Children's home run by My Choice Children’s Homes Limited in Mid Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: SC359812 1 SC359812 Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes 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

This home is owned by a private company. Its statement of purpose specifies that it will provide care and accommodation for up to two children, between the ages of eight and 18. It also specifies that the staff can care for children who self-harm, have minor physical and communication difficulties, have autistic spectrum disorder or are at risk of sexual exploitation.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since 2016.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 12 September 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC359812 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/09/2017 Full Good 15/06/2017 Full Inadequate 16/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC359812 3

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Recommendations

 Any home using CCTV or other monitoring equipment should have a written policy describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home in accordance with regulation 24. Homes must gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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Recommendations

In particular, the use of door alarms at night-time should be continually reviewed as the children mature and the risks to their safety reduce.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children are cared for by staff who are diligent and determined to provide an excellent standard of care. The children enjoy excellent relationships with the staff, who know them very well. The skills of the staff team mean that the children continue to thrive and make outstanding progress. Children are very suitably placed, have been able to enjoy long-term placement stability and enjoy a highly positive atmosphere of calm and respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff understand the impact of previous life experiences of the children, the reasons for patterns of behaviour and the effect of each child’s ability to maintain healthy relationships. This understanding informs the staff’s practice and helps the children to address previous negative behaviours. At times when a child’s behaviour relapses, the staff team is able to successfully communicate with them and use creative ways to get them back on track.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are thriving across all areas of their lives. The manager and staff work with a range of professionals to ensure that children make excellent progress in their education, health and social development. Education attendance is exceptional for all children, with any absences being the result of professional appointments they need to attend. The staff maintain effective communication with schools and support the children to have a positive view of education. Numerous successes and individual achievements are celebrated, with many certificates proudly displayed around the home. In addition, the children have created their own certificates about the staff’s skills and personalities, mostly humorous but appropriate. This shows how much they care about the staff who are looking after them, and the comfortable relationships they have developed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff’s ability to develop meaningful and trusting relationships with the children is a strength. Highly positive relationships enable the home to function in a calm and Inspection report children’s home: SC359812 4 organised way. The children listen and take guidance seriously. At times when children need extra care and support, the staff are always there and ready to go that extra mile. Overall, the staff provide a sense of normality and children feel part of the home’s inclusive community. The children also feel part of the neighbourhood community and have positive relationships with neighbours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s views are valued, and their rights promoted. They are encouraged to voice their views, opinions and wishes. For example, one child recently led their child looked after review, something the child has not previously had the confidence to do. The children are fully supported by the staff to challenge decisions made by professionals when needed. The manager and her staff team will also challenge professionals, for example if plans for transition to adult life are not in the child’s best interest. The manager works closely with a range of professionals in planning transitions, which is important due to the long-term placements of the current children and their views of leaving the home. The children consider this service as their home. They are respectful of it and the staff who care for them. They want to stay at the home and will find moving on difficult. However, the manager is aware of this and has already begun to put

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have clear and organised plans, so they know what they are doing each day, including activity planners for school holidays. They thoroughly enjoy a range of activities in-house and in the community. The staff team has very successfully integrated the children into many community-run activity groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff team sensitively supports children to have contact with their family and friends.

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

Safeguarding practices have improved significantly in the last year. The manager has worked with the members of her staff team to address previous gaps in their knowledge and practice. A good standard reporting and recording is now embedded into the practice. The manager regularly undertakes competency testing of the staff team members to ensure that they are kept up to date and continue to deliver best safeguarding practice. The staff are trained to keep the children safe. Safeguarding training is targeted and meaningful and relates to current risks that children may be exposed to. There is a consistent and proactive response from the staff that reduces the risk of harm to children. This includes regular and effective contact and planning with the child’s allocated social worker, the in-house therapeutic service and the child’s family, where appropriate. Children said that they feel safe at the home and with the

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

staff team. A child told the inspector, ‘The staff help me if I make a wrong decision and I wouldn’t want to be in any other children’s home. I feel safe here.’

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

The manager and her staff team know the children very well and are skilled at identifying potential risks and triggers. Plans to reduce risks are detailed and are reviewed at least monthly or after a significant event. Staff understand and implement these plans, which are effective in reducing risks for children. The staff apply a balance between keeping children safe and supporting them to take measured risks. The risk of Inspection report children’s home: SC359812 5 children leaving the house at night-time is managed using door alarms, which are fully risk assessed and consented to by the adult with parental responsibility. However, as the children mature, and the risk may lessen, this practice needs to be continually re- assessed. The staff’s practice enables children to develop decision-making skills. The number of missing from home incidents, restraints and serious incidents are very low.

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

The staff understand the risk that use of the internet and social media may pose to children. The staff support them in learning how to keep themselves safe. This includes safe use of public transport.

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

Children are protected by careful recruitment procedures. Regular monitoring of staff also prevents unsuitable people from being employed. There is a stable and enthusiastic staff team.

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

Robust and regular health and safety checks ensure that the physical environment for children is safe and protects them from harm or the risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is effectively and efficiently managed by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager. The registered manager is a passionate and strong leader. She has successfully developed her own leadership skills and continues to develop further. She is up to date with research and practice, especially regarding therapeutic interventions. This increase in therapeutic knowledge can be seen in practice, for example through the more effective restorative justice practices now delivered by the staff team. She has up-skilled her staff team, and together they communicate extremely well to ensure consistently high standards of care. Previously identified areas for improvement, specifically in respect of medication administration and staff’s reporting of safeguarding concerns, have been very successfully addressed and remain closely monitored by the registered manager. The manager has the skills to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

identify and manage further areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is confident and ambitious for the children. She is highly influential in changing their lives, which can be seen in the outstanding progress made by all children, the relationships formed and the stability of the placements. She provides excellent support to the staff team and knows the children well. This means the staff team can focus on achieving the best outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The members of the staff team are very suitably qualified to work in the home. The staff, including the registered manager, receive frequent and effective supervision. The staff feel supported, valued and appropriately challenged.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and the area manager know the home’s strengths and areas for improvement and work closely to continually develop the service. The manager regularly monitors the quality of care provided. Rigorous internal and external monitoring results in a culture that promotes and drives continuous improvement. Inspection report children’s home: SC359812 6 The culture in the home is one of high expectations and aspiration. All children are treated as individual in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. The ethos and objectives of the home, as written in the statement of purpose, are demonstrated in practice, for example by the excellent progress children make and the stable and highly effective staff team.

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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: SC359812 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 3a, Mill Green Business Estate, Mill Green Road, Haywards Heath RH16 1XQ

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Inspector

Liz Driver, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC359812 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 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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