Children's home run by North East Lincolnshire Council

Inspection report children's home: SC394101 1 SC394101 Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire Council

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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 local authority has registered this home to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 young people benefit from a caring and nurturing environment.  The staff invest a lot of time and effort in building positive and trusting relationships with young people. Inspection report children's home: SC394101 2  The high level of care and consistency that the staff provide help young people feel safe and secure.  Staff strive to keep young people free from harm. This is particularly evident in the persistent and committed actions from staff if young people are missing from the home.  The staff team encourages young people to take age-appropriate risks as part of the natural process of growing up, in a safe and supportive way.  The manager has high expectations and fulfils his positive vision of residential care being a force for good for young people. Young people benefit from good or better outcomes under his leadership.  The manager and staff team know the young people well. There are efficient

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Key findings from this inspection

systems in place to track the progress young people make.  The manager has a very good understanding of the strengths of the home. His monitoring is supplemented by regular, thorough reports from an independent visitor.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/10/2016 Full Outstanding 01/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC394101 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should encourage children to express their views about whether they feel safe both within and outside the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10) In particular, encourage young people to talk, using scaling questions about ways to improve their safety in relation to concerns about their welfare.  The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28) In particular, keep young people’s missing from home risk assessments and action plans up to date.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, the registered manager should take steps to improve the quality of records in relation to key-working so as to improve the oversight of the support young people receive. Records of decision-making about admissions should fully account for the analysis of young people’s needs and potential impact on each other.  The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4) In particular, six-monthly reviews should analyse placement endings and barriers to young people’s progress, to help contribute towards the process of continuous improvement.  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person

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Recommendations

must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4) In particular, it is important to maintain the valuable oversight of the management of the home when the independent visitor changes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from the caring and nurturing environment. The staff invest a lot of time and effort in building positive and trusting relationships with young people and let them know that they are important. Regular guidance from the child and adolescent Inspection report children's home: SC394101 4 mental health services (CAMHS) supports staff in promoting the emotional well-being and security of young people. Consequently, staff respond to young people in a way that promotes young people’s attachment needs and mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The high level of care and consistency that the staff provides helps young people feel safe and secure. One young person who moved out of the area for a short period of time really wanted to come back, and the staff made this happen. Young people progress in the relationships they make with staff and each other, they become more sociable and invest in the home. This is helped by the way staff make young people’s relatives and friends welcome in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy spending time with their friends, and staff are good at supporting this with sleepovers and taking friends out on activities. Young people can follow their individual interests, such as horse riding, gymnastics, and arts and crafts. They also enjoy an annual holiday abroad, which is a new experience for some.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to develop contact with their family when it is safe and appropriate to do so. Staff understand the importance of this and provide additional resources, such as transport and supervision, where necessary, so that contact can take place at meaningful times and locations. This helps young people maintain both their sense of identity and important relationships with significant others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people go to school. Staff listen to young people’s views and work closely with partner agencies to find the most appropriate school for young people to attend. Staff work with schools to promote young people’s attendance, behaviour and achievements. As a result, one young person attends far more in comparison to her starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take note of what young people say and respond to this on a day-to-day basis, such as requests for birthday plans, providing extra bedding on cold nights and taking young people clothes shopping. This extends to significant decision-making, in one case supporting a young person to try out a mainstream school. This is a typical example of the opportunities created for young people that provide them with important life chances for their futures. However, on some occasions it is not clear how staff have responded to the views of young people. This is because record-keeping does not capture some of the hard work undertaken by staff. This does compromise the thoroughness of the manager’s oversight.

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

Staff strive to keep young people free from harm and support them to feel safe and comfortable in the home and local community. This is particularly evident in the persistent and committed actions from staff when young people are missing from the home. Staff are diligent and relentless in finding young people by direct searching and through contact with young people’s friends and relatives. The actions of staff demonstrate to young people that they are cared about and valued. One young person commented, ‘It’s safe here, staff help protect me when I am in trouble.’ Staff talk to Inspection report children's home: SC394101 5 young people about this and encourage young people not to go missing in the first place. Missing from home risk assessments and missing person’s action plans are not fully up to date in informing staff of individual strategies to keep each young person safe. The potential impact of this is minimised by the staff knowledge of each young

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

person and actions staff take when they are missing.

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

The staff team encourages young people to take age-appropriate risks as part of the natural process of growing up, making choices and becoming more independent. This is achieved in a safe and supportive environment, and through sensible discussion with young people about appropriate behaviour and social expectations. Consequently, young people benefit from more contact with their families and friends, and enjoy activities that previously would not have been achievable. Staff use a recognised social work model to proficiently address young people’s priority needs and risks. Staff do not fully include young people in this process and do not use scaling questions to discuss this with them. This is a missed opportunity to help young people develop their sense of personal safety further.

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

Staff provide young people with clear expectations and boundaries with regards to behaviour, appropriate relationships and acceptance of difference. Staff utilise a good restorative approach to resolving incidents of poor behaviour and encourage young people to get along well with each other. Any sanctions imposed by staff are tailored to make a difference and are appropriate in measure. For example, after damaging the television in the lounge, a young person’s own television was used as a temporary replacement. Staff support young people to develop their resilience and find appropriate ways to manage difficult emotions. The use of physical intervention is a last resort and has not been used since September 2017. There is good management oversight of incidents so as to address any trends and review the care needs of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is qualified and has successfully managed this home since August 2013. Young people benefit from good or better outcomes under his leadership. He has high expectations for what to achieve and fulfils his positive vision of residential care being a force for good for young people. The staff team shares his drive and determination in giving young people the best.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team know the young people well. There are efficient systems in place to track the progress young people make. The manager uses this information to maintain a good oversight of the young people’s development and concerns about their welfare. This is put to good use in the proactive way that young people’s views, wishes and feelings are promoted. For example, the manager and staff influence significant decisions about choices of school for young people and whether they stay living in the home or move out of the area. In one case, frank and open discussion with the emergency services prevented a young person from inappropriate criminalisation, which would have had a detrimental impact on his future. Inspection report children's home: SC394101 6 Staff feel well supported, there are high levels of job satisfaction and the cohesive staff team is dedicated to providing young people with high standards of care. Team meetings

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

and supervision are positive, stimulating and encouraging of the staff to perform well. Regular consultation with CAMHS reinforces the positive efforts of staff and helps them to reflect on the good care practices that they use.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

As well as the training staff undertake, the individual team members have a diverse range of experiences and different qualities. This gives young people a staff team that is skilled and competent to meet their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a very good understanding of the strengths of the home. His last six- monthly review of the home demonstrates the achievements of young people and how well staff support them. Further evaluation of placement endings and barriers to young people’s progress would help contribute towards the process of continuous improvement. The manager deliberates carefully over decisions about which young people to admit to the home. However, this is another area where record-keeping does not fully account for the analysis of young people’s needs and potential impact on each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring is supplemented by regular visits from an independent visitor. The independent visitor’s reports are thorough, highlighting competent care practice, and provide a good account of young people’s experiences and progress. It is important to maintain this valuable oversight of the management of the home whenever the independent visitor changes.

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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: SC394101 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Child Care Management Team, Civic Offices, Knoll Street, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire DN35 8LN

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Inspector

Simon Morley, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC394101 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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