Children's home run by Aspire Child Care Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 1 SC403464 Registered provider: Aspire Child Care 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

This children’s home is operated by a private company. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for two 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Not applicable

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff genuinely care about the young people who live at the home and have high aspirations for them. Staff provide consistent and reliable care, which allows Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 2 young people to develop trusted and secure relationships with them.  The quality of the relationships between staff and young people is recognised by professional stakeholders. Family members are equally positive about the quality of care that young people receive.  Young people’s school attendance has improved since they have moved into the home.  Staff promote family contact when it is safe and in the young people’s best interest. As a result, young people enjoy improved relationships with their loved ones.  Young people are provided with lots of opportunities to express their views on the care they receive. Regular consultation, direct work and meetings provide a forum to discuss a variety of issues relating to the day-to-day running of the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home looks and feels like a family home. It provides a lovely, warm and comfortable environment where the young people clearly feel at ease.  The staff team is highly skilled in recognising and responding to the young people’s behaviours. Staff provide clear and consistent boundaries and this provides young people with a sense of security.  Young people’s risk-taking behaviour has dramatically reduced from the start of their placement. For example, there has not been a missing from home episode for over six months.  Leadership and management arrangements remain effective. The registered manager is well supported by an experienced deputy manager. This promotes the effective operation of the home.  The manager has a clear understanding of the strengths of the home and areas for development. Nevertheless, some shortfalls have been identified at this inspection. One requirement and three good practice recommendations have been

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Key findings from this inspection

raised in order to drive forward improvement for young people and to comply with regulations.

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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

 Risk assessments are not routinely reviewed and updated following significant incidents. This has the potential to hinder the effectiveness of risk-management strategies.  Case records such as daily logs do not contain pertinent information, and at times staff have used judgemental and opinionated language.  Incident records vary in quality. Not all contain a clear account of the incident, the action taken by staff and the outcome.  The manager’s review of the quality of care does not include the views of young people, their parents, placing authorities or staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/07/2016 Full Good 28/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 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 order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating and must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(5)) 01/12/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risk on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) This is with particular reference to ensuring that risk management strategies are reviewed and updated regularly and clearly recorded on young people’s risk assessments.  Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact and opinion. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The home’s record of the event must include a description of the action taken

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Recommendations

and the outcome of any resulting investigation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14) Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who have challenging life circumstances have experienced a period of stability at this home, because of the reliable and predictable care they receive. Positive and respectful relationships exist between staff and young people. Consequently, young people have been able to develop meaningful attachments with the manager, deputy manager and staff who are committed to providing them with positive experiences. These have been conducive to helping them make progress and achieve many personal goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people spoken with during the inspection confirmed that they are happy and have no complaints. One young person said, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing about here. Staff are really nice and it’s a nice environment. This home is much better than the last place I lived. I rate this home as 10 out of 10 and I am happy here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have regular key work sessions and confirmed that staff are supportive and help them with various aspects of their lives. In general, young people get on well with each other, which leads to a more relaxed and harmonious atmosphere. However, on the rare occasions when young people have grumbles about each other staff respond quickly. This ensures that the matter is resolved effectively for the young people involved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are very complimentary about the relationships that the staff team fosters with young people. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘We had a number of concerns regarding [X] [young person’s name] prior to this placement, but since he moved here his attendance has improved significantly and he has settled. In my view, he has come a long way and this was a positive move for him. [X] speaks highly of staff and has a good relationship with them. He’s even told me that he wants his key worker to be his best man when he gets married. He clearly is happy at this home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive responses from family members also show that young people make good progress and benefit from good-quality care. One parent said, ‘I have nothing but praise for the staff here. Since my son has been resident at this home, he has improved in every aspect. This is mainly down to the relationship he has with staff. All in all, I do not have a bad word to say.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The majority of young people have previously experienced poor educational outcomes, disruptions and exclusions. However, through effective support and intervention, the arrangements for young people’s educational needs have improved. Both young people are in full-time education. Attendance levels are high and this contributes to the good educational progress that young people are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team facilitates and supports family contact thoughtfully. Plans are in place to ensure that contact with family and friends is well planned, safe and a positive experience for all involved. Through staff’s close working with social workers and family Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 6 members, one young person has been able to enjoy overnight contact with a family member. This demonstrates that the supportive and collaborative approach to family contact has helped to re-establish and strengthen links with those significant to the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have many opportunities to engage in enjoyable and positive activities of their choice. However, at times there has been some reluctance to engage. Nevertheless, every effort is made to encourage young people to give things a go to broaden their life experience. For example, young people have enjoyed trampolining, and trips to the seaside and themes parks. More recently, both young people have enjoyed participating in a local football team. These fulfilling activities enhance the young people’s sense of identity and provide them with opportunities to meet people of their own age.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people feel a sense of belonging and are able take ownership of aspects of their home. Photographs, certificates, trophies and personal belongings are proudly displayed in communal areas. This helps to create a homely environment and demonstrates that young people feel comfortable and at home.

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

Young people benefit from a small and stable staff team that supports them with consistent boundaries and routines. Records confirm that young people’s behaviour has improved over time, and the frequency and severity of incidents has reduced. At the time of this inspection, there had been no recorded incidents of physical intervention. This further demonstrates that young people are settled at the home.

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

The staff team focuses on promoting positive behaviour and uses individual incentivised plans to support staff in this. When young people’s behaviour falls below the expectations, sanctions are used appropriately to support them to consider their behaviours and accept responsibility for their actions.

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

There has been a significant reduction in the number of incidents of young people going missing from care. This is due to the consistent support provided by the manager and staff team. However, when young people have gone missing, records demonstrate that staff make every effort to maintain supervision and follow individualised reporting protocols and risk assessments. This has ensured that the right action has been taken to manage young people’s risks and vulnerabilities in the community.

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

Staff have a good understanding about risk and a real grasp of issues affecting young people in the home. Staff can identify triggers to certain risky behaviours and work hard to help reduce situations that may cause significant harm to young people. However, not all risk assessments have been updated to identify the actions that staff need to take to reduce and manage risk-taking behaviour. To date, there is no evidence that this has impacted adversely on young people’s safety. However, this is not best practice and requires some revision. Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 7 Staff complete incident reports for any safeguarding events. However, these reports vary in quality. Some offer a good level of information while others lack clarity; for example, there is limited information regarding the antecedent, the action taken by staff and the outcome. This is not good practice, as records made in this way hinder the manager’s

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

ability to ensure that staff have taken all necessary steps to keep young people safe.

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

Recruitment and selection procedures are rigorous and create a high threshold of employment to deter unsuitable people. Appropriate checks and references are sought in order to ensure that new employees are of good character and integrity. Furthermore, a range of health and safety checks are routinely carried out by the manager and staff to ensure that the young people and staff continue to live in a physically safe environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates high expectations of staff, herself and the young people. She has extensive social care and management experience and holds the appropriate leadership and management qualification. The manager leads by example and maintains a strong presence in the home. The registered manager continues to be well supported by an able deputy manager. Together, they provide efficient management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that the staffing levels are sufficient and adapts the rota in order to meet the individual needs of the young people. There is a good mix of experience and skill on the team, and communication is effective. There have been some changes to the staff team. However, in the main, young people continue to be supported by consistent and experienced staff members. Any shortfalls in the rota are covered by deploying existing members of staff who work in the manager’s other home. This helps to maintain consistency for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are dedicated and committed to providing a high standard of care to all young people. Staff reported that they receive regular supervision and that they feel supported in their roles. They reported that leaders and managers are approachable and that communication with the organisation is good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff knowledge is enhanced through regular training opportunities including mandatory training, which is regularly refreshed. In addition, staff have completed training in child sexual exploitation, missing from care and safeguarding. This has enabled them to work effectively in reducing these risks for a number of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is proactive in her efforts to maintain positive working relationships with parents, social workers, schools and a range of external safeguarding and healthcare agencies. The manager and staff act as effective advocates for the young people, and the manager is not afraid to challenge placing authorities when required. This ensures that the young people receive the services and support needed to promote positive outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Quality assurance and monitoring systems are generally good. The manager ensures Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 8 that daily, weekly and monthly checks feed into a monthly audit report and the six- monthly report required by regulation. However, the most recent six-monthly report on the quality of care provided did not include the views of young people, their parents, placing authorities or staff. This does not help the manager to understand the effectiveness of the home’s approaches to securing improved outcomes for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has taken appropriate action to address the recommendations raised at the last inspection. This demonstrates her commitment to ongoing development and an ability to learn from inspections.

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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: SC403464 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspire Child Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christine MacKay

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Inspector

Ceri Evans, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC403464 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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