Children's Home run by Lincolnshire County Council in Lincolnshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 1 SC042950 Registered provider: Lincolnshire County Council 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 six children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or mild learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 January to 1 February 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 From their starting points, young people are making excellent progress in all areas of their lives.  Managers and staff fully understand young people’s needs and advocate on their behalf.  Staff meet young people’s health needs to an exceptionally high standard. Staff fully understand and promote young people’s diversity needs.  Young people feel included, respected and part of the decision-making process within the home. Staff fully consider their views.  Staff offer outstanding support to young people and prepare them for independence.  Bespoke care plans, direct work and a multi-disciplinary approach ensure that young people’s complex needs are fully understood and met.  A committed, ambitious and highly qualified staff team ensures that young people are safeguarded and supported.  A motivated, strong and inspirational manager leads her team by example. The dedicated staff team works exceptionally hard to ensure that young people have

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Key findings from this inspection

the high-quality care that they need and deserve.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/07/2016 Full Outstanding 05/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the home must ensure that difficult relationships between some young people are monitored and, when required, effective action is taken. 30/03/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are provided with an excellent standard of care. From their starting points, young people make outstanding progress, and enjoy very positive experiences. One young person said: ‘I like talking to the staff, they listen to me. I really love some of them. They have my back and I know they will support me no matter what.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A social worker said: ‘Very quickly, staff identify young people’s needs and start to work with them in a very effective, creative way. It’s a good set-up at the home and the staff are impressive, fantastic in fact.’ A substance misuse worker said: ‘I go to other care homes and they are not achieving what is being achieved for young people here. Communication is really brilliant.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The lives of young people who historically were extremely unsettled and chaotic begin to stabilise. Some placements are long-standing and young people begin to make progress in all areas of their lives. Staff know young people well, and provide them with unconditional support. Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 4 A high priority is placed on young people’s educational attainment. Most young people are either in college or attend other educational provision. One young person said: ‘They have really helped and supported me to get through my GCSEs. Without them I am not sure what would have happened.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff excel in making sure that young people’s health needs are met. Young people are encouraged to be healthy, and have a varied and nutritious diet. Staff ensure that young people attend their hospital appointments and that direct work is carried out to support young people’s emotional needs. For example, one young person required specialist footwear. Not having this was stopping him from attending work experience. Specialist footwear was researched by staff and the young person was taken out of county so they could be measured and fitted with the correct footwear.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff provide an exceptional level of support to help each young person move on to the next stage of their life, whether that be a return home or their transition into adulthood and independence. Individualised programmes for young people, that teach them about essential life skills, are thoroughly and creatively implemented. A reviewing officer said: ‘They have really supported his plan of independence and are preparing him well. The staff group remain buoyant, resilient and positive about each and every young person that they work with.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff also provide invaluable outreach support for young people once they have left the home. For one young person, this meant that staff travelled to another city every day to support them in their new accommodation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff respect and value young people. They are fully committed to them. Young people’s views are continually sought and young people feel listened to in the home. Because of this, young people’s confidence and self-esteem grows. Young people sit on the interview panel when staff are being recruited. Young people have spoken at a staff development day for independent reviewing officers, and have been involved in supporting other young people who are looked after. One young person chairs their own independent review. The way that young people’s views are promoted is outstanding.

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

Young people say that they feel safe in the home. While incidents of going missing from the home continue for some young people, they are much less frequent when considering young people’s histories. The staff manage these situations exceptionally well, and go over and above to ensure that young people are safely returned home. Liaison between staff and local services, such as the police and the CCTV team, is exceptional. A police officer said: ‘They safeguard the children effectively, which is not always easy given the young people they have. They do a cracking job. I have no concerns at all. The young people are very well looked after.’

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

Young people identify key members of staff who they have developed positive and Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 5 trusting relationships with. A social worker said of one young person: ‘Prior to December 2017, they were on the top ten list for missing episodes. Given they have only gone missing twice since being at the home, this is a massive achievement. Also, when they are missing they will not answer the phone to social workers. They will, however, answer it to the staff which says a lot about the amazing relationship that staff have built up with this young person.’

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

The home is a settled environment. Despite relationships being difficult between some young people, staff manage this well. New strategies are being implemented in order to assist young people to understand the impact of their behaviour on others. This in turn helps young people to behave in ways that are more socially acceptable.

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

All staff have an excellent understanding of the home’s safeguarding policies and procedures. The manager and staff understand the individual risks posed to each young person. Excellent risk assessments, outstanding direct work with young people and the implementation of ‘signs of safety’ and evidence-based practice all assist in ensuring young people’s safety and protection.

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

Young people receive bespoke packages of care that are tailored to their complex needs. Once young people’s needs are identified, referrals are swiftly made to the relevant agencies, including child and adolescent mental health services, the substance misuse team and the smoking cessation service.

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

Staff manage young people’s behaviours exceptionally well. Incidents of self-harm have reduced from young people’s starting points. Positive relationships, clear and consistent boundaries, proactive strategies and incentive schemes are all highly effective. These, along with a restorative approach, help young people to reflect on their behaviours. One young person said: ‘The sessions we have help me to understand my behaviours. Sometimes I get angry and I don’t know why I’m angry, but staff help me to understand that I should not kick off.’ A parent made the following comment about the staff: ‘I would give them ten out of ten. I think they are marvellous. They have been able to implement boundaries and that’s exactly what she needs.’

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

Staff use restraint as a last resort. There are clear records of the measures taken to avoid restraints taking place, and the reasons why restraints have been required. After every incident, the young person’s views are sought by an independent visitor. As a result of this monitoring and the staff’s understanding of what triggers young people’s behaviours, incidents of physical intervention have reduced for some young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is highly qualified and very experienced. She is aspirational for young people and fully committed to them. Her high standards and expectations ensure that young people are provided with every opportunity to successfully reach their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and assistant manager motivate the staff by identifying their strengths. Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 6 Good practice and achievements are celebrated. The team is well established and is cohesive. Consistent staffing ensures that young people are well supported, and are able to develop enduring relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Supervision is highly effective. Staff report receiving regular, high-quality supervision where a host of matters are discussed. Staff can reflect on their practice and discuss the young people who they are caring for. Regular team meetings also enable staff to discuss practice and consider the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Continued professional development is seen as important and is given careful consideration. Productive team meetings and high-quality supervision ensure that practice is monitored, and that improvements are continually made regarding the care offered to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Information gathered from a number of professionals about the running of the home is exceptional. Good communication with all agencies involved in a young person’s life is a top priority for the manager and staff. Staff have developed excellent working relationships with a number of professionals. The manager has a forward-thinking approach, and is innovative in relation to her vison for young people. For example, a peer mentoring scheme is being set up so that young people who have moved on from the home can support other young people who continue to be resident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are all highly trained, and have a mixture of qualifications and experience. As well as mandatory training, staff have undertaken a host of other training courses in respect of issues that affect the young people they are caring for. As a result, staff are exceptionally well equipped to meet the needs of the young people they are caring for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Practice is informed by theories regarding the causes of complex behaviours. All staff use the social pedagogy model in a highly effective way. A therapeutic approach is used, and is well embedded into practice by the manager and staff. This knowledge, alongside the staff’s experience and high levels of consultation with young people, is used to continually identify ways of further improving the quality of care provided. This is indicative of a service that is committed to providing an outstanding level of care for young people.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC042950 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lincolnshire County Council, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Jeanette Mitchell-Fox

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Inspector

Davinia Lawton: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC042950 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 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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