Children's Home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 1 SC460973 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This private children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and complex needs. Young people stay for a 12-week assessment period, followed by up to 4 weeks‟ transition to the next placement. The provider offers outreach services from their registered children‟s home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 September 2017

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

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

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Fire safety systems are not effective. Children and staff have been at risk because of poor fire safety precautions.  Staff do not always have local authority care planning documentation on which to base their care of children. This may reduce their ability to provide individualised and safe care.  The skills, training and experience of the staff team have been affected following a challenging period of staff turnover.  Internal investigations into care and safeguarding issues are not always rigorously concluded. The registered provider does not demonstrate the effectiveness of their actions to improve practice following allegations.  Supervision for some staff, including the manager, requires improvement.  The statement of purpose is not widely shared to ensure that relevant people receive information about the service.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Children have the opportunity to lead lively, adventurous lives. They are challenged physically and emotionally to develop resilience and confidence.  Children benefit from prompt and frequent therapeutic support. They begin to reflect on their experiences and they make plans for the next stage in their lives.  Children eat healthily and engage in more exercise.  Children achieve nationally recognised vocational qualifications as they hike, camp, canoe and learn about personal safety and skills outdoors.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/12/2016 Full Good 21/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/08/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 3

p.2

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children‟s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The positive relationship standard is that children are helped to develop and to benefit from relationship.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (2) (x)) 31/12/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

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

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2) (c) (h))

p.3

Requirement Due date

This relates to improving the balance of staff skills and experience on shift, staff training and how the responsible individual ensures the effectiveness of investigations and reviews into the quality of care. 31/12/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3) (b)) 31/12/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must, if the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home, ensure that the requirements of that order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in 14/11/2017 Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 4 respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2) (b))

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child, which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1))

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, obtain the local authority care and placement plan, the local authority review minutes and the child‟s local authority health assessment. 31/12/2017

p.4

Recommendations

 Anticipate difficulties and review incidents. Proactively implement lessons learned and sustain good practice. This is in relation to managerial monitoring after safeguarding allegations and identifying any patterns and trends in restraint and allegations for permanent and relief staff. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24)

p.4

Recommendations

 Whenever possible, staff in day-to-day contact with children should include staff from the different gender groups. Where the home‟s statement of purpose makes it explicit that the home uses staff of one gender only, clear guidance will need to be in place and followed as to how children are enabled to maintain relationships with people of a different gender. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 54, paragraph 10.22)

p.4

Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4) (b). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

p.4

improvement to be good

The children‟s home provides a crisis response through activity-based assessments. The short-term nature of the service means that staff have a limited time to plan and build relationships while they assess and deliver safe care to children. The manager is persistent in pursuing accurate information about children from their placing authority, but is not always successful. Staff do not always have a local authority plan of care at the outset, including review notes, assessments or health plans on which to base the care for children. This limited information means that staff may not be able to deliver individualised care to meet children‟s needs.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff work constructively with placing authorities and parents, often through periods of crisis when important decisions are being made about children‟s future placements. Two Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 5 placing authority social workers told the inspector that they would like children to be more involved in the conclusions of their assessment. They told the inspector that the assessment should be shared before being presented at meetings.

p.4

improvement to be good

The short-term nature of each placement means that the staff have to deal quickly with children‟s presenting health and education issues. With support of staff, children quickly begin to eat healthily and engage in more exercise. Children achieve nationally recognised vocational qualifications as they hike, camp, canoe and learn about personal safety and skills outdoors. Inspector saw evidence of placing authority and children‟s comments to the registered manager, where they have also requested literacy and numeracy teaching. A professional also told the inspector that structured education would enhance the purpose of their child‟s placement.

p.5

improvement to be good

Psychological input during the assessment period provides an opportunity for many of the children to have weekly „talking therapy‟ and psychological support. This is of immediate benefit to children, who may have previously had a long wait for child mental health assessment and services. The manager cascades therapeutic advice to staff in regular briefings. A social worker told the inspector that their child had made a significant relationship with a therapist, which had helped their child.

p.5

improvement to be good

Children make positive relationships with the staff team, who provide continuous supervision. They talk to them about the care that they receive. Children told inspectors that they get on with staff. Staff support children as they develop skills through the physical and emotional challenges of the programme of outdoor activities.

p.5

improvement to be good

Fire safety arrangements are not good enough to ensure that children and staff are fully protected in the event of fire. Some precautionary fire safety measures, such as fire and smoke seals, are not in place on children‟s doors. Staff prop the kitchen fire door open and the laundry door does not close automatically. Another bedroom door did not close snugly to exclude fire. The manager began to take action to address this shortfall during the inspection. Children receive high levels of supervision and as result, the risks that they have previously been exposed to reduce. Staff have managed some extremely challenging and violent behaviour from children whose placements have now ended. This period of intense challenge has had an impact on the staff team. Staff are trained to use physical intervention as part of the organisation‟s tailored behavioural management scheme. One allegation has been referred to the local

p.5

improvement to be good

authority designated officer. An internal investigation identified a number of areas for improvement. Consequently, policy and practice have been changed to ensure that senior and experienced staff always speak to other staff after any incident or allegation. Training has also been delivered to staff highlighting the importance of accurate recording of incidents. Children are in the countryside away from public transport links and towns or villages. Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 6 Staff plan the outdoor activities so that children are safe. Children are supported to take carefully assessed positive risk. This increases their physical and emotional resilience. On the rare occasion that children go missing, staff work with the police and the placing authorities to ensure the child‟s safe and swift return. Staff have intervened and restrained children who actively self-harm. This quick response prevents further risk. A

p.5

improvement to be good

local police officer told the inspector, „The relationship that we have with the home and the staff is excellent. If there are any concerns, we work closely together to rectify the issues.‟

p.6

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

The registered manager has been in post since November 2014 and is appropriately qualified. One placing authority told the inspector of their confidence in the registered manager, describing him as having „insightful analysis and nice attitude‟. Placement success is a feature of the manager‟s six-monthly review of the quality of care. The provider makes regular updates to the statement of purpose about new staff joining or leaving the team, but does not share this document with Ofsted. Information about the organisation‟s responsible individual is out of date. The manager has taken some action to meet the two previous requirements. Children‟s behavioural plans have improved. Records of allegations and staff initial responses are now available in the home. Systems for managerial and external independent monitoring and review are well established, but they do not demonstrate continuous improvement. The registered provider does not fully evidence their implementation of action points. As

p.6

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

a result, they cannot demonstrate how they ensure improved practice. Staff and the manager told the inspector that they are well supported by their respective managers. However, not all staff have received regular supervision. Additionally, the registered manager does not hold a copy of his supervision notes. Consequently, they do not have a record of their feelings and responses to behaviour, or the opportunity to reflect on their practice after significant incidents. There has been significant turnover of staff following a period of intense challenge earlier in the year. The home is now adequately resourced and staffed. Staff told inspectors that morale had been low, but was „picking up now‟. The staff team has reduced in size, skill, qualifications and experience. There are not enough females working at the home. The registered person is aware of this and has recruited to complete the team, including taking steps to recruit more female staff.

p.6

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

The organisation has established an effective staff training programme. However, training for staff in helping children who may self-harm, or are vulnerable to sexual exploitation or go missing is not clearly evidenced in staff training records, or in the organisation‟s induction programme. Less than half of the current staff team hold the nationally recognised qualification at level 3 in working with children. Staff are energetic and enthusiastic about their work with children. One member of staff told the inspector of their eagerness to do more training to support their understanding of undertaking direct work with children. Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 7

p.6

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.

p.7

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: SC460973 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Reflexion Care Group Ltd, Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

p.8

Inspector

Christy Wannop, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.8

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9