Children's home run by Your Chapter Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 1 Registered provider: Care 4 Children Residential Services 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 home is operated by a private company. The home provides medium-term to long- term therapeutic care and support to children and young people who have suffered childhood sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation. The children and young people may also have emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. The home offers placements for a maximum of four female children or young people aged between 11 and 17 years.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous manager registered with Ofsted left the service in February 2018. The home is currently being managed by an interim manager who has applied to Ofsted for registration and is working towards a level 5 certificate in leadership and management of residential childcare settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 19 December 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/06/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 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, the 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives. (Regulation 7 (1) and (2)(b)(i)) 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and 31/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 4 positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) and (2)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular regard to a young person’s relationship with a specific member of staff who is no longer working at the home. 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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) and (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi)) 31/07/2018

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and 31/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 5 understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(c)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c) and (5)) 31/07/2018

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that damaged furniture in the young people’s bedrooms is repaired or replaced.

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improvement to be good

The home is in a peaceful, rural location. It has been renovated to a very high standard. The young people at the home take pride in having personalised their own bedrooms. However, some of the bedroom furniture has been damaged and needs repair or replacement.

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improvement to be good

The staff team has developed close and trusted bonds with the young people. The routines at the home are nurturing, structured and promote a sense of stability for the Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 6 young people.

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improvement to be good

Healthcare is prioritised. All young people are registered with local healthcare services and have attended appointments to ensure that they maintain good physical health. The food is varied, nutritious and the staff team encourages young people to enjoy a balanced diet and lead active lifestyles.

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improvement to be good

The young people are engaging in an in-house structured therapeutic programme. This is designed to help them to recognise how to keep themselves safe, build and maintain positive relationships and build resilience. All of the young people have progressed through the programme, which has enhanced their overall emotional well-being and social development.

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improvement to be good

The young people attend educational provision on-site. They are well prepared for the school day and attend regularly. The staff have helped the young people to gain aspirations for their future. The staff have also supported some young people to obtain part-time employment for work experience.

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improvement to be good

Young people have regular opportunities to influence their day-to-day care routines. One young person was not provided with sufficient opportunity to discuss concerns that she had raised about the care she was receiving. These matters remained unaddressed for at least two months and were being discussed and resolved at the time of the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Many of the young people have been placed at a considerable distance from their home and family. The staff team facilitates contact arrangements in line with plans and travels long distances to help young people maintain important links and relationships.

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improvement to be good

Young people at the home have a history of being missing from home and have been at risk of, or subject to, sexual exploitation. All the young people have been supported to cease or dramatically reduce this behaviour. This is good progress.

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improvement to be good

One allegation was made by a young person against a member of staff at the home. The interim manager of the home took steps to refer the matter to appropriate external agencies.

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improvement to be good

The member of staff had a history of conduct matters that were relevant to the allegation. The approach of leaders to manage the risk of the situation when those earlier conduct matters were raised was insufficient and did not prioritise the welfare of a young person.

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improvement to be good

The subsequent internal investigation did not adequately take account of all known information and this has resulted in a flawed outcome. Some members of staff were aware of incidents and raised concerns about practice in the home. These were not Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 7 addressed sufficiently.

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improvement to be good

The member of staff has not worked at the home since the allegation. The provider has given assurances that the matter will be fully reconsidered and resolved with confidence that all information has been taken into account.

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improvement to be good

Leaders have not provided the young person with an opportunity for reflection and discussion about the member of staff’s departure from the home. The young person has not received help to understand why staff members must maintain professional boundaries.

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improvement to be good

The risk assessments and behaviour management plans for the young people are very comprehensive and provide the staff team with appropriate strategies to prevent and deal with any challenging behaviour.

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

The interim manager of the home has been leading the staff team since the previous manager left in February 2018.

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

The staff team has accessed a wide range of training and the organisation provides regular opportunities for professional development, supervision and support.

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

There have been concerns over a considerable period about the competence and conduct of a member of staff who no longer works at the home. The staff member was not demonstrating sufficient skills and knowledge to perform the role, and the manager did not address this sufficiently in a timely manner.

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

The young people have made good progress across all aspects of their development. For one young person, this progress has recently been hindered and disrupted. Leaders did not sufficiently monitor, recognise or address the negative impact of the diminishing quality of care that was delivered on her progress and experiences at the home.

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

The interim manager has completed a quality of care review. This does not identify actions for further development of the service or demonstrate that the views of stakeholders have been considered.

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

The service has received some positive feedback from placing authorities. One social worker said: ‘I have been very impressed with the quality of care and provision of support given to [name of young person].’

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

One placing authority raised concerns during the inspection. An independent reviewing officer said: ‘I was concerned about the lack of preparation and organisation for the review.’

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

On one occasion, the manager requested a visit from a placing authority social worker to a young person. This request was made as part of an internal investigation and was Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 8 declined by the local authority. Given the circumstances, the refusal was unacceptable. The manager failed to escalate the request or seek an alternative resolution.

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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: 1249115 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Children Residential Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Stuart Road, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2SR

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Inspector

Nicola Thomas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1249115 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 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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