Children's home run by Educare Adolescent Services Limited in Cannock Chase

Inspection report children‟s home: SC440170 1 SC440170 Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people aged between 10 and 17 who have social and emotional difficulties. The home offers crisis intervention and aims to provide young people with a period of stability and respite. The current manager started working for the company in July 2015. She is currently undertaking her level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has over 10 years‟ residential experience.

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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: SC440170 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/01/2018 31/05/2017 Interim Full Declined effectiveness Good 31/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/07/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC440170 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 registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c)) 31/07/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home provides care which meets each child‟s needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account a child‟s gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences and any relevant plans. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 14, paragraph 3.2) In particular, staff need to ensure that the cultural needs of young people are promoted.  Homes are required to develop and keep under review a “statement of purpose” (regulation 16 and schedule 1). The home‟s statement of purpose should be child- focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the quality standards for the children in their care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.5)  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and

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Recommendations

understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, ensure that staff record information about young people which is appropriate. Inspection report children‟s home: SC440170 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a good standard. Young people personalise their bedrooms as they wish. The manager is child-focused and actively engages young people in decisions about the home, by way of regular house meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the young people well and promote their welfare. Young people are able to build trusting relationships with staff. Young people are provided with clear and consistent boundaries. This means that young people feel cared for and are provided with a sense of belonging. A young person told the inspector, „I feel safe and well looked after.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make progress. Young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their own self-care skills. For example, during the inspection, one young person was observed cooking the evening meal. The young person told the inspector, „I enjoy cooking and can cook anything really.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy regular contact with their family members. Staff promote contact for young people and liaise with the placing authority to review contact arrangements. This means that young people are able to maintain safe and positive links to people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager works closely with other professionals, including schools, placing authorities and the police, to meet young people‟s needs. She advocates for the young people to ensure that they are able to access appropriate services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are aware of the young people‟s cultural differences. However, one young person has requested that her hair be styled in line with her cultural heritage. Despite this request, the young person has needed to wait several months for an appointment to be made. This delay compromises her opportunity to celebrate her identity that helps her to reflect her culture.

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

Young people report that they feel safe. Young people are able to speak with staff if they have any issues. Young people know how to complain. The manager is proactive in early intervention by trying to reduce harm to young people before situations escalate. For example, the manager had concerns that one young person may be smoking cannabis. The manager promptly made contact with the police and together they secured the help of a specialist service.

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

The home adopts a clear multi-agency approach to care. For example, when there was an increase in a young person going missing from the home, the manager requested an urgent strategy meeting. This action means that the agencies involved are able to coordinate their responses to keeping the young person safe. Inspection report children‟s home: SC440170 5 Behaviour management plans and risk assessments are reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

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

The manager and staff respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns.

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

The staff team members use their positive relationships with young people in order to prevent situations from escalating. As a result, the use of physical intervention to keep young people safe has reduced. Staff use incentives to promote the positive behaviour of young people. For example, one young person has recently started horse riding lessons due to good school attendance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager has been in post since December 2017. The manager is using agency staff in order to operate a safe rota, due to staff sickness and one vacancy. The manager tries hard to use the same workers to provide consistency for young people. The manager is currently recruiting new permanent and experienced staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team do not always receive monthly supervision in line with the home‟s policies and procedures. This means that the staff do not consistently receive regular feedback on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff understand the values of the home and these are delivered in practice. However, the aims and objectives of the statement of purpose are not always met. For example, the support currently offered to young people in relation to smoking is not in line with the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There remain ongoing shortfalls in record-keeping. For example, one young person was moving to another home. Although staff spoke to the young person about the move, this important discussion was not captured in the young person‟s care records.

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC440170 6 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: SC440170 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC440170 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 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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