Children's home run by Oasis Young People’s Care Services (UK) Ltd in Southend-on-Sea

Inspection report children’s home: SC015499 1 SC015499 Registered provider: Oasis Young People’s Care Services (UK) 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, which is run by a private organisation, provides care for up to six children. The home’s overall aim is to provide children with care using a process of repairing psychological damage through therapeutic healing.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted for this home in January 2016.

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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

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC015499 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/08/2017 Full Good 16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/10/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC015499 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

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, excessive numbers of sanctions should not be applied as a response to one incident. 31/08/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care for. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10) In particular, consider using electronic means for children to express their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress, taking into account their starting points, across most aspects of their welfare and their physical, social, emotional and behavioural development. The children benefit from a manager and staff who care about them and promote their needs. Children benefit from support that contributes to change and improvement in their lives. A social worker for one of the children said, ‘[The child] has made extremely good progress. She has sat all her exams, 13 in total, and is going to college in September.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children have confidence in speaking in front of their peers at house meetings, which are held regularly. The children have the opportunity to share their views about their day and what they will be doing in the evening. It has resulted in the children influencing their free time, hobbies and activities. One child said, ‘House meetings are a good place to air your views and pick your food and activities. I love it here.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC015499 4 When appropriate, the staff support safe, managed contact with families, which helps the children to develop relationships that will sustain them into adulthood. The staff understand family dynamics and build relationships with families, and use these experiences to enhance outcomes for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has recently introduced an electronic recording system. Care and support plans are well organised, detailed and helpful. Records contain good information and provide a unique picture of each child. The staff understand the children well and use their knowledge carefully to think about what events and behaviours mean in order to help children to progress. However, the system still requires updating with a programme to enable the children to read and comment on their records. This has not had an impact on the children, as the system is relatively new and the programme was being updated during the inspection.

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

The staff are acutely aware of the children’s behaviours and the risks associated with these. The staff have a good understanding of each child’s vulnerabilities. As a result, children are protected from possible exploitation, bullying and other forms of abuse. Regularly reviewed individual risk assessments ensure that the measures to keep the children safe are effective. Clear plans and routines enable the children to develop trust and to practise strategies to manage their behaviours. This prepares the children for more demanding community-based activities and adulthood. As a result, one child has recently moved successfully into a semi-independent accommodation.

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

Staff de-escalate challenging behaviour successfully. Physical restraint is only used when necessary to protect the children or staff from harm. Most of the staff are trained in the use of restraint. Incidents of restraint are recorded well and include, when possible, children’s views. The manager reviews and considers each incident and raises any learning points during team meetings and staff supervisions. This means that strategies and behaviour management plans can be adapted and changed to ensure that the children are suitably supported.

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

There is a good protocol in place to follow in the event that a child goes missing. The high level of supervision afforded to each child means that incidents of children missing from the home had significantly decreased. However, the incidents spiked most recently when new children moved into the home.

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

The use of sanctions is minimal. However, when sanctions are given, they can be excessive. For example, one child received three sanctions for one incident. This is not proportionate to the behaviour and does not reflect the positive strategies used to control behaviour prior to the sanction being applied.

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

Safeguarding issues are promptly investigated, recorded and resolved in a timely manner. All members of the staff team have undertaken safeguarding training and demonstrated that they know what to do if they have a concern about a child’s well- being. Inspection report children’s home: SC015499 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He is very experienced in working with children, holds appropriate qualifications and is committed to ongoing professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly staff team meetings look at all aspects of practice throughout the home and at ways to develop the staff further and utilise their existing strengths. There have been training opportunities to ensure that staff develop their skills, with individualised training for staff who are progressing in their careers. Eligible staff hold the necessary level 3 qualification in residential care or are working towards it. All of the staff attend safeguarding and mandatory training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular and purposeful supervision from either the manager or senior staff. All staff have their performance appraised annually and have personal development plans in place. Leaders and managers are keen to provide the staff with sufficient opportunities to reflect on their practice and identify new strategies for supporting children. Staff benefit from regular handovers, which offer an opportunity for discussion and reflection. Recruitment and induction practices are strong.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose is current. It reflects the care and support provided to all children. This is shared with placing authorities and carers so that they have realistic expectations of what the home can do. In addition, children receive a bright and informative children’s guide when they arrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring visits by an independent visitor are of a good standard. The visitor supplies reports of their monitoring visits, as required, which are in turn sent to Ofsted. These reports include suggestions about how the home may improve. The manager updates an ongoing development plan, now aided by the addition of the electronic file system, which is reflected in the quality of care report. The manager has taken action to address the two requirements from the last inspection.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC015499 6 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: SC015499 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oasis Young People’s Care Services (UK) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 457 Southchurch Road, Southend on Sea SS1 2PH

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Inspector

Cathy Russell: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC015499 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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