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

Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 1 SC381725 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

This children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. A private company operates this home.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 February 2018

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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: 15 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

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager ensures that, when a new young person moves into the home, this is well organised and centred around the needs of the new young person. Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 2  The young person currently living in the home is supported to manage her own medication. This is helping her to understand her own health needs.  Staff implement behaviour management strategies that focus on achievement and positive reward.  The young person has not gone missing from home.  The registered manager makes sure that all staff complete regular training, which provides them with the skills and knowledge that they need to care for the young person.  The registered manager has established positive partnerships with a range of professionals. Together, they make sure that the young person’s care needs are met.

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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 registered manager has not ensured that staff recruitment checks are sufficiently detailed.  The young person has on occasion not received consistent of care due to staff changes.  The registered manager’s review of care is not sufficiently detailed.  Some of the financial planning for activities affects the young person’s ability to participate in all activities that she would like to do.  The young person’s views are not always captured in care plans or similar documents.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/11/2016 Full Good 23/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/08/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6(1)(2)(b)(ix)) 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 ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(2)(e)) 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 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(2)(h)) 31/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(3d) 31/03/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 4

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’, supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff care strongly about the young person and want to achieve the best outcomes for her. A member of staff told the inspector that they had specifically asked to work at the home as they liked the young person and felt that they would be able to support her to make progress. Staff talk positively about the young person. A staff member said, ‘She’s listened to, she’s very valued, she matters to us.’ Because of this, the young person experiences positive affirmation, which encourages her to achieve her goals. When the young person moved into the home, the registered manager made sure that the arrangements for the young person’s admission were well planned. A registered manager from another organisation wrote, ‘The friendliness of yourself and your staff team put (young person’s name) at ease very quickly and most certainly helped her emotionally throughout the process… it was also very reassuring to note that you placed

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

(young person name) at the centre of the transition.’ This ensured that the young person felt welcomed and supported to settle quickly into her new home. The young person is supported to access local health services and to attend all health appointments. Staff encourage her to understand her own health needs and, when possible, to manage her own medication. Therapists work closely with staff to guide them in their care of the young person. This partnership between professionals has helped to improve the young person’s physical and emotional well-being. Staff promote the young person’s education and her daily school attendance. Staff liaise with teachers and attend all meetings to ensure that they understand the young person’s educational needs. This means that the young person is making progress in her education. Staff support the young person to enjoy activities outside of the home, including visits to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the cinema, ice hockey and guides. A weekly activity allowance is linked to school attendance. However, the young person is required to pay for staff tickets to events from her allocated activity allowance. This prevents the young person from accessing all of the activities that she may wish to because as she is mindful of this financial constraint. In addition, the young person is being encouraged to work for incentives that she cannot fully use. Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 5 Staff support the young person to develop her life skills in readiness for adulthood. Along with completing her own laundry and self-care, she manages a small budget from which she regularly buys food and prepares her own meals. This arrangement is regularly reviewed, which helps to ensure that the young person has the opportunity to build on her positive progress and to gain confidence. The young person is encouraged to express her views in relation to the day-to-day

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

running of the home. She is consulted through a combination of regular key-work sessions and weekly house meetings, where activity planners and menus are completed. This level of consultation is not equally evidenced in care plans and review documents. As a result, the young person’s voice is not apparent in planning and target setting that directly affects her. Staff support the young person to maintain contact with people that are important to her. A social worker told the inspector that it is the flexibility of the staff in these contact arrangements that makes them successful. The staff team at the home is small, with three staff and the registered manager. This enables the young person to develop trusting relationships with the people that care for her. However, the staff team has seen significant change in recent months. The young person told the inspector that she had found this unsettling. The registered manager and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

staff recognise the impact of this and have worked hard to minimise the effect on the young person. For example, staff have offered increased flexibility in their working arrangements to enable them to offer consistency to the young person until a new team is established. This has helped to keep this period of disruption for the young person to a minimum.

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

Staff know and understand the individual risks for the young person. Staff complete detailed risk assessments which are updated regularly to reflect changing circumstances. These help to inform clear behaviour management strategies that focus on rewarding positive behaviour. These systems provide staff with clear guidance on how they should manage risks and safeguard the young person. Risk-taking behaviour has significantly reduced for the young person since coming to live at the home. For example, she has not gone missing from home. Staff are confident to identify areas of concern and take action to address these. A police officer told the inspector, ‘Staff are very professional and always approachable. If they have any concerns, they are always raised and dealt with.’ The young person told the inspector that she feels safe living in the home. The registered manager makes sure that all staff receive training in relation to

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

safeguarding, understanding the signs of child sexual exploitation, and radicalisation. This means that staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge required to safeguard the young person. Staff ensure that the young person lives in a homely and safe environment. The day-to- day maintenance of the home is to a good standard and the young person has been able to choose her own decoration for her bedroom. This supports her investment into the Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 6 home. However, the location of the home presents challenges for visitors, as it is not easy to find between neighbouring properties. This has resulted in the surrounding properties being, on occasion, disturbed. The registered manager is proactive in greeting visitors to avoid this situation, however new visitors to the home can find accessing it difficult. The registered manager has not always ensured that the necessary recruitment checks

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

are completed for staff coming to work at the home. This prevents him from knowing that all staff employed at the home are safe to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since September 2017. He also has responsibility for another home operated by the same organisation. The registered manager is currently working towards a level 5 diploma in leadership and management. Staff receive a clear induction when they join the organisation. A staff member told the inspector that this left them feeling ‘as prepared as you can be’ for the role of caring for young people. Staff receive regular training opportunities to support their continued development. This means that staff have the skills necessary to enable them to care for young people. Staff receive regular supervision which supports them to reflect on their practice. Staff have their practice appraised annually to ensure that they have a clear understanding of what they need to do to demonstrate their competence and to make progress in their career. The registered manager has established positive working relationships with therapists,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

police and social workers to support the needs of the young person. Despite the changes in the staff team, professionals told the inspector that the manager has offered a high level of consistency, by being available to them and ensuring that communication has been maintained. A police officer described the registered manager as ‘excellent’. The registered manager has ensured that the home operates in line with its statement of purpose and that this is regularly updated. This means that social workers and parents receive clear information about the home and the services that it offers. The manager has implemented processes for him to retain an oversight of the service, and these are supported by the reports completed by the independent person who visits the home monthly. However, the registered manager has not always used the systems effectively to review staff practice in the home. This impacts on his ability to identify and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

respond to areas of service improvement in the home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 7 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: SC381725 8

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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: Reflexion Care Group Ltd, Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Tracey Coglan Greig, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC381725 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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