Children's Home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC372652 1 SC372652 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care

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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 registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private company.

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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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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC372652 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff ensure that the young person benefits from appropriate contact with family, friends and other people who are important to him.  Regular input from the clinical therapy team helps the staff team to understand and support the young person with his emotional health needs.  The staff team is skilled at managing very high-risk behaviours.  Effective communication and working relationships between the staff, social workers and other professionals support the young person’s development.  The registered manager, deputy and staff team are child-focused, committed and motivated.

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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 records of investigations and conclusions of complaints are not clear.  The registered manager and staff team are not aware of the outcomes of return interviews conducted by placing authorities after a young person has gone missing from care.  The registered manager’s six-monthly quality assurance report does not clearly identify any actions or how these actions will be addressed.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/09/2016 Full Good 22/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/07/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC372652 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 registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3)) 31/12/2017

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as

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Recommendations

missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every 6 months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. This review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strengths and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how these actions will be addressed. The whole process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: SC372652 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the same young person had been living in the home. He left the home just before this full inspection. On the day of the inspection no young people were present.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to leaving, the young person had made significant progress in many areas of his life. However, more recently he had chosen to disengage with education and his placement. After a small number of serious incidents when he threatened staff, senior managers and the registered manager made the decision that he needed to leave. It was felt that they could no longer safely meet his needs. The registered manager and staff team worked in partnership with the young person’s social worker to try to ensure a planned move on from the home. They extended the young person’s notice period when a new placement was not easily identified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encouraged the young person to lead a healthy life through active leisure pursuits and healthy eating. He was a member of a local football team, attended regular football practices and trialled for some local clubs. Staff also encourage new hobbies, interests and experiences. They supported his attendance at local football club matches where he held a season ticket, encouraged his keen interest in history and took him on holiday to Tenby.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encouraged regular discussions, key-worker sessions and educational activities promoting the young person’s understanding of risk and how to keep himself safe. For example, he participated in a child exploitation and online protection session with a local police community support officer. Staff then reinforced this learning through discussions and key-worker sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understood the importance of the young person maintaining contact with his family and friends. They were well informed of the potential risk of the young person going missing. Contact and social events were always well planned and supervised. Staff promoted consultation and the active involvement of the young person. For example, they advocated on the young person’s behalf when he asked to see his granddad who was in a care home. They worked in partnership with the young person’s social worker, and family to arrange a safe and successful day.

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

Staff have a clear understanding of how to manage any safeguarding allegations. They receive regular safeguarding training, which includes a range of topics, including children missing from home and awareness-raising in relation to child sexual exploitation. This ensures that they are able to meet young people’s specific needs and work in partnership with other agencies effectively. The staff team is undertaking training about radicalisation. Inspection report children’s home: SC372652 5 There were some serious incidents, which have been well managed by staff. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans were in place that clearly addressed all known and identified areas of potential concern. These documents provided staff with written guidance and enabled them to identify possible warning signs and triggers and to implement strategies to prevent or minimise risk. Any incidents resulted in a review of

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

the risk assessment and in further preventative actions being identified. These were discussed in staff meetings and handovers.

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

The young person received the necessary support to promote his emotional well-being. There was prompt liaison with relevant professionals to gain further advice about how best to support and manage any issues. A social care professional stated: ‘He is a complex young man. He has always exhibited very high-risk behaviours. This staff team has managed these risks well and there have only been isolated incidents. However, these have been serious in nature. Even so, he matured considerably while living in the home and his ability to communicate effectively also improved. However, his high-risk behaviours have always been present.’

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

The young person had a pattern of going missing prior to moving into the home. After the last inspection he did not go missing at all from the home, although there were a small number of incidents when he went missing from school. Staff worked closely with education to manage these episodes. As a result, the risks to the young person and his peers were minimised as much as possible. However, there were no records within the home of return interviews by the young person’s local authority after these missing episodes. This potentially prevented staff from accessing useful information that they could have used to prevent further incidents.

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

The responsible individual is actively involved in the development of this service. For example, this year he is focusing on the standard of the home’s environment. The home and garden are maintained to a good standard. However, the responsible individual is not complacent and produces monthly reports and action plans to continue to raise standards. Staff are currently in the process of completing a redecoration of the home in order to repair damage and ensure that the next young person to move in is afforded a pleasant and homely environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since 2008 and holds a level 4 national vocational qualification in care and management. She also manages another registered children’s home that is situated nearby. The registered manager’s time is shared between both homes, depending on the needs, demands and circumstances of each service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, a new deputy manager has been recruited. He joins a number of staff who have consistently supported the previous young person throughout his placement. Staffing is in the process of being reviewed. Personnel will be moved between the organisation’s other homes to ensure that a new staff team is built around the needs of the next young person to move in. For example, the team has up until now Inspection report children’s home: SC372652 6 consisted of all-male staff. If appropriate to the new young person, there will be a different gender balance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff reflect on and develop their practice through training, supervisions, appraisals and team meetings. A clinician attached to the service facilitates regular meetings with the staff team and is further developing its members’ knowledge of the Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy (PACE) model of parenting adopted by the organisation. The registered manager and staff team monitored the young person’s progress and the overall impact that the quality of care had on his experiences. They used reflective practice, research and clinical input to challenge their own practice and introduce new strategies to meet the young person’s needs better.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy use a range of monitoring systems that enable them to understand the strengths and shortfalls of the service. However, the registered manager’s six-monthly ‘quality of care review’ does not identify any improvements that could be made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a complaints procedure in place. Although procedures are followed, there is not a clear paper trail evidencing that a full investigation was carried out into one complaint that had been received by the manager. The young person is aware of the outcome of the investigation. However, this shortfall prevents the quality of the investigation being judged or the identification of lessons to be learned.

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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: SC372652 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Edward James House, Hadley, Telford TF1 6QJ

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Inspector

Dawn Bennett, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC372652 8 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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