Children's home run by Teen-Works Care Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report children’s home: SC472480 1 SC472480 Registered provider: Teen-Works Care 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

This privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to four children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered since January 2014.

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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: SC472480 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/05/2017 Full Good 27/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/04/2016 Full Good 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC472480 3

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Recommendations

 Information about the child must always be up to date and recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child and makes a significant contribution to understanding their history, experiences and progress. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.3 to 14.5)

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Recommendations

In particular, make sure that each child’s health plan is up to date and clearly sets out the arrangements for meeting all of their identified health needs. Also, make sure that a written record is kept of all direct work with children carried out by staff, not just their key workers, and is collated in the child’s case file.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a very nurturing and supportive home. The manager and staff provide children with a very high standard of personalised care that brings stability to their lives. Children get the help that they need to recover from trauma and harmful experiences to grow and flourish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For example, a social worker said, ‘Since being at this home the child is now back in school, making good progress academically, has a good circle of friends and socially is very busy. She no longer self-harms, she has re-established contact with her adult sister and is taking much greater care of herself.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel safe enough to trust staff and accept their help and support. Staff are skilled at building warm, consistent and positive relationships with children. They show children that they care about them and what is important to them. Staff listen carefully to what children have to say and help them to be involved in the decisions about their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Effective care planning and strong working relationships between the manager and social workers make sure that this home is the right place for each child to live. Before the manager agrees for a child to move in, she assesses carefully that the staff have the suitable expertise to respond successfully to the child’s needs and that the child will fit in well with the other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are good at helping children to rebuild and sustain meaningful relationships with their families. They support children to spend time with their parents, brothers and sisters and relatives in line with their agreed plan. Staff work sensitively with families to make sure that spending time together is a safe and positive experience for children. Inspection report children’s home: SC472480 4 Children go to school every day and are doing exceptionally well. They play an active part in the life of the school, including taking part in the school play and going on a skiing holiday. Staff give children the help that they need with homework. For example, staff spending time reading with a child for 30 minutes every evening has helped to improve her reading age significantly and she now enjoys reading. The manager and staff work effectively with teachers and the virtual school to put in place the right

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

support to meet children’s needs and to overcome any barriers to their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have the same opportunities as other children their age to have fun, enjoy new experiences and to learn new skills, such as learning to ride a bike and to play the guitar. They enjoy swimming, working with horses, drama, dance, arts and crafts, and are looking forward to going to Spain on holiday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and emotional well-being continue to improve. Staff have an excellent understanding of children’s specific health and emotional needs. They make sure that children are healthy and that they always get the medical advice, treatment and psychological support that they need.

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

The manager and staff have created a safe home environment that protects children from harm. Children feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging. They know that they can talk to staff about their worries and staff will help them to be safe. Children are now safer from the risks of abuse, exploitation, self-harm, and going missing from home.

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

The manager and staff can recognise when children may be at risk of harm. When staff have concerns about children’s safety, they always take prompt and effective action in line with the safeguarding guidance. The manager’s strong and productive working relationships with social workers, the local authority and the police help to protect children, including from the risk of child sexual exploitation. Together, they identify the risks facing children and take appropriate action that protects them.

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

Staff help children to be aware of risks and manage their safety both at home and in the community and at school. Children seek help from staff and other trusted adults when they are concerned about themselves and/or other children. Staff help children to understand what makes a healthy relationship and how to use the internet and social media safely.

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

Children are increasingly able to manage their emotions and moderate their behaviour. A senior mental health practitioner reported that, ‘[Name of child] has made sustained progress, becoming more emotionally contained, settled behaviourally and is able to manage building relationships with staff and his family.’

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

Staff understand how children’s early experiences and trauma affect their emotional development, relationships and behaviour. Staff provide children with the warm and reliable adult relationships and routines that they need to feel safe and recover. Inspection report children’s home: SC472480 5 Staff work hard to find out, and understand, the reasons why children are upset. The staff’s calm and confident way of working helps them to support children when they are having a difficult time. Staff use well-planned strategies that help children manage their feelings and behaviour. These strategies help to calm things down and allow staff and children to sort out the problem together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is very experienced and is suitably qualified. She is a confident and capable leader. She has created a nurturing and positive environment that is improving the lives of children with complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff actively take part in the wider support system to make sure that each child’s needs are met. They have good working relationships with children’s families, social workers and other key people involved with each child. They communicate clearly with these partners to make sure that everyone has an up-to-date picture of children’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers use thorough and evaluative monitoring systems to understand the quality of care that children receive. They take effective action to make necessary improvements that benefit children. They have also introduced the recommendations from the last inspection to find out children’s views about living in the home and how well each member of staff supports them. The manager has also developed staff’s knowledge of the impact of trauma and insecure attachments on children’s development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective staffing arrangements ensure that there are always enough suitable, experienced, well-trained and qualified staff available to meet children’s needs. The staff team works together cohesively, and the day-to-day care of children is well planned and provides children with the best possible support and supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers provide each member of staff with excellent support, guidance and encouragement. Staff use practice-related supervision, team meetings and consultation with mental health practitioners extremely well to reflect on children’s progress and ways of improving the support they give to children. Staff are enthusiastic and take every opportunity, through training and research, to develop their skills and knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, some of the staff’s work with children is not consistently recorded in a way that is helpful for understanding the child’s needs and progress. For example, children’s health plans are not always up to date and do not clearly set out the arrangements for meeting all their identified health needs. Also, a written record of the direct work with children carried out by staff is not collated in the child’s case file.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC472480 6 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: SC472480 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lonsdale & Marsh, Orleans House, Edmund Street, Liverpool L3 9NG

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC472480 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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