Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 1 SC069198 Registered provider: Meadows 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 is a privately run children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 14 to 15 November 2017

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 February 2017

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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

 Young people gave extremely positive feedback about their daily experiences and how staff have helped them to make progress.  Young people benefit from an enthusiastic core staff team which genuinely cares for them and wants to help make a difference. Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 2  The culture and atmosphere in the home is very warm, caring and nurturing. There is no doubt that young people feel valued and respected.  Young people make excellent progress from their starting points. A parent told the inspector, ‘My son has done so well, he’s a different boy now. This is all down to the staff team. They are lovely and because of them I now have my son back. I can’t thank them enough for their help and support.’  Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and staff demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of child protection procedures and policies.  Young people report feeling safe. Discussions with their social workers confirm

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Key findings from this inspection

that young people are making progress in respect of reducing the risks that they were displaying on admission.  This is a well-managed home. Staff report that they receive regular supervision and that they feel supported in their roles.  The registered manager makes good use of a range of monitoring processes, and has a good understanding of what the home does well.

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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

 The registered manager has not implemented robust performance management tools to help improve staff practice.  Achieving consistency in staffing has posed a significant challenge for both the home and the organisation as a whole. At times there has been a high use of staff from other homes within the organisation. This has improved over the last two months. However, longer term consistency is required.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/10/2016 Full Good 22/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 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

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 to aspire to their full potential and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(b)(2)(e)) 05/01/2018

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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 helps children to aspire to their full potential and promotes their welfare. 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. (Regulation (13)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

With specific reference to implementing robust performance management tools. 05/01/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people spoken with during the inspection confirmed that staff build strong and effective relationships with them based on honesty and genuine emotional investment. As a result, young people know that staff care for them and are not just doing a standard job. This helps young people to believe in their own self-worth and to trust adults, possibly for the first time ever.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have a strong sense of belonging and speak positively about how much they like living at the home. One young person said, ‘Staff are sound. I like them. I wouldn’t change a thing about this home. I like it. I’d give it a 10 out of 10.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 4 It is clear that young people have developed strong and trusting relationships with the core staff team and with each other, and feel secure enough to express their views, wishes, feelings and worries in constructive ways. With the support of staff young people have developed good coping strategies and are more able to express their emotions verbally. The use of effective incentives and rewards has also helped to strengthen young people’s emotional resilience. This keeps them on track when any setbacks occur.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people who are new to the home, and quickly and effectively develop an understanding of their needs. This ensures that young people settle quickly. One social worker said, ‘Staff helped [name] settle by showing an active interest in him. For example, not long after his admission the staff team arranged a birthday party for him. [Name] said to me that he’s never had a party before or a birthday cake. He was overjoyed.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good links with education providers ensure that young people attend a suitable education provision tailored to meet their individual needs at admission. Staff are proactive, and actively support and encourage young people to attend education and liaise regularly with education staff, so they are aware of young people’s strengths and any challenges that occur. This partnership working ensures that young people have the right level of support in order to make good educational progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy good health. They are supported to attend all their medical appointments. Staff provide good information and guidance on a range of issues that include the dangers of smoking, substance misuse and sexual health. Staff refer young people to specialist support services, when appropriate. Young people enjoy a balanced and healthy diet that includes a range of diverse foods that take account of young people’s particular likes and dislikes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from clear, safe contact arrangements, and they understand when they will see their family and other significant people. They have good support from staff to maintain regular contact visits. The manager and the staff team communicate effectively with parents, which means that young people’s progress and achievements are shared.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to develop life skills at a pace which they are comfortable with. As part of living together they are encouraged to take a part in household chores such as clearing the table and washing up. As they get older they develop more age- appropriate skills such as budgeting and making their own appointments over the phone. This means they build on existing skills in preparation for moving on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have lovely bedrooms. They take pride in decorating them and keeping them clean and tidy. They enjoy a very comfortable and welcoming home environment which strongly reflects their interests and creativity. The home is a harmonious environment where young people feel comfortable and valued. Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 5

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

The core staff are skilled in identifying risks, and ensure that young people are supported to become increasingly safe. Staff are committed to ensuring that young people understand the risks associated with substance misuse, relationships, internet use, criminality and missing-from-care behaviour. The effective use of project work and informal discussions has been effective in reducing risk-taking behaviour.

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

Young people confirm that they feel safe and are happy and relaxed, living at the home. Staff support young people to manage their behaviours more effectively and use restorative practice, when appropriate, to promote an improved understanding of how their behaviour impacts on others. This improves relationships in the home, and means that police intervention in the home is extremely rare.

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

Staff are trained in the appropriate use of physical intervention, but this is only ever used as a last resort. A stronger emphasis is placed on promoting positive behaviour through praise, rewards and incentives. Staff have taught young people not to dwell on mistakes and to focus on what they do well. These measures are effective, as records show that sanctions are minimal, and young people confirm that reward systems have helped them to change certain behaviours.

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

The rate of missing-from-home incidents is low, and has reduced considerably in the last six months. Procedures to manage young people going missing from home are effective. Records demonstrate that staff are proactive in locating the young person and ensuring that they are safe and well on their return. Return home interviews are routinely conducted. As such, young people have the opportunity to discuss, with an independent person, why they have gone missing. This provides useful information to help reduce the risk of any further episodes of going missing.

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

When allegations about staff are made, the registered manager works closely with the local authority designated officer and the placing authority to investigate the incidents and come to an informed outcome. This provides effective protection to young people.

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

There are robust safer recruitment practices in place, which ensure that any person employed by the home is carefully vetted for their suitability to work with young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager who has been in post since December 2016. She demonstrates an exceptionally high level of commitment to protecting the young people, promoting their welfare and ensuring that they have a positive experience during their time at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team speaks highly of the registered manager, and staff feel well supported in their roles. Professional development is encouraged and promoted by the registered manager. Training programmes for staff are appropriately targeted and prioritised in the Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 6 key areas of practice. Staff value training, and are enthusiastic to learn new skills and to gain insights into understanding young people’s behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that staff receive both informal and formal supervision. Additionally, structured handovers ensure that all staff have a good understanding of young people’s needs and behaviours. New staff receive good induction into the home, and this ensures that new staff know what is expected of them from the onset.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is focused on the needs of the young people and on re- establishing her team. Since the last inspection, staffing has posed a significant challenge for both the home and the organisation as a whole. At times, the core staff team has been deployed to cover shifts in other homes. This has resulted in a number of changes to the staff team in a short space of time. Since September 2017, the reliance on using non-core staff has reduced significantly, and the home is now moving into a more settled period. The manager has demonstrated a commitment to building continued stability in the team. This will help to strengthen stability and security for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has failed to utilise performance management tools to challenge and review care practices. Furthermore, records in relation to performance management are poorly organised. This makes it difficult to track and monitor staff performance, particularly when new staff join the team from other homes within the organisation. To date, this has not impacted negatively on young people. However, it has the potential to, and therefore requires improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular monitoring of the home, both externally and internally, is sufficient. Monthly visits by an external visitor are undertaken to ensure independent scrutiny of the quality of care provided. The visitor consults with young people, staff and partner agencies to obtain their views. Any shortfalls identified as part of this process are routinely addressed to ensure that the home is operating appropriately and meeting young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and the staff team work proactively with a range of professionals and others important to the young people. They have developed positive relationships, which enable effective communication. Comments included, ‘This is by far one of the better children’s homes I work with. The manager is efficient and communication is great.’ Another professional said, ‘This is a good home. The manager and staff team are professional, caring and always work as part of a team. I couldn’t ask for more.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Procedures are in place to ensure that relevant professionals and agencies are informed in the event of serious incidents. This ensures that professionals are able to carry out their safeguarding responsibilities to ensure that young people are protected from harm.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 7 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: SC069198 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Ltd, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale OL12 9EN

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Inspector(s)

Ceri Evans, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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