Children's Home run by Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 1 SC394478 Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes 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 run and managed by a private company. The home provides care for three young people who may 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 outstanding

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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: 6 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/06/2017 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/11/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 3

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Recommendations

 An independent person appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person 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; and consult with stakeholders, parents and young people to inform their overall assessment. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from a highly supportive, caring and nurturing environment. Staff provide young people with well-planned, highly individualised care that promotes their needs effectively. The home’s care and support contribute to change and improvement in young people’s lives. Young people enjoy warm and secure relationships with staff. They benefit from continuity of care and have consistency and stability in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A young person reported, ‘I prefer it here. Staff care and they help you. If I kick off, they understand. My behaviour and anger [have] improved. Staff are easy to get on with. All staff have different things about them that I like.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people attend school on a regular basis and make good progress with their learning, taking into account their starting points. Staff maintain highly effective partnerships with the providers of young people’s education to support their educational achievement. Young people confirmed that staff are very supportive of their education and learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy good health and have access to the services they need to be healthy. This includes access to therapy, if needed. Medical consent is in place, and staff are clear about what health decisions and responsibilities are delegated to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive good support to lead healthy lifestyles. They are proactively discouraged from using drugs and receive the support they need to reduce this type of risk-taking behaviour. A young person reported, ‘Staff are fair and they have boundaries. Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 4 I’ve stopped doing drugs.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people keep in contact with their friends and families. They benefit from the support they need to sustain their close relationships with the people who are most important to them. Young people enjoy positive activities at home and in the wider community. They develop their social skills and have positive interests and hobbies. A social worker reported, ‘Staff are friendly and promote positive and active participation by all.’

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

The home provides young people with a physically safe, appropriately secure, warm, comfortable and homely environment. A high standard of accommodation is provided for young people. Health and safety matters are managed effectively, and this provides a safe environment for young people, staff and any visitors to the home.

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

Young people benefit from effective support, help and protection. Young people feel safe and have a strong sense of personal safety. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s specific needs and vulnerabilities and take appropriate action to address them. The safety of young people is consistently at the centre of staff’s practice.

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

There have been no complaints since the last inspection. Young people raised no complaints or concerns. Young people know how to make a complaint, and their rights are promoted effectively. A young person reported, ‘I’m just more chilled out. It’s sound, warm and caring. I don’t have any complaints. It’s a nice place and a big house.’

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

There have been no allegations of abuse since the last inspection. Staff are trained in child protection and know how to protect young people from abuse and all other forms of significant harm. There are no current safeguarding concerns in relation to radicalisation, gang affiliation or child sexual exploitation. The frequency with which young people go missing has reduced, and when young people have gone missing staff have taken appropriate action to locate them quickly and promote their safe return.

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

Staff promote a harmonious and safe environment for young people to thrive. There are clear rules, boundaries and expectations for positive behaviour. Positive behaviour is consistently praised and reinforced, while negative behaviours are appropriately challenged. The use of sanctions is fair, and restraint, if used at all, is only ever used as a last resort to protect young people from harm. When restraints have occurred, they have been of a low level and of short duration.

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

A social worker reported, ‘It’s a very good home. The place is really homely. My young Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 5 person is beginning to have a focused future. What impresses me the most is the children are very relaxed with the staff.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home meets and exceeds the aims and objectives, as set out in its statement of purpose. The home provides a very good-quality service for young people that contributes to change and improvement in their lives. The home has met and addressed all of the requirements and all but one of the recommendations from the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Young people are fully engaged with their placement’s aims and objectives and benefit from staff that have sufficient knowledge, skills, training and relevant experience to meet their specific needs. There is improved recording of restraints and management oversight and scrutiny of restraint records, to identify any emerging patterns or trends. However, although there is effective scrutiny of the performance of the home, the reports produced by the independent person do not include their impartial judgement and professional opinion as to whether there are effective arrangements made to safeguard young people and promote their well-being. Consequently, this recommendation is repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is passionate about young people and she champions their needs effectively. She stimulates staff’s enthusiasm and channels their efforts very effectively. Staff are consistently professionally managed, well supported and led. The manager has consistently high expectations of staff and high aspirations for all young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Young people benefit from a home that is managed efficiently and effectively. The manager demonstrates strong and effective leadership of the operation of the home. She has an excellent understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and makes good use of the home’s internal and external monitoring activities to secure improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from regular, high-quality, practice-related supervision. They meet regularly as a staff team to discuss the progress and experiences of the young people in detail. This includes meeting with the home’s therapist to support young people in providing them with a nurturing and therapeutic environment. Staff have a very good understanding of attachment theory and apply their knowledge, training and learning in practice. This promotes consistency of care with staff sharing and implementing the same approach and philosophy in caring for young people, which clearly contributes to the very positive outcomes for young people in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 6

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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: SC394478 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 53 King Street, Manchester M2 4LQ

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Inspector

Anthony Kyem, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 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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