Children's home run by Cornerways Children’s Services Limited in Reigate and Banstead

Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 1 SC014848 Registered provider: Cornerways Children’s Services 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

The home is one of two children’s homes owned and run by a private company that also operates a fostering agency and a school. It has accommodation for up to six young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The service also provides support from therapists to individual young people.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 February 2018

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Placement plans for young people have not at all times reflected the agreed support plan in place to meet their individual needs.  Staff have not always understood the risks for young people who are missing from care, and have not responded in accordance with agreed procedures.  Staff have not consistently understood their roles in relation to safeguarding young people, including reporting of safeguarding concerns to relevant agencies.  The registered manager has not consistently recognised young people’s experience of the care provided, as detailed in a limited number of complaints.

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Key findings from this inspection

 A strong, relationship-based approach to care is provided by the staff team.  The staff are enthusiastic and passionate about their work.  The young people make good progress due to the care provided.  Therapeutic support is provided by the home’s clinical psychologist.  The registered manager is committed to the care of the young people.  The responsible individual maintains good oversight of the home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2017 Full Good 19/10/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 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 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff— provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(2)(b)(iv)) 30/04/2018

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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.

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(v)(vii)) 30/04/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 30/04/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 4 registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(f))

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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improvement to be good

Staff interactions with young people are warm and encouraging, reflecting the therapeutic relationship-based approach to care. When moving to the home, young people feel welcomed and are supported by staff to personalise their own rooms. The registered manager ensures that young people move to the home in a planned way, with visits prior to moving to the home. There is good communication between the staff team and all relevant agencies to support young people to successfully transition to the home.

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improvement to be good

Placement plans for young people include all relevant information needed to enable staff to have an up-to-date understanding of their therapeutic needs and how best to meet them. The therapeutic needs of each young person are regularly discussed with the in- house clinical psychologist. These consultations support staff in their practice, which is grounded in an attachment-based model of care utilising the dyadic developmental psychotherapy relationship-based approach.

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improvement to be good

The home is spacious, clean and in good decorative order, with photographs of young people on the wall. The kitchen is a hub for all young people to sit together around the dining table and talk with staff while they complete their homework. There is a small gym which is utilised well and supports young people’s physical well-being. Young people’s well-being is also supported by good quality food, and staff meet the individual dietary needs of each young person. Young people are supported to understand the nutritional value of food and participate in menu planning and, where appropriate, cook their own meals. Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 5 Pathway planning is well supported by the staff team, and young people fully understand their plans. Young people are enabled, through regular individualised support from their link worker, to develop independence skills including learning to cook and budgeting for

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improvement to be good

food. The progress of each young person is monitored on a monthly basis, and the monitoring reports are checked by the registered manager. Through this monitoring, professionals have shared positive feedback to the registered manager about the quality of care provided.

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improvement to be good

Young people have progressed well overall in education, with additional support provided when needed. This has included individual learning support provided by staff where young people are not currently accessing education. Young people’s individual health needs are met through collaborative working with specialist health professionals. This support has resulted in improvements in the young people’s individual well-being. However, young people have, on occasion, not felt that their individual support needs have been understood. In addition, placement plans for young people have not always reflected the agreed support plan in place to meet their individual needs, with young people not receiving the level of support needed during these times.

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improvement to be good

Staff support young people to understand their rights, advocate their views and access legal advice as needed. Staff support young people to participate in activities in the community that support their emotional and physical well-being. This helps young people to develop new interests and gain in confidence, and it supports a positive sense of self, which in turn promotes emotional resilience. The staff support young people to maintain contact with their families and support regular visits, including to families who live significant distances from the home. This supports young people’s identity through maintaining their family relationships.

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improvement to be good

Young people say they feel safe in the home and feel supported by the staff team. The registered manager has an in-depth understanding of the young people in his care. Staff ensure that young people’s individual needs and identified risks are assessed prior to them moving to the home. The assessment includes the needs of the other young people in placement and matching considerations to see how a new young person will settle into the home.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment procedures are in place for all new staff, which contributes to safeguarding young people. Staff receive training in safeguarding children and young people. The organisation’s safeguarding and missing-from-care policies and procedures are shared with all staff, including new staff during their induction. Staff have a good understanding of the specific safeguarding issues identified for the young people currently in their care, and how to respond to them.

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improvement to be good

However, there have been previous incidents where, despite this understanding, there has not been a proactive response to safeguarding concerns. Examples include the Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 6 response to missing-from-care episodes where relevant procedures were not followed. The reasons for the missing-from-care episodes were not understood by the staff team, and risks to the young person were not identified. The young person did not receive the support needed at that time.

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improvement to be good

There have also been previous incidents where safeguarding issues were not reported to relevant agencies by staff in accordance with safeguarding procedures. The impact of these on young people was not understood in terms of their safety. Following these incidents, the registered manager had planned to review the respective policies and procedures; however, this had not taken place at the time of this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A new registered manager has been appointed since the previous inspection. The manager has undertaken level 1 training in dyadic developmental psychotherapy and is completing a level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management. The registered manager is committed to his role and has a comprehensive understanding of the young people’s individual needs. The manager has actioned the requirements from the last inspection, and good monitoring systems are now in place to review the quality of care provided. The manager has ensured that staff have an understanding of the home’s policies and procedures, including those relating to case recording, and he continues to monitor the quality of case recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff team is provided with ongoing comprehensive training which includes bespoke training in therapeutic approaches to working with young people based on dyadic developmental psychotherapy and the ‘PACE’ approach. The responsible individual has ensured that this is offered to new staff during their probationary period, alongside their induction programme. Staff complete their level 3 qualification following successful completion of their probation. All staff receive regular individual supervision, but they would benefit from more time in supervision to reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has an understanding of the staff team’s strengths and individual development needs. All practice issues are addressed within the staff team. The registered manager is aware of his own development needs and how the whole team’s ongoing development will support the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

However, the registered manager has not consistently recognised young people’s individual experiences of the care provided, and three young people have made separate complaints about this during the last six months. Of these, one complaint was partially upheld and another was fully upheld, by the registered manager and responsible individual respectively. The responsible individual maintains good oversight of the home and seeks to ensure that the monitoring of the quality of care supports the development of the service.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 7 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: SC014848 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cornerways Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ashcombe Court, Woolsack Way, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1LQ

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Inspector

Maria Lonergan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC014848 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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