Children's Home run by Oakfields Children’s Care Limited in Tameside

Inspection report children‟s home: SC069176 1 SC069176 Registered provider: Oakfields Children‟s 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 children‟s home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is effectively managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. She has been registered with Ofsted since November 2008.

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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: SC069176 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/10/2017 Full Good 15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/05/2016 Full Good 12/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC069176 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

12.—(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to clearer risk management and strategies in relation to monitoring young people believed to be under the influence of alcohol or harmful substances. (Regulation 12(1) and (2)(a)(i)) 03/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) and (3)(a)(b)) 03/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure; 03/08/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC069176 4 a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate.(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii) and (b)(ii))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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Recommendations

 Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.6)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the quality of care review report clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as Inspection report children‟s home: SC069176 5 a tool for continuous improvement in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Recommendations

 For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children‟s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc). However, in doing so homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than „institutional‟ impression. („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

Young people come to live at the home with a number of issues that include, drug and alcohol misuse, regularly going missing from home, poor engagement in education and criminal behaviours. Staff work well with a range of professionals to try to help young people overcome their difficulties. Examples include the looked after children‟s nurse and a clinical psychologist. All young people regularly smoke and some misuse cannabis. Despite encouragement from staff, young people do not engage with services that help them to understand the risks associated with smoking and cannabis misuse.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people have experienced poor attendance and disruption to their education. Attendance for one young person is 100%, while another young person has recently undertaken their level 1 qualifications. This is significant progress. Some young people remain reluctant to engage, but staff work well with education professionals to try to improve their participation. This ensures that young people recognise the importance of good attendance in improving their future life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people‟s views are sought through regular key-work sessions, daily chats and house meetings. However, the house meeting records and the key-worker records show that these are often written with adult language, and do not clearly reflect the views of young people. Young people are clear about how to make a complaint. There has been one complaint made since the last inspection. Records show that this was taken seriously and appropriately addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family contact is very well supported. Staff work proactively with family members to promote safe and meaningful contact. Parents and friends are made welcome at the home. This ensures that young people are helped to maintain a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one young person has moved on to semi-independent living. This was done in a well-planned way. The young person has maintained positive contact with the home and is a frequent visitor. This demonstrates that the young person established some very important attachments while living at the home. Another young person who was only living at the home for a short time wrote: „Dear [name], thank you so much for all your help and support. I will miss you a lot, wish you all the best and Inspection report children‟s home: SC069176 6 many thanks.‟

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

Individual risk assessments identify known risks to young people‟s safety and welfare. They provide staff with clear guidance on what action to take to avert or mitigate these risks. At the last inspection, the manager was asked to ensure that risk management plans provide staff with clear direction in terms of monitoring a young person‟s welfare should they return home under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Only one young person‟s risk assessment has been updated to include this information. Therefore, this requirement is repeated.

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

Effective safeguarding procedures are a key strength of the home. Young people who previously went missing from home and were at high risk of child sexual exploitation have significantly reduced their unsafe behaviours since coming to live at the home. That said, the number of missing incidents tends to fluctuate for some young people. Staff attempt to maintain phone contact with those who are unsupervised in the community, and search for them if they fail to return on time, reporting them to the police within agreed timescales. This promotes their safe return. A professional said, „They‟re amazing, so committed… he feels cared for.‟ Where a young person is identified as being at risk due to going missing, staff share information appropriately and attend strategy meetings. This promotes young people‟s welfare and safety.

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

At the last inspection, a recommendation was made to ensure that staff record details of the return home interviews. This has been met. Staff clearly record when a return home interview has been completed and who did this.

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

Staff use individualised incentives and rewards to support young people to achieve their daily goals, such as engaging with education or attending to their personal hygiene. Positive behaviour management strategies reduce effectively the level of challenging behaviour. There have been no restraints since the last inspection and only one sanction. However, the manager has not reviewed the appropriateness of this sanction within timescales.

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

At the last inspection, a requirement was made to ensure that references are verified prior to the employment of any new staff. Records seen during this inspection demonstrate that the manager has addressed this. This ensures that any new applicant is fully assessed and suitable to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides strong leadership and direction to her staff team. She demonstrates an excellent understanding of young people‟s needs. She is committed to achieving the best outcomes for young people. Effective partnership working ensures that a multi-agency approach is supporting the needs of young people. Inspection report children‟s home: SC069176 7 The manager ensures that regular supervision, team meetings and appraisals provide staff with the opportunity to reflect on their practice and developmental needs. Staff undertake training to ensure that they are suitably skilled to meet the needs of the young people. All staff hold a suitable childcare qualification. The clinical psychologist has put together a training programme for all staff in relation to therapeutic parenting. This is a 12-month programme that encompasses early trauma, brain development, the impact of trauma and therapeutic parenting. This will enhance the team‟s skills and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

knowledge in caring for young people who have complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home operates in line with its statement of purpose. However, the manager has not updated this since a member of staff left. Previously, a recommendation was made to ensure that a workforce development plan was in place. This piece of work has been started, but is yet to be finished. The current training records make it difficult to see what training needs have been identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. However, the six-monthly review of the quality of care does not show what actions are needed to ensure that continuous development over the next six months is demonstrated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is suitably maintained. However, one young person‟s bedroom was in a poor state. The manager has spoken to the young person and there are plans to decorate the room in line with the young person‟s own taste. The hall carpet and paintwork are showing signs of wear and tear. The manager said that there are plans to redecorate and refurbish these parts of the 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: SC069176 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oakfields Children‟s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Library Chambers, 48 Union Street, Hyde, Cheshire SK14 1ND

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Inspector

Michelle Bacon: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC069176 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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