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Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 1 SC394463 Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered for three children who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make measurable progress in most areas of their lives from their starting points when they moved into the home.  Young people are supported to engage in education. They make progress academically, which results in education outcomes being improved.  Young people have positive relationships with the registered manager and staff team. Staff spend time with the young people and the young people are able to talk to staff and know that they will be listened to.  Young people feel safe living in the home due to the robust safeguarding practice.  Behaviour management in the home addresses poor behaviour and promotes positive behaviour from the young people.  When young people have been under the influence of a substance, appropriate intervention has been in place to support and monitor them. This ensures that young people are safeguarded.  The incidents of young people being missing from home have reduced.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Partnership working ensures that young people receive the most appropriate support to meet their needs.  Young people report that they are happy and settled living in the home.  Young people benefit from engaging in a wide range of social and recreational activities.  Young people are encouraged and supported to develop and maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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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 young people’s bedrooms do not provide them with a clean, tidy and nurturing environment. Some bedrooms were untidy and not clean. Mattresses were heavily stained, paintwork needed repairing and a carpet needed to be cleaned. Staff had not noticed that an inappropriate word had been written on the stair bannister.  There has been an unsettled period of time in the home for staff. Although this has now improved, there was some delay in appropriate support and intervention being put in place to help boost the staff’s morale and build on Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 3 their resilience.  Supervision records do not always demonstrate the discussions which have taken place. Consequently, supervision records do not demonstrate that supervision provides staff with the opportunity to discuss each individual young person and reflect on their practice.  Young people are not always supported to achieve their health and

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Key findings from this inspection

development needs, particularly in relation to healthy eating.  Some records, assessments and plans do not include accurate or up-to-date information relating to each young person’s needs and how they are being met.  Missing-from-home records do not demonstrate that young people are offered or receive an independent return interview in line with statutory guidance.  Some external monthly monitoring visits have not taken place within the required timescales.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/11/2016 Full Good 30/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/01/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 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

6: In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must ensure— that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; protect and promote each child’s welfare; treat each child with dignity and respect; provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6(1)(2)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 18/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

44: The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. The independent person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— children are effectively safeguarded; and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44(1)(4)(5)) 18/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

14: The care planning standard In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered person must— ensure that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. With particular reference to the home’s placement plans. (Regulation 14(1)(a)) 18/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

13: In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must ensure— 18/12/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 5 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the

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Requirement Due date

home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(2))

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes fact, opinion and third party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Ensure records are kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home and actions taken by staff. In particular, support provided to young people on their return home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that each child’s day-to-day health and well-being needs are met. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 6 including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  Ensure a record of supervision is kept for staff that provides evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people say that they are happy and settled living in the home. They report good relationships with the registered manager and the staff in the home. Staff spend time with the young people and young people feel that they can talk to staff, who will listen and respond to their views, wishes and feelings. A young person said, ‘I have lived in about 29 different placements and this is the best home I have ever lived in. The staff treat us like family and this home is just like a family home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three young people living in the home are engaged in education. Records demonstrate that the registered manager and the staff liaise effectively with education professionals to ensure that the education needs of young people are being met. A social worker said, ‘The young person is engaging well in education due to the support he receives from the home. He has previously refused to engage in education so this is great progress for him.’ Another social worker said, ‘The young person has high aspirations and wants to do well; the home support him with this and have high aspirations for him’. The home ensure that the young people have structured routines to support their regular attendance and engagement in education. Consequently, young people are making progress in education and education outcomes for them are improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported and encouraged to engage in a wide range of social and recreational activities. They spend time with staff and peers undertaking activities, including go-karting, swimming, cooking and playing football. This supports young people to develop their social interaction and build their confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff understand the importance of young people developing and maintaining relationships with people who are important to them. Staff liaise with professionals and family members to ensure that suitable contact arrangements are in place for young people and their families. Contact is safe and provides young people with the opportunity to spend quality time with their families. The young people are encouraged to invite family members to visit them in the home, where appropriate. Although contact arrangements are clear to the young people and the staff, the records in the home do not clearly demonstrate this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff regularly meet with the young people to discuss their individual needs. Key- work sessions regularly take place to address specific issues relating to each young person. These sessions allow the staff to provide young people with support, guidance and information to address their needs and keep them safe. However, further sessions should take place following incidents or when concerns arise, for example concerns in Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 7 relation to a young person eating lots of junk food or young people being missing from home or under the influence of a substance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of the young people are generally met well. They are up to date with relevant health and development checks and visit their general practitioners when health issues arise. Medication is clearly recorded and administered in line with young people’s prescriptions. Young people are provided with varied and well-balanced meals. However, there is little evidence to suggest that the home has offered one young person appropriate support, guidance and intervention to address his overeating of unhealthy drinks and snacks. Consequently, this is an ongoing issue for him, and does not ensure that he is eating healthily or managing his health needs effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement plans vary in quality, and in the quantity of information they provide. Some plans are extremely long, with a significant amount of historical information, but do not provide clear information relating to the current situations and needs of the young people. Consequently, this makes it difficult for the staff to have a clear and up-to-date account of each young person’s situation so that they can provide appropriate care to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment of the home was a particular area of concern during this inspection. The leaders and managers have failed to ensure that the young people are provided with a clean, tidy and nurturing home environment. Some young people’s bedrooms were untidy, with clothes strewn all over the floor. This could present as a hazard whereby staff or young people could trip and fall over the items. Furthermore, some of the young people’s beds and mattresses were heavily stained and soiled. A wastepaper bin in one young person’s bedroom was overflowing with empty sweet, chocolate and crisp packets and fizzy-drink bottles. Some of the walls needed to be repaired and painted and some surfaces were dirty. One young person’s carpet was also heavily stained. Furthermore, a profanity had been written on the paintwork on the stairs. The registered manager and the responsible individual had failed to address these

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

issues before they were raised at the inspection. However, immediate action was taken during the inspection to repair and replace some items, and to clean and tidy the bedrooms.

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

Safeguarding practice in the home is robust and results in young people being safeguarded effectively. The registered manager and staff are alert to safeguarding issues, and are able to ensure that appropriate action is taken when incidents occur. Consequently, incidents in the home have reduced and the risks to the young people have reduced.

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

The registered manager took effective action to end one young person’s placement when she recognised that the home was unable to safeguard him. This was a very difficult decision for the registered manager to make, as she did not want to ‘give up’ on the young person. However, the situation became so serious and unmanageable that the Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 8 registered manager had to end the placement so the young person could move to a more suitable placement where he would be fully safeguarded. This resulted in the young person being safeguarded, and staff feeling able to safeguard and fully meet the needs of the other young people living in the home.

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

The number of incidents in which young people have been missing from the home has reduced. Primarily, this is due to the one young person moving out of the home. This young person had a significant number of missing-from-home incidents, but he was also encouraging other young people to go missing with him. Therefore, the decision to end his placement also resulted in the other young people being safeguarded from the risks associated with being missing from home.

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

The missing-from-home records in the home do not clearly outline the actions that have been taken when young people have returned. In particular, they do not include information on independent return home interviews being undertaken. This does not demonstrate that the home is working in line with ‘Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care 2014’. Furthermore, this does not demonstrate that the young people are given the opportunity to share information that may help to protect them from the risk of going missing again, from the risks they may have been exposed to while missing, or from risk factors in their home.

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

There have been a number of incidents in which young people have returned home under the influence of substances. The staff have been alert to this, and have taken effective action to ensure that the young people have been safeguarded. Records demonstrate that staff have considered whether they should seek medical attention for the young people. They have provided the young people with food and drink, and have completed regular monitoring checks on them. Consequently, young people have received the most appropriate support to safeguard them when they have been under the influence of substances. The incidents of young people returning under the influence of substances have also reduced since one young person left the home.

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

Behaviour management in the home supports young people to reduce poor behaviour, and encourages and promotes their positive behaviour. Sanctions are fair, proportionate and restorative in nature to allow the young person to consider and reflect on their behaviour. This promotes more positive future behaviour. However, the records relating to sanctions are not always clear. The home has a number of incentives and rewards in place to promote and reward positive behaviour. Young people are regularly provided with verbal praise in addition to rewards. They also benefit from regular ‘achievement’ days to recognise their achievements. This practice means that generally the behaviour presented by the young people is positive.

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

The home has a safe-area report in place that identifies all known risks in the community and the strategies in place for safeguarding the young people from these. The safe-area report includes information from safeguarding professionals in the area, which demonstrates that the home has consulted with others appropriately to ensure that staff members have a thorough understanding of the risks in the community. Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 9 Staff recruitment practice is safe and ensures that only the most appropriate staff work in the home. This ensures that young people are safeguarded from unsuitable staff working in their home. Recruitment checks demonstrate that the leaders and managers have explored any gaps in the information provided during the application process, to ensure that they have a full and accurate account of staff backgrounds and work history.

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

The home continues to be led and managed by a committed and motivated registered manager. She has a suitable childcare qualification, and has extensive experience of working with children and young people. She is working towards gaining the recognised management qualification. She is supported by the home’s responsible individual and a deputy manager.

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

There are some shortfalls in the records, plans and assessments in the home. These do not clearly outline the young people’s experiences and progress, their journey through care or their current needs and how these are being met. This does not demonstrate that the manager regularly quality assures case records in the home to ensure that effective management oversight is in place.

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

The conditions in young people’s bedrooms do not demonstrate that the registered manager or the responsible individual ensure that the physical environment is maintained to a high standard and meets the needs of the young people. Furthermore, the conditions do not demonstrate that any damage, inappropriate profanities or wear and tear are quickly and regularly repaired.

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

Staff supervision records lack sufficient information and detail to demonstrate that supervision is being given in line with regulation. There is limited information on the discussions about individual young people and the staff’s reflection on their practice. Furthermore, records completed during an unsettled period of time, when staff morale and resilience were low, fail to demonstrate that appropriate support and guidance were provided for staff by the leaders and managers. However, this has improved more recently.

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

Team meetings occur every month, and demonstrate the involvement of all staff, leaders and managers. The current situations and needs of individual young people form part of the team’s discussions. There is also evidence of some reflection on practice. However, during an unsettled period of time for staff and young people, there was limited evidence in team meetings to demonstrate that the staff were being provided with the most appropriate support to build their resilience and boost their morale. Consequently, staff felt that they were not being listened to or appropriately supported. However, this has improved more recently.

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

Partnership working is well established in the home. The registered manager and staff maintain regular communication with professionals and family members to ensure that all information relating to the young people is shared. Consequently, this results in the Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 10 young people receiving the most appropriate support and intervention to meet their needs. A social worker said, ‘The home are meeting the young person’s needs and the level of communication from them is good.’ Another social worker said, ‘They have good communication with the local authority, other professionals and family members. The home are meeting his needs well.’

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

The monitoring and review systems in the home need to be strengthened to ensure that the home is meeting regulation. In particular, not all of the monthly visits undertaken by the independent person were completed in line with the required timescales. Therefore, the independent visitor was not able to provide the leaders and managers with an independent view on the quality of care provided for the young people, and an assessment as to whether young people were effectively safeguarded and how the home was promoting the young people’s well-being.

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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: SC394463 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 53 King Street, Manchester M2 4LQ

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC394463 12 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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