Children's home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC366104 1 SC366104 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group 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 home is part of a private organisation and is registered to accommodate up to four children and young people who have learning disabilities and/or emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home has an annex within the grounds which supports young people to develop independence skills.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 27 to 28 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager and staff are proactive in addressing concerns that arise in this home. For example, when bullying was a concern in the home, staff put strategies in place to ensure that children remain safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC366104 2  Behaviour management within the home is good. Staff challenge negative behaviour. They put in place consequences, when appropriate, and work with children to explore their behaviour to support them in making safer choices in the future.  Children flourish within this home and make positive progress.  Staff are passionate and enthusiastic about the care they provide to the children living in this home. Children live in a relaxed and welcoming home environment.  The registered manager ensures that staff have the training needed to meet the needs of the children living in the home. Each member of staff’s skills, abilities and experiences are risk assessed to ensure they can meet the needs of the

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Key findings from this inspection

children they work with.  The registered manager ensures that the staff have regular supervision. He encourages staff to develop their skills and is supportive in providing staff with new learning opportunities.  The registered manager challenges other professionals to ensure that children receive the services they need. The registered manager is effective in his approach, resulting in positive outcomes for children.

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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 needs to continue to provide a homely environment throughout the house, and ensure that the progress made continues into the outside areas surrounding the property.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 31/10/2016 Full Outstanding 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC366104 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure young people live in an environment which meets their basic day to day needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) In particular, continue to make the home a comfortable and homely environment, with reference to young people’s bathrooms and the outdoor space surrounding the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make positive progress within this home. Children’s day to day experiences are positive. For example, children have a consistent routine, which gives them the stability and security they need to flourish. This includes attending educational provisions. If children do not attend education there is an expectation that they engage in educational activities in line with their usual daily routine. This demonstrates to children the importance of routine, education and learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager is proactive in ensuring that children have the educational opportunities that they need. For example, one child is on a part-time school timetable. The manager voiced his concerns, as he believed the child would benefit from full-time education. As a result, the child now has further educational hours. Another child’s educational attendance has improved while living at the home. This supports children in securing positive employment opportunities in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children report liking the staff that work with them and that they are able to build positive relationships with them. The commitment from the staff team and its understanding of the challenging and complex needs of the children are exceptional. Staff are committed to the children, and support them in working through the difficulties that they experience. Physical interventions have reduced for one child, due to them building trusting relationships with staff. As a result, the child’s behaviour has improved and physical interventions that were occurring regularly have significantly reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have worked hard to decorate and furnish most of the home to a good standard. This must continue with attention to the children’s bathrooms, which require updating and redecoration. The courtyard area also requires improvement due to having uneven paving, drains protruding, and an old and worn basketball hoop.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and emotional needs are consistently met. For example, all children have access to a therapeutic service on a weekly basis. If children choose not to attend, the appointment remains in place allowing children to change their mind. The registered Inspection report children’s home: SC366104 4 manager and staff also liaise with the therapeutic service to seek advice on how to manage children’s behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been occasions when children have experienced bullying within the home. The children were not happy and were able to make complaints. Children’s complaints are listened to and acted upon quickly. The staff completed key-work sessions with all the children in the home looking at positive relationships, and all staff completed training on anti-bullying. This demonstrates that children are listened to and that their views and opinions are important.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As well as the main house, this home has a separate cottage/annex that children can move into when they need to develop further independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is good at promoting family links. Staff make sure that children keep in contact with the people that are important to them, in a safe way.

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

The registered manager and the staff team use risk assessments to identify and manage the known risks for children. Strategies are then implemented to manage risks to support children to feel safe and make positive choices. This has resulted in an improvement in children’s behaviour, as staff are able to identify what helps children feel safe on an individual basis. For example, one child found their bedtime routine difficult due to the quietness in the home. The home purchased audio books for the child to listen to. This resulted in the child quickly establishing an age-appropriate bedtime routine.

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

Children’s behaviour improves with the consistent boundaries that staff put in place. When children’s behaviour becomes concerning, staff use a therapeutic approach to try to establish the reason for the behaviour. When appropriate, sanctions are also used effectively. The registered manager learns from each incident, reviewing risk assessments and putting further strategies in place to ensure that similar situations do not re-occur and children and staff remain safe.

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

Staff have training around radicalisation and bullying. The registered manager has good links with other organisations, and works with them to keep children safe. For example, the police visit the home regularly and will talk to the children about topics that the manager feels are relevant at the time. Furthermore, the manager is in contact with the ‘Prevent’ officer and is trying to organise further training for his staff around radicalisation.

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

Some children have gone missing from this home. Staff act appropriately when this happens and they inform all of the relevant agencies. Staff ensure that return home interviews are completed when children return to the home.

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

Staff complete regular key-work sessions with children that are individual and relevant to the child’s experiences. The sessions that they complete provide children with an Inspection report children’s home: SC366104 5 understanding of their behaviours and support them in making safer choices. Staff also keep a record of activities that children undertake, looking at ‘what we did’ and taking pictures to capture the moments. This gives children the opportunity to create positive memories, and provides them with a sense of identity and belonging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is ambitious and has high expectations of the children living in the home and the staff who work for him. He is child-focused and has effective monitoring systems in place. This means that he has a good knowledge of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows each of the children well. He understands their starting points and how they have progressed since living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular good-quality supervision and training. This supports them to understand how best to meet the needs of children. Staff share the same passion and enthusiasm as the registered manger, and provide children with personalised care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team speaks highly of the registered manager and view him as supportive and hard working to achieve the best outcomes for children. The manager’s positive leadership skills promote a culture within the home that keeps children central to all decisions made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children receive individualised care and are matched with the staff who are best suited to meet their needs. Some staff have left and moved to other homes. However, the manager has kept the disruption to a minimum. The manager does not use agency staff, and utilises staff from other homes. This ensures that young people receive consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are actively involved in the care that they receive. They know how to complain, and staff listen to their complaints and act on them. Children share their views with staff in preparation for their looked after reviews if they cannot attend. Staff share the children’s views in the meeting and document children’s views, wishes and feelings in their review reports. For example, one child wanted to know when they would see their family and for how long they would be staying at the home. As staff had gathered this information they were able to advocate for the child in the meeting. During the inspection, the staff and children were preparing a culture evening. One child helped in the preparation, deciding what food they would eat and learning facts about the country they were promoting.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC366104 6 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: SC366104 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Reflexion Care Group Ltd, Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Lisa O’Donovan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC366104 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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