Children's Home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 1 SC426318 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services

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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 is registered to provide care for two children or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home forms part of a large social care company.

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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: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since the last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people have clear routines and boundaries.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have developed innovative ways for the young people to be able to express their wishes and feelings, and any worries that they may have. Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 2  The manager works in partnership with other professionals, and challenges them when required.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager recognises the home’s strengths and weaknesses, and takes effective action.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people are settled and make progress.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff provide a nurturing environment for the young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people have excellent attendance at school.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people have positive relationships with staff.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people’s individualised care plans are good.

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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

 Risk assessments for young people have not always been clear; however, they have improved.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have not always ensured that young people get the medication that they are prescribed.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have not always followed up children’s statutory review decisions.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Repairs to the home have not always been completed within reasonable timescales.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Records of supervision sessions are not always written clearly.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/11/2016 Full Good 09/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/01/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff –

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child.

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(1) and (2)(a)(i)(vi)) 16/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b) and (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that transitions are well managed, that decisions from review meetings are acted on within timescales and that health assessments are in young people’s files. 16/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23(2)(b)(c)) 16/03/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, that repairs are completed within reasonable timescales. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 4 standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that supervision notes include reflective practice. It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept, and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s plans are individualised and focus on young people’s daily needs. Staff help young people to develop their independence skills. For example, staff developed a clothing chart to help one young person reduce her anxieties around routines and getting dressed. The social worker told the inspector that, ‘This helps her choose her outfits, which prompts her to make her own decisions. This also supports her emotional development and confidence. The nurturing approach taken by staff has been effective for [the young person].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health is good. Staff support young people to attend health appointments. All their dental, optician and medication reviews are up to date. One health assessment had been missing from a young person’s file for a period of five months. This has now been added.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not always ensure that young people get their medication as prescribed. They administered a double dose of controlled medication because of poor recording. This followed earlier incidents when staff did not administer medication on time. Staff sought advice immediately to ensure that the young person came to no harm. The manager has subsequently improved staff training and recording systems and has ensured that there are no further errors.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress in their education. They have 100% attendance. The school-home link worker informed the inspector that, ‘When [the young person] first came to school, staff from the home were very eager to support this transition at a pace to suit [the young person]. This was another massive step, after moving to a new area. Staff support with transport to and from school each day. Management and staff are always available to contact.’ A teacher informed the inspector, ‘I am very impressed with the home and the pupil who I am designated teacher for seems to have really settled well there. When I have attended meetings the staff have been informative and have shown to be very knowledgeable in areas related to [the young person].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s progress is celebrated. They receive award certificates, and young people are immensely proud of these achievements. Consequently, young people recognise their own progress, and this boosts their confidence. Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 5 Staff have developed innovative approaches to listening to young people. Both young people stated a preference not to have house meetings. Discussions around different options led to the young people each having a regular weekly meeting with a member of staff on a one-to-one basis. Issues about the living arrangements in their home are resolved. If young people have a worry that they do not want to talk about, staff encourage them to write a note to a fluffy toy monster. Young people feel valued. They feel that staff understand them and they get the support that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person left the home in summer 2017, while the previous registered manager was in post. This was not a positive experience for the young person. The independent reviewing officer told the inspector that the young person had made a range of complaints after he left. The registered manager responded to the complaints and disagreed with the issues raised. Despite these issues, staff generally retain positive relationships with young people who have left the home and moved on to adulthood. Some young people have continued to regularly contact the staff to keep them updated on their progress, and have valued the support that staff have provided. One young person who telephoned on the day of the inspection told the inspector that he likes to keep in contact with the staff because they really helped him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the young people to have regular meetings with their families. Staff have listened to young people and noted their wishes about which family members they would like to see, and they have raised these wishes with young people’s social workers. This ensures that young people maintain their family connections and their identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have undertaken excellent life story work with young people. This creates a ‘life- event timeline’ for the young people. This helps them retain memories of positive experiences and helps them to understand their life journey.

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

Risk assessments are not always sufficiently clear, and staff do not always follow young people’s risk assessments and the associated guidance. For example, staff did not seek medical attention on one occasion when a young person required this. In addition, one risk assessment did not identify likely places staff should look for a young person who was at risk of going missing.

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

The new manager identified and addressed these shortfalls. The manager has reviewed and updated the risk assessments to reduce the risks to young people. There have been no missing-from-home incidents over the last three months. Firm boundaries are now in place for each young person, which the young people understand and cooperate with. This keeps them safe.

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

Partnership working with key agencies is a strength. Staff have worked closely with key agencies to manage concerns in relation to child sexual exploitation, bullying and the misuse of substances. This raised young people’s awareness of the risks and the harm that they faced. Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 6 Staff receive effective safeguarding training. This equips them with the knowledge that they require in key topics such as radicalisation and extremism.

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

Young people learn about internet safety and take responsibility for accessing safe sites. Staff monitor access and encourage young people to use the internet appropriately for their own learning. The young people found a guinea pig in their back garden, which is now their pet. They used the internet to do their own research and increase their own knowledge about how to care for their pet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous registered manager transferred to another home within the organisation after six months in post, in September 2017. A new manager is now in post. The new manager has returned to the post that she previously held, and has applied to register once again. Her return has given stability to staff and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate and sets high expectations for the young people. Her vision is to ensure that they make excellent progress. She regularly reviews managerial monitoring processes to ensure that the young people in her care are safe, and that the care that they receive is individual to their developing needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has ensured that the home is achieving its aims. The compatibility assessments for the young people are positive. This has enabled the young people to develop a close bond. They enjoy and value each other’s company, preferring to do activities together and sharing their experiences with each other. Older young people support and guide their younger peers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff advocate on young people’s behalf. This advocacy ensures that young people get the services that they need. The manager has successfully challenged the local authority when social workers have not provided the support that the young people need. She and the staff team work in partnership with key agencies to identify and obtain specialist therapeutic services for the young people. A social worker informed the inspector that, ‘The staff put the needs of [the young person] at the forefront, which helped [the young person] to thrive and develop their confidence.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has the respect of her staff team. A member of staff told the inspector that they all consider her to be, ‘A supportive, fantastic manager who cares. She provides strong leadership to her staff.’ The staff team uses research and has regular monthly team meetings as well as group supervisions. Staff discussions about relevant research helps them understand key issues including bereavement, autistic spectrum disorder and attachment theories.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is regular and effective. However, supervision records do not always evidence the level of reflective support offered by the registered manager. Additionally, the records of the manager’s supervision sessions are not always legible, and one supervision was not dated. Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 7 Repairs to the home have not been completed within reasonable timescales. For example, damage to doors and walls in a young person’s bedroom is still evident, and has been since the summer. This impacts on the quality of the environment that young people live in.

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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: SC426318 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 98 Lancaster Road, Newcastle–under-Lyme ST5 1DS

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Inspector

Balsinder Jaspal-Mander, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC426318 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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