Children's Home run by Idem Living Limited in Knowsley

Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 1 Registered provider: Idem Living 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 children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children or young people who have a learning disability and/or a physical disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2017.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 8 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/06/2017 Full Good 19/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s homes that— helps children aspire to their full potential; and promotes their welfare. 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; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(e)(h)) 20/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that— the individual has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. (Regulation 32 (2)(a)(3)(b)) In particular, ensure that the staff hold or attain a level 3 qualification within the relevant date. 20/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake continuing professional development; 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)(a)(b)(c)) In particular, ensure that supervision and appraisal records are sufficiently detailed and are evaluative. 20/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 4

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Recommendations

 The home must meet the child’s basic day to day needs in a way that a good parent would. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) In particular, ensure that there is a method to record the temperature within the conservatory.  The registered person should have a workforce development plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: – Detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding and health and safety and mandatory qualifications). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by the staff while at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of the staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand and where possible, address any negative trends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.19)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people live in a friendly and supportive home. They enjoy very positive relationships with the staff, who are patient with the children and young people. New staff are taking the time to get to know the children and young people, so that they are able to trust staff and feel safe in their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers are complimentary about the progress that their child or young person is making. They told the inspector that they have seen a significant reduction in the incidents of self-injurious behaviour, increased independence and the ability to manage their child’s self-care needs. This is successful in helping children and young people to move on to the next stage of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of each child or young person’s assessed needs. Staff follow up-to-date plans to ensure that the children and young people receive the support that they need on a daily basis. Staff play an active role in the children’s and young people’s wider support networks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build positive relationships with the families of the children and young people. They play an integral role in helping children and young people remain in contact with those Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 5 people who are important for them. For one child, this has resulted in them reconnecting with a family member. This was carefully planned to ensure that the child felt supported and safe. As a result, he now enjoys seeing this family member and is building new memories with them. This is further supported by the introduction of PowerPoint presentations, which successfully capture these moments and which are shared with parents and social workers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are actively encouraged and supported to be as independent as possible. This has seen a significant improvement in the children’s and young people’s confidence and self-esteem. One young person takes great pride in tidying his bedroom and preparing meals with the support of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another young person is now able to wash his hair without any undue stress and anxiety. A social worker said, ‘[The young person] has made huge progress since being placed here. He has developed his verbal communication, has broadened his diet and accessed lots of new activities which he previously really struggled with. [He] has made significant progress in all areas since being placed here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children and young people are in full-time education. Staff have positive relationships with school staff and regularly share information with them, which enhances the support provided to the children and young people. This includes providing advice about how to reduce a young person’s anxieties during fire drills in school by replicating what happens in the home. This has successfully reduced his anxieties during fire drills. Individualised education support plans mean that children and young people enjoy learning, they work hard to achieve their personal goals and are making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The diverse healthcare needs of children and young people are met well. Detailed healthcare plans demonstrate that the registered manager and staff have a good understanding of the individual health and developmental needs of the children and young people. Children and young people are encouraged to eat and maintain a healthy diet, and to engage in various activities to help support their health and well-being. One child has shown significant progress with regards to their diet. Through the support and encouragement of staff he is now trying different foods, which is successfully expanding his diet.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively encourage children and young people to develop their confidence and skills informally and to have fun. This includes managing money, learning to cook, being creative in the home, going out with a group or going to feed the ducks in the park. Staff work hard to help the children and young people overcome the barriers to their participation in some activities. As a result, young people who use a wheelchair have been ice-skating, and staff are making enquiries as to how they can go indoor rock climbing. Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 6

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

Children and young people live in a safe home where they are protected from harm. Safeguarding practice is secure. The registered manager responds quickly and sensitively to safeguarding issues and this helps to keep children and young people safe.

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

Children and young people do not go missing from the home. This is because of the high staffing levels in place. However, staff are mindful that this could occur and of the possible repercussions for the children and young people. Staff are aware of the children’s and young people’s individual plans and the action to take should this occur. This helps to keep them safe.

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

Staff are positive role models. They understand the diverse communication styles of each child and young person, whether this is hand signals, pictorial or spoken word, to gain their views and to help them to make good choices. They plan well and, as a result, physical interventions are very rarely used. Staff understand that some situations can be difficult and stressful for the children and young people and therefore make every effort to reduce this. As a result, young people are more able to manage new situations and enjoy the opportunities that these provide.

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

Children and young people live in a warm and nurturing environment. Their bedrooms are highly personalised and reflect their individual tastes and interests. One young person currently spends a considerable amount of time in the conservatory. Staff are supporting him to use various areas of the home, but this is his ‘safe place’.

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

Staff have identified that the conservatory can become very warm and have introduced an air conditioning unit to cool the room. Unfortunately, the young person does not like this and is very adept at switching it off and letting staff know that he does not want this in the room. Staff are looking at alternatives, but in the interim they do not have a system in place to record the actual temperature in the conservatory to ensure that it remains at a suitable temperature.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced to fulfil his role. He is a strong advocate for the children and young people. He is passionate and motivated to ensure that children and young people continue to make good progress. However, the service has lost a number of staff in recent months. This has been for a variety of reasons. Consequently, the registered manager has become more involved in the day-to- day running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A number of new staff have been employed and have very recently commenced working at the home. The majority of these staff have experience of caring for children and young people who have autism and other related conditions, but do not hold a level 3 qualification. Currently, there are only four members of staff plus the manager who hold a recognised qualification. Systems are in place to secure training for these staff. However, this will not commence until they have completed their probationary period. Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 7 Staff undertake an induction week, but this is not bespoke to the children and young people living in the home. Some new staff had not yet completed autism awareness training or epilepsy care training. This was addressed during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are provided with the opportunities to reflect upon their practice through personal supervision and annual appraisals. However, the quality of record keeping is not indicative of the discussions taking place, nor does it provide an insight into the staff achievements or areas for development. This does not enable the manager to support or monitor the personal development of staff. Although this has had no immediate adverse impact, it would have the potential to do so if this were to continue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager and responsible individual have not yet undertaken a review as to why so many staff have left in the last year. Failure to do so limits their ability to understand and, where possible, address any negative trends. Similarly, the workforce development plan has not been reviewed, in particular how the staff are to achieve the required levels of qualification and the timescale for this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Monitoring by the registered manager uses helpful monitoring systems to understand the impact that the quality of care is having upon children’s and young people’s lives. This has seen an improvement in the quality of record keeping, for example healthcare plans and records of physical interventions. The statement of purpose is kept under review and Ofsted is notified of any changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager works well with local authorities and social services to ensure that children and young people have the right support to meet their needs. Social workers are complimentary about the registered manager and his commitment to the children and young people. One young person’s social worker said that the registered manager has ‘turned the house into a home’ and has focused on the young person’s needs, identified their triggers and placed strategies in place to reduce their anxieties’. As a result, the young person has developed a range of practical skills that will help him in the future. Ultimately, the social worker said that the young person now has a positive future.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 8 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: 1240449 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Newlands, 1a Huyton Hey Road, Liverpool L36 5SE

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Inspector

Chris Scully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1240449 10 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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