Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 1 SC069198 Registered provider: Meadows Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The organisation has an integrated therapy service available to the children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has suitable experience and the required qualification for her post.

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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 outstanding

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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: 14 November 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: SC069198 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2017 Full Good 21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/10/2016 Full Good 22/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 3

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Recommendation

 The following elements of the workforce plan should be included in the Statement of Purpose: (in accordance with Schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20)) In particular– the experience and qualifications of staff. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.10)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people who have a traumatic history enjoy stability in the home. They thrive from the experiences provided to them and they make excellent progress during their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The dedicated registered manager and all the staff working in the home provide a remarkable level of nurturing and individualised care. This allows the children and young people to develop supportive relationships with the staff and with each other. Because of this, they find the strength to overcome hurdles, to change their behaviour and to lead happier lives with greater achievement. A parent told the inspector, ‘I did not know places like this existed. He has made massive progress in this home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people’s educational needs are identified and met well. They are encouraged by the staff to learn and study. Children and young people have positive incentives and they maintain regular attendance at school or college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A young person who has excelled in college has had his artwork publicly exhibited. This young person has secured a university placement for the beginning of September 2018. One child aspires to work with animals and has an interest in photography. The staff have sought out and arranged vocational courses for this child to achieve her ambitions. When children are struggling in education, the staff advocate on their behalf and support them to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people enjoy pursuing their interests. They do this by joining in local events and activities. Regular consultation takes place between the children and young people and staff. This allows them to do things that they like and, with staff encouragement, to try new things. Holidays, trips out and activities take place regularly and the children and young people’s enjoyment is evident, for example, in journals, photographs displayed in the home and because their keepsakes from their experiences are stored in memory boxes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people’s physical health and emotional well-being are prioritised Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 4 effectively. Local and national health service professionals provide counselling, support and any interventions required for the children and young people. Research is undertaken and informs staff practices, particularly around the children and young people’s sensitive needs, barriers to university and leaving care for children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Therapeutic services are an integral and very successful part of this home. These services support the children and young people with individual and group therapy sessions. Therapists devise bespoke training to support the staff to continually develop and extend their understanding of the model of therapeutic care used. A social worker told the inspector that these services are ‘a bonus’ as children and young people do not have to wait for counselling or therapy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people can reflect on the considerable progress that they have made since coming to the home. Their journeys are recorded within individual timeline documents, which tell the whole story of their time living there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Planned moves out of the home are organised extremely well. Children and young people are prepared well for independence or for a return home to live with their family. They are confident through knowing that they will receive continued support from the staff after leaving the home.

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

The registered manager and the staff manage safeguarding incidents effectively. The children and young people told the inspector that they feel safe and are confident that the staff will keep them safe. The children and young people could name a member of staff or an organisation outside of the home they would speak to if they felt unsafe or if they needed to make a complaint.

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

Records of how the home has managed safeguarding concerns are documented extremely well. The records provide a detailed factual picture of what occurred and how the concern has been managed. The chronology of events is recorded in detail.

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

Trained staff place great importance on helping the children and young people to reduce risk-taking behaviour and to become safer. This is carried out through informal discussions, key-work sessions and project work. This may take place in response to issues in the media or through individual events in the children and young people’s lives. Research is undertaken about contextual safeguarding, county lines and domestic violence. This informs staff understanding and practice and further protects the children and young people.

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

Comprehensive risk assessments, which are regularly reviewed and updated, assist in ensuring the children and young people’s safety and protection. When incidents do occur, management oversight ensures that the correct safeguarding procedures are followed. A strong approach to multi-agency working ensures that young people’s difficulties and vulnerabilities are not only identified but addressed thoroughly. Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 5 The registered manager and staff have responded with diligence and sensitivity to occasions when children or young people self-harm or go missing. On each occasion, they follow individual risk-management strategies and endeavour to make the child or young person safe as soon as possible. Staff work hard to help the children and young people to feel cared for when such events occur. As a result, self-harm and missing incidents have significantly reduced from the time the children and young people came

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

Staff see every event as a potential learning situation. Therefore, when the children or young people misbehave or place themselves at risk, this does not attract a conventional sanction or a physical intervention. Instead it leads to a project, undertaken individually or with others, on why the child or young person’s behaviour was not acceptable or safe. This is a very settled home and the children and young people, and staff confirm this. Because of this approach, restraint has not been used and sanctions are rare.

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

The registered manager ensures that there are effective arrangements for the health and safety of the children and young people, staff and visitors. She delegates the application of these arrangements to staff members and oversees their implementation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager who has been in post since December 2016. She is supported by a competent team leader. Together, they are hugely influential, and they ensure that the staff implement the ethos and objectives of the home as outlined in the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team leads by example. Its members spend considerable time engaged with the children and young people while remaining focused on their management responsibilities. All staff are extremely positive about the style of management in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff training is effective. It supports the staff to respond well to the children and young people and helps them to work as a cohesive team. Children and young people are involved in staff training and some have presented their experiences of attachment difficulties before coming into the home. This has benefited the staff in this home and other homes within this organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Reflective practice is a strength of the home. The registered manager allows staff to openly consider areas of their practice that require change or improvement. Equally, the registered manager seeks feedback from her staff on the style of management she provides to them. This helps professional development and keeps the care provided to the children and young people consistently high.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Improvements to the staffing in the home and how staff are monitored are now embedded in practice. Therefore, the two requirements made at the last inspection have now been met. The existence of a permanent staff team has led to a significant Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 6 reduction in the use of other staff from other homes within the organisation. The registered manager’s monitoring systems are now much better and are effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Monitoring visits by the independent visitor take place monthly, and the registered manager responds effectively to any recommendations made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Supervision and appraisals meet the staff’s needs: they happen regularly and provide good opportunities for self-reflection, debate and review of the children and young people’s needs. Team meetings are open and transparent and involve the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have a comprehensive knowledge of children and young people’s strengths, difficulties and needs, and they are assisted by systems to measure and record progress. High-quality plans and assessments are working documents, with updates made when circumstances change. Children and young people confirm that they are very much involved in their plans and review meetings, and they feel that their views, wishes and feelings are listened to and acted upon.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

New staff are carefully recruited to ensure that they are suitable people to be working with the children and young people. Thorough checks are undertaken. A new staff member confirmed this process as part of his application for employment in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team and staff are committed to providing equality of opportunity for all children and young people entering the home. They encourage respect and consideration for others and they recognise and value the home as a safe place to live and work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home’s statement of purpose provides a description of the services provided and who will provide these services. However, factual accuracy is needed, particularly in relation to staffing qualifications. As a result, a recommendation is made at this inspection. This is because some staff have now gained their level 3 qualification, and this is not reflected in the document.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements have been made at this 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. Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC069198 8

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Mark Kersh, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC069198 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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Inspector

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