Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 1 SC416464 Registered provider: Meadows Care Ltd

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Supported by the organisation’s therapy department, the home’s purpose is to provide a therapeutic environment for up to three children and young people. The aim of the home is to enable children and young people who may have experienced trauma to come to terms with being in care and take control over their lives. If required, children and young people can access the organisation’s school.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2018

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/05/2017 Full Good 16/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/04/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 3

p.2

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.

p.3

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, and that—

p.3

Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(c)) 27/09/2018

p.3

Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Specifically, ensure that the strategies relating to independence time in each child’s risk assessment are based on the child’s current level of risk.

p.3

Recommendations

 Homes are required to develop and keep under review a ‘Statement of Purpose’ (regulation 16 and schedule 1). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5) Specifically, ensure that any review of the statement of purpose is thorough and that all necessary amendments are made to present accurate and unambiguous information.

p.3

Recommendations

 Staff’s annual appraisals should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

p.3

Recommendations

 Where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home, the home must challenge them to meet the child’s needs (see regulations 5(c)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8) Specifically, escalate suitable challenge when external agencies do not provide key information in a timely manner. Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to help young people face up to and overcome the challenges they are facing in their lives. Young people who choose to accept this help make good progress, relative to their individual starting points. However, despite the best efforts of staff, one young person has consistently refused to accept this as his home and has made little progress since being admitted. The young person’s social worker said, ‘Staff have done a lot to try to engage [name]. They have worked as hard as they can and have tried lots of different plans. They have recognised that this is not the right placement for him and are working with me to support a well-planned move.’

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Attendance and progress at school is varied, with two young people doing well, relative to their individual abilities. Staff maintain good links with each young person’s education provider and work closely with them to overcome barriers. They recognise the importance of education and have sourced an individual tutor for the young person who refuses to attend school. This has gone some way to maintaining basic learning opportunities for the young person.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to maintain, rebuild and improve their relationships with their parents and relatives. They are proactive in supporting this in a way that meets each young person’s needs; for example, staff are working hard to increase contact opportunities and build up networks of support for one young person who will soon be moving back into their placing authority.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have an excellent understanding of each young person’s specific health needs. They work collaboratively with the in-house therapy team and deliver a professionally informed approach to promoting emotional well-being. Staff seek advice and guidance from therapists on key issues, such as understanding grief and loss and attachment theory. A therapist said, ‘The staff have a really good understanding of the organisation’s therapeutic model and they use this and other information effectively to support each young person.’

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are provided with opportunities to pursue their individual hobbies and interests, which they do to varying degrees. For one young person, this has been particularly effective in helping him to develop friendships by joining a local football team.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to have a say about what happens in their lives. They provide young people with the right support to enable them to participate in key meetings and be involved in making decisions about their care. When necessary, young people have been supported to access independent advocacy services.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The opportunities for young people to become more independent and spend time in the community are limited by the restrictions placed on their free time. Although the time young people can spend away from staff has increased slightly over the last six months, Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 5 it is still disproportionate to their age and their assessed level of risk. For example, one young person who has lived at the home for a number of years is still only allowed one hour 15 minutes away from staff. This has the potential to stifle social development and preparation for adulthood.

p.4

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

Young people are safeguarded effectively by suitably trained staff. Care practice is underpinned by a range of policies and procedures that are designed to protect young people from harm. Links with external agencies are strong. These are used effectively to manage emerging concerns, such as allegations against staff, of which there have been two since the last full inspection.

p.5

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

Bullying has been an issue over recent months. Staff understand the complexities of the relationships between the three young people and have been proactive in challenging any low-level bullying behaviour before it escalates. One young person, who has been subject to behaviours such as name-calling, confirmed that staff are quick to challenge this type of behaviour and that he is confident that staff will keep him safe.

p.5

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

Young people are making good choices about keeping themselves safe, with incidents of risk-taking behaviour being extremely rare. Risk management plans are sufficiently detailed and provide clear responses for staff should this situation change.

p.5

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

Staff act as positive role models and encourage young people to behave positively. Good behaviour is acknowledged using praise, affirmation and reward. Negative behaviour is proportionately challenged, using restorative techniques that encourage young people to reflect and put right their misdemeanours.

p.5

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

Staff are trained in behaviour management, including the use of physical restraint. On the whole, staff make good use of de-escalation techniques and their relationships with young people to defuse and manage challenging behaviour without the use of restraint. Restraint has been necessary on a small number of occasions. Detailed records are maintained of these types of intervention. However, not all records include evidence that the young person has been spoken to about the restraint, and when they have this has not been added to the record within regulatory timescales.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by an experienced and dedicated registered manager who is close to completing the level 5 diploma. He is ambitious and passionate about improving the lives of the young people. He maintains good oversight of each young person’s progress and is fully involved in all aspects of planning their care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and key workers act as positive conduits between the home and external agencies. They have high expectations of stakeholders and work hard to ensure that young people have access to the resources and support they need. Young people’s needs are consistently prioritised. Staff describe the manager as Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 6 supportive and always available. They receive regular supervision and have their performance appraised annually. However, these appraisals do not yet take into account the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff over the year.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good access to core training that is updated regularly. The manager is quick to arrange additional training based on young people’s known and emerging needs. As a result, staff are suitably equipped to provide the best support possible for each young person. One member of staff said, ‘Doing the grief and loss training has helped me to understand why [name] behaves the way he does. It has helped me to look beyond the behaviour and try to understand and support his feelings.’

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked hard to build and maintain a stable staff team. He identifies this as being his biggest challenge following the increase in occupancy from two to three young people. New staff have been inducted well and confirm that they have been supported by experienced colleagues and the manager. The manager recognises the importance of continuity of care, and over time the reliance on agency staff and staff from other homes has decreased.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and is realistic about what needs to be done to maintain an improvement agenda. He makes good use of quality assurance processes, including the scrutiny of an independent visitor. The manager is generally proactive in addressing any identified shortfalls, although he has failed to fully address the recommendation from the previous inspection, which was in relation to free time.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose is updated regularly and provides good information about the aims, objectives and purpose of the home. However, this review is less than robust; for example, the most recent document sent to Ofsted contained several incorrect statements relating to the staff.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case records are detailed and provide a comprehensive picture of each young person’s needs, experiences, progress and plans for the future. Internal documents, such as care plans and risk assessments, are reviewed frequently and updated. However, supporting documentation from external agencies, such as personal education plans and children looked after review minutes, are not acquired in a timely manner. Although there is some evidence that the manager has chased this information, he has failed to escalate to a suitable challenge when it has not been provided.

p.6

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 Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 7 making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

p.6

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: SC416464 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Ltd, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale OL12 9EN

p.8

Inspector

Paul Scott, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9