Children's home run by Radical Services Limited in Leeds

Inspection report children's home: SC459107 1 SC459107 Registered provider: Radical Services Ltd

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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 and accommodation for up to four children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is one of several operated by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted in January 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC459107 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/06/2017 Full Good 16/05/2017 Full Inadequate 28/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/06/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC459107 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—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the home should be decorated and furnished to a good standard. The bath and damaged furniture in the home need to be repaired or replaced. 12/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children and young people’s negative behaviours should not influence or effect other children and young people in the home. 12/06/2018 Inspection report children's home: SC459107 4 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

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 registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(C)) 12/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI (Regulation 44 (7)(a)) 12/06/2018

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The majority of young people make good progress from their starting points. This is due to the nurture and consistent care and support provided by the staff team. Some young people have successfully achieved the aims of their placement and have moved on positively from the home. Detailed placement matching and well-considered transition planning ensure that moves into, and out of, the home are planned, supported and well managed. Based on the information provided at the point of placement, young people are well matched.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people generally attend education and are making good progress. For some, this is a significant step forwards, due to previous non-engagement in education. Where young people are not in their preferred choice of school, the home works in partnership with the placing authority to address this and consider alternatives. One young person is currently refusing to attend education, as they want to move closer to their home. Staff make every effort to engage the young person in educational activities in the interim, while advocating on the young person’s behalf for a placement move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment has suffered significant damage. One young person has caused damage, been disruptive and displayed aggressive behaviour because they want to Inspection report children's home: SC459107 5 move from the placement. Other young people commented that they did not like the home environment to be so sparse, but understood that staff were working hard to address the damage. Young people, social workers and parents confirmed that the home’s decor and furnishings were usually of a high standard and that the home usually felt homely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people spoken with said that staff spend time with them listening to their views, wishes and feelings. Key-worker sessions cover a wide range of topics with young people to help improve their understanding of issues that affect them. Strong and trusting relationships between staff and young people enable the young people to explore some challenging issues, including their own behaviour, emotions and responses. One young person has become much less withdrawn over the course of their placement and now engages with staff and other young people on a daily basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The current dynamic in the home is unsettled, with one young person in particular finding it difficult to engage in the placement due to not wishing to be there. Managers have identified the effect on the other young people and are working with the young person’s placing authority to plan a positive move out of the home. To reduce incidents in the meantime, staffing levels have been increased and young people are regularly supported on activities outside the home to minimise the amount of time that they are in the home together.

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

Risk assessments clearly identify risks for young people alongside strategies for staff to manage these risks. The assessments are regularly reviewed. Updates are communicated to all staff to ensure that they are aware of any changes to the risks associated with each young person. There is a clear focus on de-escalation, and staff rarely resort to using physical methods of restraint to keep young people safe.

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

When incidents of restraint do occur, these are well documented and young people always have the opportunity to express their views about the incident. The manager comments on each incident, but this practice could be further improved by reviewing and analysing physical intervention data to identify any emerging patterns or trends.

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

Risks in almost all areas significantly reduce during the course of young people’s placements. Specific risks such as child sexual exploitation, drug and alcohol misuse, going missing from home and self-harm are well managed by staff. Key-work sessions are used to educate young people about areas of risk and improve their understanding of risk-taking behaviours. Where staff feel this is not having an influence, they contact external agencies to undertake further, more in-depth work, around specific areas.

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

Missing from home episodes reduce for young people. On the few occasions they have gone missing, staff have made every effort to locate them. Staff follow the young person’s missing from home protocol, reporting to the police and placing authorities as required. Inspection report children's home: SC459107 6 Young people reported rules and boundaries to be fair, with the exception of bedtimes, which they said ‘should be later’. Staff are clear and consistent in their implementation of boundaries and show resilience in managing some ongoing challenges to the rules and boundaries in place.

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

There are systems in place to manage and investigate allegations against staff. The home involves police, social workers, senior managers and the local area designated officer as appropriate.

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

Young people reported that they feel safe and that staff make every effort to keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s new manager is committed and enthusiastic and has made a positive start to managing the home. The manager has not yet attained her level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare, but is working towards it. The members of the staff team report feeling well supported through the provision of regular supervision and team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been a number of changes to the staff team since the previous inspection. The home is not fully staffed at present and is reliant on agency staff to ensure that the high staffing ratio is met. Both young people and staff spoke positively of the use of agency staff, feeling there was no detrimental effect resulting from the use of such staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

None of the core staff team is yet qualified to level 3 in residential childcare. Although there is no apparent effect on young people’s care, and staff appeared skilled in meeting the young people’s needs, a requirement is made to ensure that the home works towards building a stable, qualified and experienced staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have developed positive working relationships with external agencies to ensure that young people’s wider needs are met. Social workers reported good communication and positive, collaborative partnerships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has implemented a ‘policy of the month’ which helps staff to familiarise and increase their knowledge of the company’s policies and procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The internal and external monitoring systems in place are used well to identify deficits and drive improvements in practice. The home’s manager has a particularly good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses, and has plans in place to continuously develop the home. Independent visitor reports were not sent to the regulator for a period of three months in 2017, which limited the regulator’s ability to monitor and risk assess the home for that period; a requirement is therefore made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This inspection has resulted in four requirements and one recommendation being made. However, the manager continues to provide strong leadership through a challenging time for the home, and the staff team shows commitment and tenacity to ensure that Inspection report children's home: SC459107 7 young people continue to make progress and to minimise the disruption caused by the young person who wishes to move.

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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: SC459107 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Radical Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rouse House, 2 Wyther Lane, Leeds LS5 3BT

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Inspector

Charlie Bamber, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC459107 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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