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

Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 1 SC376719 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

The home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company. The company has a school and six children’s homes in the area. This children’s home’s registered manager also manages another children’s home. The company also provides a therapeutic service that is based on attachment theory.

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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: 1 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people have very positive experiences.  Young people are engaged in the planning of their care. They are confident that their views, feelings and wishes count.  Young people receive high-quality integrated care. Professionals from social care, education and health all work together to support young people.  Young people make good progress in their lives.  Young people build positive and trusting relationships with staff.  Young people build friendships with other young people.  Young people maintain safe relationships with their families.  Young people’s school attendance is high.  Young people take part in a wide range of activities. This helps them to develop their interests, talents and social skills.  Young people receive support to adopt healthy lifestyles. Their psychological and emotional needs are met well.  Therapeutic work and positive relationships between staff and young people

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Key findings from this inspection

underpin effective safeguarding of young people in the home.  The system for rewarding constructive behaviours is effective in motivating young people to develop positive behaviours.  Young people have good opportunities to develop their life skills and prepare for adulthood.  The home is managed by a highly experienced and qualified registered manager.  Leaders, managers and staff follow principles of evidence-based practice in their work. Young people’s files are maintained very 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 risk assessments/management plans relating to the physical environment, fire and the location of the home have weaknesses.  Staff have low awareness of the risks of young people being involved in criminal exploitation.  The statement of purpose is inconsistent with the home’s conditions of registration.  End-of-placement reviews are not completed to identify any learning points. Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 3  The impact of the organisation’s not-ending-any-placements policy on the equality and safety in the home is not demonstrably considered.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/11/2016 Full Outstanding 03/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 4

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Recommendations

 Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, the registered person should improve the quality of risk assessments/management plans in relation to the risk of fire and other risks in the home’s physical environment.  Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the homes workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff understand the risks of children being involved in criminal exploitation.  The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high

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Recommendations

quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. They should also play a key role in shaping the ethos of the home through developing a culture of high aspiration for children which is demonstrated through the care, resources and opportunities offered to the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4) In particular, the registered person should review the policy on not terminating any placements and evaluate the impact of the staff practices on the effectiveness of the placements that were not successful, to identify any learning points.  The statement of purpose is an important document in the process of care planning as it sets out the needs of children the home is set up and equipped to care for. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the information provided in the statement of purpose is consistent with the home’s conditions of registration.  When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) In particular, the registered person should consider risks arising from where

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Recommendations

the home is situated. Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive high-quality integrated care, which addresses their needs well. Education, therapy and social care teams all work together well. This promotes positive outcomes for young people. The home’s good collaboration extends to the professionals outside this organisation. Relationships with the placing authorities, local schools, health services, police and youth justice services are strong.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have very positive experiences of being in care. Staff follow principles of good care in their work. They involve young people in the care planning process as much as possible. Both young people who currently live in the home understand why they are in care. They know what the plans are for their futures. They said that they are pleased to be living in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Introductory visits help young people to settle with ease into their new home. Staff always give them clear messages about the home’s routines and rules. Young people are confident that their views, feelings and wishes count.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress in their lives. They said that staff have helped them to change their lives for the better. One young person commented that knowing that people were there for her was the thing that helped her the most. Young people build positive relationships with staff. They build friendships with their peers. They maintain safe and positive relationships with their families. Their school attendance is high. They are diligent in their learning. Both young people who currently live in the home have recently had their best-ever school reports.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people take part in a wide range of activities, for example gymnastics, trampolining, dance or going to the cinema or music festivals. These activities help them to develop their interests, talents and social skills. One young person who used to live in the home had a strong connection with animals. Staff took her to areas inhabited by wild horses. This helped her to build confidence and resilience in new situations. The school organises regular outdoor and adventurous learning activities for young people, for example mountain biking, rock climbing and camping.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive effective support to adopt healthy lifestyles. They have regular health checks. They access any specialist services that they need. Staff pay great attention to young people’s psychological and emotional well-being. A social worker commented that staff showed empathy and understanding towards the young person. This helped the young person to build trust and a sense of safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have good opportunities to develop their life skills. They undertake a comprehensive independence-training programme. Staff assess young people’s progress weekly to make sure that their support is tailored to the young people’s individual needs. Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 6 This support enabled one young person to move out of the home with a place in college and a part-time job.

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

Young people said that they feel safe and comfortable in the home. They trust that staff are there to support them and protect them. Both young people who currently live in the home said that if they had any worries, they would find it easy approaching staff. For example, one young person talked with staff about concerns that she had not shared with professionals before.

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

None of the current young people go missing from the home. This is something that they used to do in the past. They have stopped putting themselves at risk associated with being missing from care. They are more aware of the risks and know how to keep themselves safe. One young person commented that having a key-working session on child sexual exploitation helped her to change her perspective.

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

Records on young people’s files show good safeguarding practices. Therapeutic work and positive relationships contribute to young people’s increased safety. The home’s system for rewarding constructive behaviours is effective. It acts as a strong motivating factor for young people to strive to improve their behaviours. Young people have become calmer. They use inappropriate language less often. They behave in challenging ways less than they used to.

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

Staff use physical interventions when it is necessary. Reflective therapeutic interviews give young people opportunities to talk about those incidents. Interviews help to address any resentment and promote continuation of positive relationships.

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

Proactive risk management practices are effective in promoting young people’s safety. Each young person has a comprehensive pre-admission risk management plan. Staff review this initial plan as they get to know the young person better. They write further individual risk management plans as the risks change.

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

The home has a close working relationship with the local police. The community support officers visit the home on a monthly basis. They provide their professional support and advice to staff and young people.

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

Staff receive regular training on a range of safeguarding topics. They have good understanding of safeguarding concerns and risks that young people face. This includes risks of child sexual exploitation, social media and radicalisation. However, their awareness of the risks related to child criminal exploitation is low.

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

Regular health and safety checks ensure that the physical environment is safe. However, the risk assessments related to the building and its location are not written well. The home does not have a single document that collates all relevant information about environmental risks in one place. The current fire risk assessment is not up to date. It Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 7 includes a risk that relates to a young person who does not live in the home any longer. The home’s location risk assessment contains information that is irrelevant for its purpose. For example, it includes information on the qualification of the therapists who work for the organisation. The document does not include an assessment of the actual risks arising from where the home is situated. For example, it does not make any reference to a stream which is outside the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively and efficiently. The registered manager has been working for over a decade in this role. She has appropriate qualifications. She is ambitious and has high professional standards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff members receive good management support. They have regular supervision meetings and reviews of their individual performance. All staff are either qualified or are near to completion of the level 3 qualification in residential childcare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The therapeutic provision adds value to the usual level of service offered by children’s homes. The home’s staff provide care that is therapeutic-approach informed. A therapist said that the home had an open-communication culture. Staff do not hesitate to ask for advice and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff follow principles of evidence-based practice in their work. They meticulously maintain young people’s files. Detailed records show how staff promote and track young people’s engagement and outcomes. Therapists and teachers contribute their reports. Social workers said that they receive regular and comprehensive monitoring reports. Staff help young people to keep a memory box and photo book.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose provides a wealth of useful information about the home. However, it states that the home admits children with mild or moderate learning disabilities. This is not in line with the home’s conditions of registration. There has been no negative impact as a result of this error in the statement of purpose. The young people who live in this home are appropriately placed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Two placements ended under difficult circumstances last summer. The registered manager did not complete a systematic evaluation of what happened. This means that an opportunity to learn from what went well, and what did not go well, was lost.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The organisation has a strict policy of never ending a placement. This shows the utmost commitment to promoting stability and a sense of attachment in young people’s lives. However, managers do not always check the impact of keeping to this noble principle on the equal opportunities for all. On one occasion, they moved a young person to two different homes and extended her holiday at a caravan. This was done in an emergency, to provide a sole placement to another young person until her placement authority was ready to move her from this home. Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 8

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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: SC376719 9

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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: Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Seka Graovac, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC376719 10 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

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Inspector

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