Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC442864 1 SC442864 Registered provider: Meadows Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is one of a number of children’s homes operated by a private company. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

If required, children and young people can access the organisation’s school and therapy department.

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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: SC442864 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/06/2017 Full Good 19/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 23/08/2016 Full Outstanding 10/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC442864 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.

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Requirement Due date

Help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(viii)(x)) 30/07/2018

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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 home that helps children to 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, qualification and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to implementing robust performance management tools. 30/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC442864 4

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Recommendations

 For the children’s home to be a homely environment, the registered person should ensure that high standards are maintained throughout the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two young people have continued to live at the home since the last inspection. Both young people have good and trusting relationships with staff. Because of this they make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the young people with a warm, nurturing, caring and positive environment, which allows the young people to feel valued, respected and loved. One young person said: ‘It’s nice and calm here and staff care about me. I know I can talk to them when things bother me. They listen and make me feel better.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for young people and this is communicated to them in a way that helps the young people to have high expectations and aspirations of themselves. Praise and positive affirmations are readily available. Both have memory books full of positive memories and stories of what has gone well. This promotes their confidence and feelings of self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all young people attend education on a regular basis. In these instances, staff do work hard to ensure that young people have structure to the day. However, long-term disruption does not equip young people for future learning and establishes a pattern that may be difficult to break when a full-time placement becomes available.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person who is in full-time education has made good progress. His attendance and achievement continue to increase.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage young people to establish and maintain positive friendships. However, when these friendships have not been positive, staff take appropriate action and explore other options with the young person to ensure that they make more informed decisions about people they spend time with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The development of life skills is an area of focus for the young people. Both have become more confident and enjoying increased levels of independence. Staff continue to educate the young people to stay safe while out in the community and to take age- appropriate risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s healthcare needs are well met. Both have regular appointments with local healthcare professionals as well as weekly sessions with their allocated therapist. Both young people are steadily learning how to improve their health through effective Inspection report children’s home: SC442864 5 support around issues such as quitting smoking and healthy eating.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people’s contact with family members and key people who are important in their lives. Staff transport young people to contact and share positive relationships with family members. Staff liaise appropriately with social workers regarding any difficulties or changes to contact arrangements. Because of this, young people have safe and enjoyable contact with their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and young people work hard to ensure that the house feels like a family home. Photographs of shared experiences are displayed throughout. The communal areas are welcoming and pleasantly decorated. However, the inspector observed that one young person’s bedroom was chaotic and dirty. The manager took action to rectify this during the inspection.

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

Young people are supported by a staff team that has a good understanding of safeguarding and the risks that individual young people present. Staff are supported by detailed risk management plans that enable them to support young people well.

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

Staff have a good understanding of young people’s specific needs and vulnerabilities and take appropriate action to address them. Staff are trained to understand the issues around child sexual exploitation. This helps staff to recognise the risks and know how to respond effectively to these concerns. 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

Staff respond to young people in a calm, caring and consistent manner. Young people respond well to this and disruption at the home is extremely rare. Both young people share a positive relationship with each other. Because of this, the home has a harmonious atmosphere, in which young people feel safe and secure.

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

The staff team has been through a worrying time in recent months. This is because one young person has gone missing more often. However, this has been managed with very good inter-agency communication and with strict adherence to the procedures. The follow-up work with the young person regarding risk has involved a multi-agency approach and a proactive strategy to prevent further missing incidents.

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

There has been an increase in notifiable incidents. However, there is clear evidence that staff have managed these well. They work successfully with a variety of professionals to ensure that young people’s needs are consistently met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Following the last inspection, the home has had a new manager. She took over the role in April 2018. She is in the process of completing her registration with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since her appointment, the manager has developed a good understanding of the home’s Inspection report children’s home: SC442864 6 strengths and weaknesses. She has a detailed development plan, which sets out realistic targets of how improvements can be made. She is working hard to develop and continually improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoken with gave positive comments about the manager’s supportive leadership of the service. Staff say that the manager is child-focused and offers visible leadership to the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records demonstrate that the frequency of supervision is regular. However, records fail to demonstrate that supervision is used effectively. For example, there is little evidence of discussion around practice issues, welfare and safeguarding. This means that the manager has not appropriately utilised performance management tools to challenge and review care practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is suitably resourced and delivers the services and support outlined in the statement of purpose. The manager ensures that there are sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet the young people’s individual needs. Shortfalls in the rota are covered by the existing staff team and a small number of non-core staff. This ensures consistency for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work effectively with other professionals, such as the police and social workers, to support young people’s progress. Feedback from professionals is mostly positive about how well staff communicate with them to support the progress of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly independent visitor reports are sufficiently detailed. They give a clear overview of the operation of the home and highlight good practice as well as shortfalls. Recommendations raised are addressed quickly by the manager.

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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: SC442864 7 Inspection report children’s home: SC442864 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Ltd, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Ceri Evans, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC442864 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 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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