Children's home run by Restorative Social Care Services Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1263673 1 Registered provider: Inspire Social Care 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 is a privately owned and run children’s home. The home provides care and accommodation for up to three children or young people who have emotional/and or behavioural problems.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff are dedicated to improving young people’s life chances and outcomes. The staff are child focused and treat young people as individuals.  Through living at this home, the young people establish healthy routines that Inspection report children’s home: 1263673 2 support all aspects of their lives.  The young people are safer as a result of living at this home. The young people benefit from, and appreciate, the reliable and trusting relationships that staff offer.  A strong management team ensures that the young people receive care that is responsive to their emerging and growing needs.

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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

 Information relating to missing from home incidents must be comprehensive in nature so that the staff are clear about who to contact.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 1263673 3

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4).

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people enjoy highly individualised care that is sensitive to their backgrounds, personalities and care plans. Through spending good amounts of time with each young person, staff quickly get to know how best to motivate them. As a result, young people make good, immediate progress in their lives. The staff offer a wide range of new and fun activities. These are part of the young people’s routines and, therefore, provide a rich and rewarding experience of living at the home. The staff work hard at tailoring care based on young people’s needs and preferences. As a result, young people feel valued. Relationships between the young people and staff are positive, warm and respectful. The young people value the time that the staff dedicate to them and say that they trust the staff. Consequently, the young people seek and accept advice given to them and this, in turn, assists the decision-making by young people. One young person said: ‘Here, if you

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

have a bad day, staff ask me about it. They don’t have a go at me. I was always on report for misbehaving at school. Things are now okay in school. I’m happy going and I’m off report now. Here, it is relaxed, they talk to me and they talk to teachers to sort out my problems. I can’t throw anything back at them and ask why they haven’t done something.’ The young people feel listened to and that their views are understood and taken into account. Some young people feel that staff have advocated well on their behalf. As a result, contact with their respective families has been established. The staff encourage and support the young people to take ownership of their home. Family and friends visit the home, and are made to feel welcome. There is extensive planning and preparation for the young people when they come to the home. This ensures that staff are fully prepared to offer good, immediate care and that the young people’s anxieties are significantly reduced.

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

The young people say that they feel safe as a result of living at this home. One young person said: ‘Staff make us feel safe.’ Each young person’s vulnerabilities and risks are Inspection report children’s home: 1263673 4 understood well by the staff and, in turn, these are responded to on an individual basis. There has been only one missing from home incident and this was responded to appropriately by staff. However, some paperwork regarding who to contact when a young person does go missing is not fully completed. As a result, this could be time- consuming and confusing for staff to locate in other files. There have been no incidents of self-harming behaviour, criminal activity, serious incidents or risk of child sexual exploitation. Relationships between the young people in the home are positive and there has been no incident requiring physical intervention. The young people feel that the ‘rules’ are fair and they engage with the staff in a

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

restorative approach to resolving any breach of those rules. The staff take a consistent and educative approach to helping the young people find solutions to the difficulties and problems that they may face. This collaborative approach develops young people’s skills in empathy and problem solving. It offers the young people life skills that they can take into adulthood. The manager and staff are fully committed to developing young people’s decision- making. Sanctions are rarely used. The manager said: ‘If you just take things away from young people, they don’t learn. Someone who has nothing to lose is very vulnerable.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This is a newly registered home. The manager has been registered to manage the home since September 2017. He is an experienced and appropriately qualified manager, with a good and outstanding record of providing residential services to children and young people. The manager leads by example and is both ambitious and passionate about the care that young people receive. These high expectations are clearly communicated through the process of supervision, team meetings, appraisals and induction of new staff. In turn, he is supported by an equally strong management team and staff are fully supported to provide high levels of care to the young people. The manager knows and understands each young person well. He has a clear understanding of their plans and goals and how these will be achieved through the day- to-day care that is offered. As a result, all of the young people make good progress. Driving improved outcomes for young people is of central importance to the organisation

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

and the running of the home. The staff are proactive in advocating and challenging other services to ensure that young people’s needs are fully met. The manager uses a wide range of sources to inform him about the quality of care that is provided to the young people. He is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and creates a culture of learning and flexibility that ensures that care continues to improve. The management team and staff team work well with other agencies. One independent reviewing officer said: ‘I am confident this was the right decision. She is settling in well and I am pleased with the service they are providing. There is good communication and Inspection report children’s home: 1263673 5 lots of emails, so they keep me in the loop.’

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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: 1263673 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Social Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ground Floor, 121 Church Street, St Helens, Merseyside WA10 1AJ

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Inspector

Pauline Yates, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1263673 7 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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