Children's home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC405977 1 SC405977 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group 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

The home is registered to provide care for up to two young people who display a combination of emotional and behavioural difficulties and who may have learning disabilities. The home is privately owned and forms part of a large social care organisation, which offers an education service and therapeutic support. The registered manager was registered with Ofsted in August 2018 and is appropriately experienced and qualified to manage a children’s home.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 September 2018

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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: 25 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC405977 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/10/2017 Full Good 07/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/11/2016 Full Outstanding 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC405977 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

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff— understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(iii)) 31/10/2018

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Recommendations

 Keep all children’s case records up to date. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) This is with regard to streamlining risk and behaviour management plans in order to prioritise the most up-to-date guidance for staff. Also, to include the reward systems that are now in place for the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person living at this home has made significant progress from her starting point due to the unquestionable commitment and support from managers and staff. The young person acknowledges the extent of her extremely challenging behaviours and recognises her progress as a direct result of the care provided by the staff. The young person has experienced high levels of staff supervision as she is subject to a deprivation of liberty order. The manager, staff and provider have worked tirelessly to promote the welfare and safety of this young person. Their child-centred approach, skills in relationship building and behaviour management have enabled the young person to feel safe and express her emotions. The young person has grown in confidence, is able to express her identity and looks forward to reaching her potential. The young person says the manager and staff are ‘mint’. Inspection report children’s home: SC405977 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has experienced high levels of physical intervention to prevent her from going missing, hurting others and herself. This physical intervention is proportionate to the highly aggressive and violent behaviours that are displayed. Post- incident discussion has helped the young person to adapt some behaviours and has made a significant impact, reducing the number of physical interventions recently. The young person is proud of this. Meaningful relationships have helped the young person to build trust, experience security and consider engaging in therapy. These outcomes positively impact on the young person’s emotional resilience and sense of self-worth. This ever-developing confidence and acceptance of support has helped the young person to take part in activities, make in-roads into engaging in education and attend medical appointments. The young person is attempting to cut down and give up smoking because of staff

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

support. The complex nature of the young person’s placement has posed challenges for her education. However, staff have worked tirelessly to provide learning opportunities for the young person. While unable to attend full-time education, the young person has received weekly tutoring sessions for mathematics and English and appreciates the support that she receives from staff, particularly the sessions about developing independence skills. Good face-to-face work has helped the young person to reflect on her education achievement and what is needed to reach her potential. This includes further input for mathematics and English. Further partnership working between the registered manager and the placing authority is now essential to secure an education placement that can address the young person’s educational needs and obstacles to learning. Other young people who have since left the home have made good progress. One young

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

person secured employment and successfully moved onto independent living. Managers and staff have shown significant commitment to other young people who have had to move to alternative placements due to safety concerns. This includes managers visiting the young people at their new placements to talk over the reasons for their discharges. Consultation with, and the participation of, young people is a clear strength. The young person currently living at the home feels listened to and is increasingly becoming more involved in the running of the home. The young person lives in a comfortable and well-maintained home. She appreciates the efforts of staff to make the house homely after a period of significant damage to furniture and fixtures. She is particularly proud of her newly decorated bedroom.

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

Young people’s needs are set out and met via a comprehensive and regularly reviewed care planning framework. Young people thrive because of effective care planning, risk assessment and behaviour management. Staff are well trained and able to implement the home’s accessible and regularly updated safeguarding and child protection procedures. The manager and staff are accessible, Inspection report children’s home: SC405977 5 approachable and skilled in building relationships with young people. This ensures that the young people always have a trusted adult to speak with. The registered manager and staff take their safeguarding responsibilities very seriously and ensure that concerns are referred, discussed and addressed with social workers, safeguarding agencies and the young person appropriately. Risk management processes are robust and provide staff with clear strategies for managing young people’s well-being. The current young person is protected through a

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

detailed missing from care protocol, which has been drawn up and implemented in close consultation with the police. Risks and missing from care episodes are effectively managed because staff understand the need for close supervision. Effective behaviour management training means that staff use a range of strategies to support and improve the young person’s behaviour. Staff vigilance and sensitive implementation of individualised behaviour management strategies keep the young person safe from self-injurious behaviours and from posing a risk to others. Messages and boundaries are clearly communicated. The young person fully understands how staff will continue to keep her safe. The strong emphasis on rewarding positive behaviours helps the young person to grow in confidence and enjoy improved self-esteem. Regular updates to the young person’s behaviour management plan have resulted in a lengthy document which may detract from the key guidance for staff. The young person

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

now responds well to the incentive and reward processes, but these are not clearly identified in the behaviour plan or guidance for staff. Rigorous monitoring of physical intervention ensures that staff practice is effective, and that the young person can express her views about her behaviour and the measures used by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new registered manager has worked in the home as a senior member of staff over several years and brings stability to the staff team. Effective handover arrangements have led to a smooth transition and leadership remains strong. The new manager leads a newly formed team of staff. The young person receives consistent care and thrives because staff work as a team, with a good core of experienced staff. New staff receive well-organised inductions and work alongside experienced staff members. While staff from other homes are used to meeting the high staffing requirements, the registered manager makes sure there is good sharing of information to ensure consistent care for the young person. For example, a ‘Working With’ document is given to all staff before they arrive at the home. This ensures that all staff are aware of the young person’s high-risk behaviours and required levels of staff supervision. Handover meetings are detailed and contribute to good, consistent care for

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the young person. All staff present high levels of commitment to the young person and work cohesively due to excellent staff communication and leadership by the registered manager. Staff meetings provide an additional forum for staff to review their practice and the needs of the young person. Inspection report children’s home: SC405977 6 Reflective practice and management is a key strength. For example, the management team has reflected on admissions, information sharing processes and partnership working after some placements were found to be untenable. A new format is now in place to manage information and implement clear placement planning for young people. The young person is looked after by well-trained staff. Staff performance is reviewed through regular supervision. The management team takes appropriate action when there are concerns about staff performance. Recording by staff is detailed and shows that staff are knowledgeable about the home’s

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

procedural framework. The registered manager has a clear understanding of his monitoring responsibilities. This includes effective internal monitoring and responding to independent monitoring reports, which show good compliance with the regulatory framework.

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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: SC405977 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Reflexion Care Group Ltd, Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Elaine Cray, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC405977 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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