve. One young person’s attendance at education has increased from 12% to 83% in six months. The placing authority values the staff’s tenacity in supporting young people to achieve this progress. A social worker said:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘I am amazed they have kept him there….very pleased. My young person is in education and gets the bus to and from education. It is a bespoke package that meets their needs; they have done well.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are also pleased with their progress. One young person said: ‘I like my staff. They help me with my behaviour and my education.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s physical and emotional health needs are well met. Care staff work well with therapists to meet young people’s complex emotional needs. Therapists confirm that staff listen to their advice and respond positively to different ways of working to meet individual young people’s needs. Most young people develop improved emotional resilience as a result. Staff register young people with universal services, and ensure that they benefit from regular dental and health checks, and treatment which leads to improvements in their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy contact with the people that are important to them, even when these individuals live a distance from the home. This promotes young people’s sense of identity and security, and their investment in the home. As a result, they do not go missing from home. Parents feel that their children are receiving good care with positive outcomes. One parent said: Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 5 ‘Staff are amazing – the way my young person has come on! They help us to keep in touch. I am always made welcome when I visit. They supported me too when I was struggling in the beginning. I can’t fault them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a range of recreational activities, they attend boxing, the gym, horse riding, motocross and swimming. They also engage with staff in activities within the home such as gardening projects, gaming and playing board games. Staff always seek young people’s views and wishes, and ensure that they have access to an advocate to support them. Staff are proactive in promoting young people’s own identities, and in supporting them to learn about the diverse community in which they live.

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

Staff are skilled in identifying and managing risks. They ensure that they complete comprehensive risk assessments, and regularly review and update these to reflect young people’s progress. Staff work as part of a team around each young person to keep them safe. As a result, young people feel a strong sense of investment in the home, and incidents of missing are rare. As one young person said: ‘I feel safe here, otherwise I wouldn’t be here!’ Staff understand what to do when young people are missing, and have positive relationships with the police and young people’s families and friends. Consequently, there is a coordinated response which ensures that young people are at risk of harm for the shortest period possible. Staff always ensure that young people are offered an independent return interview, which informs their care of young people.

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

Some young people make excellent progress, and their risk-taking reduces over time. When necessary, staff work collaboratively with local agencies that support young people with issues such as substance misuse. Staff are alert to the risks the internet may pose for young people, but they are also aware of the need for young people to take age- appropriate risks. They support young people to manage these risks so that they can become more independent. Young people trust staff, and talk about what is difficult. They understand how to complain, but there have been no complaints since the last inspection.

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

Staff promote positive behaviour effectively. They make good use of reward systems based on age and interest, to ensure that young people engage in these systems. Staff are skilled in de-escalation techniques, which means that they use restraint infrequently and only when young people’s risk-taking behaviour puts them at risk of significant harm. The registered manager debriefs staff and young people following the use of restraint; however, she does not consistently record this.

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

The registered manager and staff understand how to manage child protection concerns and allegations. They refer these appropriately to the designated officer and local authority, and work in partnership to ensure that these concerns are resolved promptly. Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post for almost 10 years. She is suitably qualified and experienced. The registered manager leads her team by positive example, and is a visible presence in the home. She has an excellent knowledge of the progress young people make and takes appropriate action to challenge stakeholders, as any concerned parent would when their young person is not receiving the support they need. Her relationships with stakeholders is positive and effective despite these challenges. One teacher said: ‘The registered manager acted as a good advocate for her young person, as any parent would.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has systems in place to monitor and review the care that staff provide for young people and to complete checks on the home’s records. At times these systems have not been effective, which results in gaps in young people’s essential local authority documentation in the home, and gaps within the service’s recording systems regarding agency staff shifts.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff understand young people’s complex needs and use a multi-disciplinary approach to manage their behaviour. A psychologist said:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

‘Staff made good use of the consultation I provided: thinking hard about the nuances of managing a volatile young person who frequently misinterpreted efforts to care for them – given the stability they were able to provide I was about to move it on to a joint therapeutic endeavour involving staff and the young person – this is a rare achievement in residential settings.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report feeling well supported through formal and informal supervision. There has been progress in staff having regular supervision, but some staff are missing these supervision sessions on occasions. The registered manager carries out appraisals which capture feedback from young people and staff. However, she has not completed this process for each member of staff, and the registered manager has not received an appraisal for a number of years. This does not promote staff’s continued development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager makes child-centred decisions about young people coming to live at the home. She comprehensively considers the needs of the existing young person in placement, and also whether her staff are able to meet young people’s needs. She ensures that she speaks to as many professional stakeholders as possible in order to complete an informed impact risk assessment. The registered manager takes effective action when she is unable to keep young people safe by reviewing their placements and ending them when multi-agency support is unable to safely maintain the young person at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people’s views are central to the home, and there is good evidence of their involvement in choosing their environment, food and activities. The home has recently undergone renovation, and young people have been involved in this. Staff promote young people’s identity. They perform direct work which helps young people to reflect on their, and others’, cultural needs, and staff promote young people’s attendance at Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 7 church. Staff maintain clear direct work records which are helpful for young people now, and in the future.

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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: SC386837 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Bramhall Park Road, Bramhall, Stockport SK7 3DQ

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Inspector

Rebecca Quested, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC386837 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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