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

Inspection report children’s home: SC372661 1 SC372661 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The service is owned by a private company.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 13 February 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC372661 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:  The child’s educational needs are not being met.  The child’s health information is not available to staff.  Staff do not put all possible systems in place to safeguard themselves or the child from inappropriate use of mobile phones and access to social media.  The standard of the accommodation requires improvement. Furniture is damaged and carpets are worn.  Management of the home has been ineffective.  Staff do not receive ongoing support through probation, training, supervision and annual appraisals.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s strengths:  A new, experienced manager has recently been appointed. The responsible individual is supporting her to develop an action plan. She has already started to make some improvements.  Staff consult with the child through key-worker sessions.  Historical high-risk behaviours such as going missing have significantly reduced.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/09/2016 Full Good 11/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC372661 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; and understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome such barriers. (Regulation 8 (1) and (2)(a)(i)(iii)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) and (2)(a)(iii) and (d)) 31/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the 28/02/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC372661 4 home’s statement of purpose; and ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(a)(c)) A responsible individual must have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and number and needs (including any needs arising from disability) of the children the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (1)(b)(i)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c)) 28/02/2018

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improvement to be good

The child’s progress is not yet consistent or sustained. She has positive relationships with staff. However, as corporate parents they lack ambition for her, are not championing her needs or imaginatively supporting her to make progress.

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improvement to be good

Effective arrangements are not in place to support the child to progress in her education. This year is her GCSE examination year. Items such as revision books which were requested a number of months ago have still not been purchased either by the staff team or by education staff. The child’s school attendance and academic progress are affected by her relationships and interactions with peers when at school. She is distracted from learning when she gets involved in incidents at school. These incidents have resulted in her refusing to leave the school site, going missing from the school site, assaulting staff and being restrained. She is then suspended from school and put on home-based timetables. This has recently happened again. The new manager has taken immediate action regarding this. She has consulted with the child and liaised with education professionals and the placing authority. A meeting has been called to discuss a

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improvement to be good

There are some strategies in place to support the child to improve her health and to lead a healthy lifestyle. However, historical and current health information is not in her Inspection report children’s home: SC372661 5 healthcare plan and are therefore not available to the child and staff. As a result, staff are not always informed of further actions that need to be taken.

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improvement to be good

Some strategies to support the child to develop new skills are successful. For example, she has developed her cooking skills. The child has also been on holiday abroad and enjoyed a number of short breaks to Thorpe Park and Blackpool.

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improvement to be good

The child is able to express her views. She knows how to raise concerns and make complaints. She has been involved in decorating her bedroom and planning holidays and activities. She is very comfortable in her home. She enjoys spending time relaxing with staff. A particular favourite pastime is watching soaps!

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently support the child’s well-being or manage her safety effectively. Staff are still developing the confidence, knowledge and experience that they require to consistently meet the complex needs of children. The new manager has made this a priority. She has taken steps to ensure that the child is safe and that staff are developing their skills in identifying and reducing risk.

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improvement to be good

Staff lacked insight about how to make sure that the child used her mobile phone and accessed social media safely. The new manager immediately introduced new procedures that safeguard the child and staff. She has introduced a new mobile phone contract with the child to ensure that regular checks of the child’s mobile phone are undertaken and that she hands her phone into staff at key times of the day.

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improvement to be good

The home’s environment requires improvement. Carpets throughout the house are worn. Old furniture has been purchased and upcycled but is now looking tired. Curtains do not fit windows and curtain poles are broken. The second staff bedroom is being used as a room to house pets and unused furniture. The dining room table only has three chairs and the bookshelf is being kept upright by leaning it against a wall. The child has been consulted and involved in the decoration of her bedroom. However, staff have not supported her to maintain it, for example a string of fairy lights no longer works and care has not been taken to put photos into frames.

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improvement to be good

Good progress has been made in other areas of the child’s life and some risks have reduced. She has made progress in expressing herself and managing her behaviours. Since moving into the home, physical interventions have not been required. Historical patterns of going missing from care have also significantly reduced. There have only been two short incidents when the child went missing from the home. These were appropriately managed and quickly resolved by staff. The child was spoken to afterwards and key-work sessions continue to be used to discuss how she can keep herself safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff receive training in child protection and on the risks of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Inspection report children’s home: SC372661 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The practice of the previous registered manager has resulted in significant leadership and management shortfalls. The home’s management was inadequate and was not delivering the aims and objectives outlined in the statement of purpose. Internal and external monitoring and review systems did not identify these issues. The responsible individual was unaware of the extent of the failings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Concerns about the registered manager were raised by a local authority. Subsequently, the responsible individual undertook a thorough investigation. The internal investigation has now been concluded and shared with Ofsted and other agencies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Interim arrangements to manage this home have been put in place and a new, experienced manager started on 1 January 2018.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive regular supervision or annual appraisals to ensure that their practice is reviewed or meets the needs of the child. Staff were not supported to complete their probation until the previous registered manager had left. These shortfalls mean that staff do not have adequate support. They do not reflect on their practice and are unable to achieve high standards of care for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not have the skills that they require to meet the needs of the child because they have not received enough training. Although the organisation has a programme of mandatory and refresher training, staff from this home have not been supported to attend all sessions. As a result, not enough staff have training in key issues faced by the child. For example, two out of the three staff have not completed training in self-harm and one out of the three staff does not have a first aid qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The new manager has a strong vision for the service and is suitably experienced. She is resourceful and strategic within her role. She is in the process of consulting with the child, staff and partner agencies. She is working with the responsible individual to develop an action plan to address the considerable shortfalls in this service. Partnership working arrangements between the service, the placing authorities and other external agencies are improving. Agencies report a growing confidence in the home due to the actions of the new manager.

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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: SC372661 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: SC372661 8

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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: SC372661 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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