Children's home run by Educare Adolescent Services Limited in Cannock Chase

Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 1 SC063285 Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

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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 privately owned children’s home is registered for three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is currently offering crisis intervention, short, medium, and long-term care for children and young people aged 10 to 17.

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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: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people form warm and trusting relationships with staff who are sensitive to their needs.  Young people can relax and focus on their own needs in a comfortable, well- maintained home that is set in a quiet, rural setting.  Staff listen to young people and encourage them to express their views, wishes and feelings.  Staff have aspirations for young people and support them to achieve their aims.  Young people have fun with each other and staff and enjoy a range of stimulating activities and outings.  Young people make significant progress in their education, social development, confidence and emotional well-being.  Highly trained and vigilant staff keep young people safe and help them to understand how to keep themselves safe.  When young people go missing, staff search for them and work effectively with other professionals to ensure the young people’s safe return.  Detailed risk assessments and behaviour management plans are regularly

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Key findings from this inspection

reviewed and updated. Consequently, staff know how to identify risk and respond appropriately in order to keep young people safe.  The registered manager leads by example and is supportive of his staff.  The very experienced and child-focused registered manager ensures that young people receive consistent and appropriate care, which meets their individual needs.  Staff work therapeutically. They have an in-depth understanding of the impact of young people’s past experiences on their emotional well-being and behaviour.  Staff and the registered manager work closely with other agencies to ensure that young people’s needs are identified and met. They challenge other professionals and advocate on behalf of 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

 Staff shortages have resulted in an increased use of agency staff. This threatens the core staff team’s ability to provide consistent care.  Staff shortages have led to a reduction in key-work sessions.  Young people have not been having regular young people’s meetings where they can express their views. Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2016 Full Good 01/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/06/2015 Full Good 26/01/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 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

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse and neglect. (Regulation 6(1) and (2)(b)(v)) In particular, undertake regular key-work sessions with each child. 30/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation (7)(1) and (2)(a)(iv)) In particular, hold regular young people’s meetings. 30/11/2017

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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 ensures that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child and that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care for each child. (Regulation (13)(1) and (2)(d)(e)) 30/11/2017

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have warm and trusting relationships with staff who are child focused, and who understand their vulnerabilities and complex emotional needs. Young people enjoy a comfortable, well-maintained home in a quiet, rural setting where they can focus on their own needs. The home is full of photographs of young people and staff having fun together. This provides young people with happy memories and makes them feel part of the home. Staff identify and support young people’s individual interests, such as football and singing, and ensure that they engage in fun and stimulating activities. Young people say that they feel very well cared for and that they know that staff care about them. Staff listen to young people. Young people feel that they can talk to staff and say what Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 5 they think and feel. Young people feel proud of the significant and sustained progress that they have made

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

in this home. Staff support young people’s health, education and emotional needs. This leads to increased self-esteem, confidence, educational attainment and independence skills. Young people have improved relationships and develop socially because of the support that they receive from staff. One young person commented that he has become more confident and feels better about himself. Another young person says that she has got better at managing her family relationships. Another young person has achieved beyond expectations in his GCSE exams. He is now studying for his A levels. Staff enabled the young person to develop the confidence and skills to travel to Australia by himself to visit family members. He has returned with increased maturity, confidence and the ability to manage his own behaviour. He has also been able to reduce his medication significantly with medical supervision and support from the staff. One parent

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

spoke of feeling reassured that her daughter is in this placement, and how she has benefitted from the rules and boundaries in the home. Due to shortages in the core staff team, young people have not had regular young people’s meetings where they can express their views about the home. Although staff constantly speak with young people, key-work sessions, which focus on specific areas of need, have reduced in recent weeks and need to be re-established.

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

Highly trained staff do everything that they can to keep young people safe. They work with young people to help them understand how to keep themselves safe. When young people go missing, staff search for them. Staff follow clear guidelines and procedures and contact professionals and family members in order to find young people and ensure their safe return. A police officer commented that the staff ‘do a sterling job’ when young people go missing. Young people say that they feel very safe in the home. They evidence that they are learning to identify risks and keep themselves safer. Incidents of young people going missing have reduced significantly, as have incidents of self-harm. Consequently, young people are becoming increasingly safe. The registered manager and staff regularly review detailed and individualised risk assessments and behaviour management plans. These provide staff with valuable information, including triggers to young people’s behaviours and strategies to de-

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

escalate and reduce risk. Young people undertake online courses on, for example, fire safety and gain certificates. Staff are knowledgeable about child sexual exploitation and self-harm and are vigilante for signs that young people are at risk. Internet safety is addressed with young people in discussions, and staff use workbooks to discuss and educate young people about keeping safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The very experienced and competent registered manager holds a level 4 qualification in social care, a registered managers’ award and a foundation degree in therapeutic childcare. He has been managing another home in the group, which is judged as outstanding, but has decided to resign from that post and concentrate solely on this Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 6 home. Staff either have or are undertaking a level 3 qualification and all staff hold a first aid certificate. The home is very well managed. The registered manager provides staff with constructive supervision and team meetings, where staff can reflect on their practice and contribute to the development of the home. Staff and the registered manager advocate strongly on behalf of young people and are not afraid to challenge other professionals if they consider that young people’s needs are not being met. Young people demonstrate a

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

strong liking for the registered manager and respond positively to him. The registered manager is aware of the strengths and areas for development in his team and has a development plan for the coming year. This includes work on diversity and improving the effectiveness of staff practice with young people who have been subject to child sexual exploitation. He has joined the national working group on child sexual exploitation in order to increase access to resources for the team. Since the last inspection, staff have undertaken training in the PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy) therapeutic model and in key working. The registered manager provides staff with workbooks to engage young people in discussions about, for example, the importance of understanding good and bad relationships. This helps young people to become less vulnerable to child sexual exploitation. There has been a recent unsettled period in the home when young people have gone

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

missing. The registered manager has demonstrated his ability to reflect on how young people are matched. He has learned from the experience in order to drive up standards. There have been recent staff shortages at the home, which have resulted in an increased use of agency staff. The registered manager uses as few individual agency staff as possible to reduce the impact that this has on young people. While young people do not currently express concerns about the agency staff, the registered manager is fully aware that he needs to increase and establish his core staff team in order to continue to meet young people’s needs effectively. Staff say that they enjoy working in this home. One staff member commented that the registered manager could not be doing any more to support or guide the team.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 7 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: SC063285 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC063285 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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