Children's Home run by Keys ACE Limited in Bury

Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 1 SC420388 Registered provider: Alliance Care & Education 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

Alliance Care & Education Limited, who owned this and three other children’s homes, is now owned by a large national organisation. There have been no changes made to the company registration number. The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 28 July 2011. She is experienced, skilled and qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose states that, ‘The home provides services to meet the needs of young people who have been assessed to have emotional and behavioural difficulties. This may include young people who have suffered traumatic experiences in their life.’ The home is registered to accommodate up to four children and young people of either gender and of any age which is determined on admission by the registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not have facilities for education. However, education can be provided at the provider’s registered schools. Children and young people can access therapeutic support from the in-house therapist who is qualified and supervised.

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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

Date of last inspection: 19 September 2017

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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: SC420388 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/09/2017 Full Good 30/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/10/2016 Full Outstanding 08/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 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 make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that controlled medication is signed for by both the person who administers this and by the person who is the witness to this medication being administered. 29/06/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people benefit from positive experiences, a secure base and the consistency and the stability that living in this home brings. The consistent, homely environment that the stable, dedicated staff team offers helps children and young people to maintain positive and nurturing relationships with the staff team. This in turn helps children and young people to move on positively in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people make great progress with meeting, and in some cases exceeding, their education targets. Following the requirement made at the last inspection, the manager now ensures that all the children and young people access a full-time education programme which is tailored to meet their individual needs. Staff are passionate about helping children and young people succeed, and they offer a good range of opportunities in and around the home to achieve this. The staff read and complete homework with children and young people, and the manager advocates to ensure that the children and young people receive any additional support and tutoring they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote and enable positive contact for children and young people with their family and friends. Staff facilitate family contact well, and they encourage and support children and young people to develop and maintain positive friendships. This helps children and young people to maintain their sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are regularly empowered to share their views. They are Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 4 confident and able to raise any issues or concerns. They can identify the people and agencies that are available to support them. This detailed knowledge, and the support and assistance from the manager and the staff, helps children and young people to discuss any issues and complaints they have. The manager has been responsive and addressed concerns raised by children and young people quickly and appropriately. This ensures that children and young people feel listened to and remain central to their care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into and out of the home are sufficiently managed. The manager ensures that the children and young people who are new to the home are matched well to those who already live in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are supported to enjoy life and have fun. Children and young people are encouraged and supported to get involved in extra-curricular activities such as swimming lessons, piano lessons and horse riding. Other children and young people are encouraged to participate in activities that meet their needs and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills such as continued attendance at a community dance groups. This alongside day trips out and holidays enjoyed away from the home widen and enhance children and young people’s childhood experiences and memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people benefit from good health and well-being. Effective partnership working with specialist health teams and the provider’s in-house therapist ensure that the children and young people’s emotional health needs are considered and met quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although the arrangements for prescribed and none-prescribed medication is good, the arrangements for administering and recording control medication does not comply with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the subsequent guidance ‘Managing medicine in care homes’ March 2014. This is because controlled medication is not systematically signed by the person who administers this and by the person who is the witness to this medication being administered.

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

Children and young people benefit from living in a large, safe, comfortable home. The manager and staff take their safeguarding roles and responsibilities very seriously. The manager identifies when children and young people have experienced harm and responds quickly and effectively to address this.

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

Staff work hard with children and young people who go missing from home. Staff have been successful in encouraging and supporting some children and young people to consider their actions prior to these incidents occurring to prevent this. This approach has proven to be successful in reducing this behaviour for some children and young people. When children and young people do go missing from home, the staff respond quickly and appropriately to ensure that children and young people return home quickly and safely. Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 5 Staff support children and young people to consider and manage their risk-taking behaviour so that they can make positive changes to the way they react to their surroundings and experiences. The time that staff spend with children and young people reinforcing positive behaviour and actions allows children and young people to gain a better understanding of their behaviours and the risks associated with these.

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

Consequently, children and young people are able to make safer choices and, in doing so, have dramatically reduced their missing-from-home behaviour. This promotes the safety and welfare of children and young people.

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

Children and young people are supported well to develop understanding and empathy towards each other through positive role modelling and discussion. Positive behaviour and relationships are reinforced, praised and encouraged; poor behaviour is challenged and discussed. The development of safe, stable and secure relationships with staff in the home are central to the ethos and the running of the home and support the development of secure attachments that, where appropriate, persist over time.

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

Physical interventions are used sparingly to keep children, young people, staff and other people safe. Following the requirements made at the last inspection in this regard, the manager now ensures that a full and detailed record of these incidents is kept. Furthermore, the manager now evaluates all these incidents to inform future care planning and ensure that children and young people are kept safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced, qualified and highly skilled registered manager ensures that children and young people receive a high level of care and support, as identified in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Strong management and leadership arrangements mean that staff are more than able and competent to provide a good level of care in the manager’s absence. Staff are qualified, skilled and passionate about making a positive difference to children and young people’s lives. Staff are able to do this as they are provided with good training opportunities, are supported and supervised regularly and are appraised annually to ensure that children and young people receive a good standard of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals and parents report that the staff team consistently provides clear boundaries and guidance for children and young people. Staff contribute this to the good progress that children and young people make in many aspects of their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that all significant incidents and events are managed well by trained and experienced staff. Good inter-agency working between the manager, placing social workers, designated officers and Ofsted means that all agencies are fully aware of any situations as and when they arise. This ensures that appropriate action is taken to enhance children and young people’s safety and welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear and detailed understanding about the children and young people in her care and her staff team. She uses her internal and external monitoring Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 6 systems extremely well. The manager’s use of her annual development plan supports her with the ongoing developments in this home.

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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: SC420388 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Alliance Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Brow Top Farm, Quernmore, Lancaster LA2 0QW

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Inspector

Janine Shortman-Thomas, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC420388 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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