Children's Home run by CareTech Community Services Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 1 SC426719 Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for six children who have learning and/or physical disabilities. This is a private organisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children and young people receive highly personalised care from dedicated and skilled staff.  Relationships between staff and children and young people are excellent.  Leaders and managers respond to safeguarding incidents quickly and effectively to ensure that children and young people are protected from harm.  Staff excel at managing challenging behaviour. They use a range of strategies to enable young people to manage their behaviour more appropriately.  Partnership working with professionals and parents is exceptional.  Highly effective monitoring continually drives improvement.  Children and young people enjoy a wealth of opportunities that enrich their lives.  Creative staff support children’s and young people’s progress and celebrate their achievements.  Children and young people make considerable progress from their starting points.

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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

 Ensure that the manager provides agency staff with supervision.  Ensure that all staff review children’s placement plans to keep abreast of any changes to their day-to-day care.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/12/2016 Full Outstanding 10/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person has systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Specifically with regards to supervising agency staff.  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Specifically, ensure that staff regularly review children’s records to keep up to date with any changes to their day-to-day care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The quality of care is excellent. Care planning is robust and children and young people enjoy stability. Children and young people settle and make significant progress because dedicated, passionate and skilled staff provide highly personalised care. This home is exceptionally well presented and is very warm and welcoming. Every child’s and young person’s bedroom is beautifully decorated and furnished, and reflects their individual personality and style. A parent said, ‘The staff have painted an excellent mural on my child’s bedroom wall. It made me cry when I saw it. It has a character made out to be him. This is an indication of what the home is like. They [staff] make everything for him so personal. It means the world to us. Staff are exceptional at meeting his needs.’ Children and young people take part in a variety of exciting leisure activities. Many photographs on display throughout the home reflect the good times that they have had.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

For example, there are photos of children working on their own vegetable plot, of holidays that young people have been on, celebrations of autism awareness day and Christmas celebrations, as well as a visit to the Emmerdale television studio! Participating in a range of different activities and having a wealth of opportunities improves children’s and young people’s confidence and self-esteem. Furthermore, it enriches their lives. Relationships between staff and children and young people are exceptionally good. They are built on respect, nurture and trust. Children and young people learn to be kind to others because staff are excellent role models and they promote friendships. Staff have made a kindness tree and this shows examples of the good things that children and young people have done to help others. Children and young people make friends easily and live together harmoniously. Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people enjoy school and their attendance is excellent. Staff work in partnership with education staff by communicating well and sharing best practice. For example, when a child was struggling to manage his behaviour in school, teachers and care staff worked collaboratively to address the behaviour and help him to overcome his difficulties. As a result, the child’s behaviour improved and he is no longer removed from the classroom on a regular basis. Children and young people make excellent progress and they are rightly proud of their learning and achievements. One young person told the inspector that he is now in a mainstream college and has secured a work-based placement at a zoo for exotic animals. Skilled and knowledgeable staff understand the complex health needs of children and young people. For those children who cannot communicate easily, staff are adept at reading body language and picking up on signs and symptoms that may indicate that

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

children need medical attention. For example, when staff had concerns about a child’s dental health, the registered manager pushed for an appointment to be brought forward. Staff worked in partnership with parents, medical professionals and the child to ensure that his specific health needs were met. As a result, the child had the necessary treatment to remove and repair his teeth. The staff’s commitment to overcome hurdles and persist in challenging services to respond promptly provided the child with much- needed dental care. Staff effectively support children and young people to communicate their views, wishes and feelings. Children and young people use a variety of communication systems to have their say. For example, photographs of a variety of meals enable them to point out their preferences. Some children and young people use a visual activity board to tell staff what they want to do. Other children and young people use apps on their electronic

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

tablets to choose symbols and devise sentences to communicate their wants and needs. Staff notice when children and young people are trying to tell them something. For example, when the staff noticed a child signing the word ‘grandad’, they began to explore this further. The child was becoming unsettled seeing other children have family contact. Staff liaised with the child’s social worker and his grandad to set up weekly telephone contact. A staff member said, ‘He is now very happy. You can see this by his reaction and beaming smile.’ Staff help young people to prepare for leaving care in a sensitive and well-planned manner. Because staff involve young people fully and ensure that they have a say in where they want to live and what kind of support they would like, young people are confident and excited about their transition to adult care. A carer said, ‘The transition is going so well because staff have been exceptional in their planning.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff do not always follow children’s plans when monitoring children’s welfare during the night. For example, when a young person’s night-time routine settled and his needs lessened, the manager reduced night monitoring from one-hourly to three-hourly checks. However, some staff continued to monitor and record hourly checks that were not necessary. This has not had a negative impact on children, but it highlights an area for development, to ensure that staff review children’s plans and keep themselves up to date. Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 5

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

Staff safeguard children and young people extremely well. Staff provide children and young people with a high level of supervision and this promotes their safety and welfare. Children and young people are encouraged to take age-appropriate risks, with support, and this aids their development and independence. For example, the staff have worked patiently and persistently with one young person to help him to understand how to use a mobile phone safely. A parent said, ‘My son is absolutely well cared for and safe. The staff set the bar high to get him to reach his full potential. They try anything. They are amazing.’ Children and young people do not go missing from the home because they feel safe in their environment and are provided with excellent staffing levels. Some children and young people are provided with 2:1 support in the community where they are most at risk. Regardless of the home having no missing from care incidents, the manager

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

continues to work exceptionally well with the local police. She keeps abreast of issues within the local community and there are procedures for staff to follow should they need to use them. Community police officers visit the home regularly and engage positively with children and young people. This helps children and young people to understand the roles that the police have in keeping them safe. Staff respond quickly and effectively when there are concerns that children and young people are at risk of harm. Staff are clear about what action they need to take and understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and young people. For example, highly vigilant staff intercepted information that had the potential to place a young person at risk of harm. Staff took appropriate action to report their concerns to the police and other relevant agencies. The manager took further action to educate the

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

young person on how to keep safe online. Staff manage behaviour well, implement clear boundaries that are consistent and fair and they follow the clear strategies contained in behaviour management plans. This enables the staff to redirect challenging behaviour effectively and reduces the need for staff to use physical intervention to keep children and young people safe. Sanctions are rarely used because children and young people respond well to redirection, praise and guidance. Innovative and highly creative staff help children and young people to recognise their achievements and promote positive behaviour. Staff use visual presentations to let children and young people see how well they are doing on a day-to-day basis. For example, staff have designed an achievement tree and a star of the week presentation also celebrates children’s and young people’s successes. The manager has safely recruited two staff members since the last full inspection.

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

Thorough vetting procedures ensure that potential candidates are safe to work with children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A dedicated, passionate and experienced registered manager leads the home exceptionally well. She is well qualified, with a level 5 diploma in leadership and Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 6 management for residential childcare and a degree in understanding autism. Staff, parents and social workers speak highly of the manager. The manager is ably supported by a deputy manager who also has a degree in understanding autism and he is currently undertaking a management qualification. Both managers use their learning and leadership skills effectively to improve children’s and young people’s experiences and progress. There is a strong sense of camaraderie between the staff and the manager. The manager leads by example and is a positive role model to her staff. Staff are qualified or are undertaking a suitable qualification relating to the care of children and young people. A stable, committed and well-trained staff team, whose members work well together,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

provides children and young people with consistent care. Staff have a strong ethos that reflects the values outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. The manager has taken action to address the one requirement and two recommendations made at the last inspection in March 2017. Information about the whistleblowing procedure is now included in the induction programme for new staff. Furthermore, the manager has implemented a new questionnaire on safeguarding so that staff can revisit key information and keep themselves up to date. Physical intervention records now contain all the required details. As a result, managers have all the information that they need to thoroughly evaluate incidents. Excellent working relationships between staff, parents and professionals ensure that children and young people receive coordinated care. Professionals speak highly of the manager and staff and say that communication is open and transparent, forthcoming

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

and regular. A social worker said, ‘There is excellent communication with key professionals. Staff are friendly and approachable and very professional at all times.’ A parent sent a thank you card to the manager that shows how well the manager and team are thought of. The card read, ‘Thank you so much for all your encouragement, patience, support and cheerfulness with [name of the child]. He is so lucky to have you all around him and we very much appreciate your efforts with him. You make him as happy as possible. He is lucky to have such a fabulous team around him.’ The manager has no qualms about challenging ineffective services or poor practice and she is a great advocate for children and young people. Consequently, children and young people get access to the services and support that they need to help them to make progress. Most staff receive good-quality supervision and have an annual appraisal. The manager

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

has an open-door policy and so the staff feel confident and relaxed to go to her and raise any issue. Staff feel valued and listened to, treated equally and respected. Highly creative staff are given the autonomy by the manager to run with their ideas to improve the home. As a result, staff take an active part in developing the service. However, when agency staff are used, some agency staff do not receive regular supervision. Consequently, they do not have the same opportunities as contracted colleagues to reflect on their practice and performance. Excellent internal and external monitoring systems enable the manager to understand the strengths and needs of the service. When areas for development are identified, she responds quickly and effectively. The manager uses feedback from parents and professionals to inform her biannual quality of care review. She has devised a Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 7

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

development plan which supports the home’s continued improvement and shows a commitment to maintaining high standards of care. The manager knows that she is improving outcomes for children and young people because she is actively involved at the home and meticulously tracks the excellent progress that children and young people make.

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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: SC426719 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: CareTech Community Services Limited, 5th Floor Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Michelle Spruce: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC426719 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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