Children's Home run by BREAK in Norfolk

Inspection report children‟s home: SC060743 1 SC060743 Registered provider: Break

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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 children‟s home provides care for four children who have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma along with family and placement breakdowns. It is owned by a registered charity. The registered manager has been in post for over seven years.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 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: 7 November 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: SC060743 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2017 Full Good 07/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/11/2016 Full Good 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC060743 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that team meeting records are accurate and reflect the conversations held, and that action is taken to address any inaccuracies. 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for 31/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC060743 4 ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(5))

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Recommendations

 When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

In particular, have and follow clear guidance on how to help children manage any risks associated with the location of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are making very good progress from their starting points. The staff know the children and their individual needs well. They help the children to develop their sense of identify and support aspects of their equality and diversity. The children have good relationships with the staff and trust them. These relationships underpin stable and effective placements, which provide the children with opportunities to grow and develop.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child spoke about how he has changed since being at the home. He is less angry and gets involved in a lot more activities. He said that the staff listen to his views and sort things out for him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make good progress in their education. Some children make significant progress from their starting points. One child who had not been in education for three years before going to the home is engaging with a tutor and has plans to reintegrate into classes soon. An independent reviewing officer spoke highly of the work that the home‟s education coordinator has done to support the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage and support the children to engage in therapeutic work with specialist providers. This work helps the children to make progress in their emotional and psychological well-being. The staff help the children to live healthier lifestyles, which, for some, is having a significant impact on their well-being and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have a good range of opportunities to take part in activities and pursue their interests. These interests include regular activities such as drumming lessons and Inspection report children‟s home: SC060743 5 belonging to a football club or cadets, as well as special events. One child took part in a 50-mile sponsored cycle ride. Two children are due to take part in a sailing trip to Holland. Some children have been on holiday with staff and others have had special trips out during the summer holidays. These all provide the children with experiences that enhance their lives and will form special memories for them to look back on. The staff capture these memories through photographs and certificates in the children‟s progress files, so that they will have something to take with them when they leave to remind them of this part of their childhood.

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

There is a low level of risk-taking behaviour. The staff help the children to become safer while they are living at the home.

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

When the children go missing, the staff take action to try to find them, including looking for them and trying to phone them. The staff help the children to understand how to use the internet safely. For one child, this has included an agreement that the child has been involved in developing. This has enabled the staff to comply with this child‟s wishes to have an electronic tablet and a mobile phone.

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

The children have good relationships with the staff and trust them. This is a significant protective factor for the children as they are more likely to be able to speak to the staff about anything that is worrying them or any areas of risk.

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

The children have individual risk assessments that the staff use to help them protect the children effectively. There is a risk assessment that covers many areas of risk associated with the location of the home. However, there is the potential to develop this further and so provide even better protection for the children.

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

The staff have established good routines for the children, which helps the staff to provide consistent care and helps the children to feel secure in what is happening at the home. There is a very low use of physical intervention or sanctions. The staff help the children to understand about positive behaviour through discussions and by building strong relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a registered manager in post who leads the team well and is appreciated by the staff. The manager and the staff team want the children to do as well as they can.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a low turnover of staff at the home. This helps to build an experienced, well- qualified and trained team that is able to provide a very good level of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff have good working relationships with other professionals, which help to make sure that there is a consistent approach to meeting the children‟s needs. Several external professionals described good communication with Inspection report children‟s home: SC060743 6 the home. The staff challenge other agencies in an appropriate way to make sure that they are all acting in the best interests of the children. An independent reviewing officer said that the staff are proactive and move things forward when they are getting stuck.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a good training programme, and at times the staff will use other resources such as the internet to help them get the information that they need to look after the children well. The staff have regular supervision and annual appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good knowledge of the progress that the children are making. Monitoring of the home is largely effective, but there are some areas that could be improved. The registered manager undertakes regular reviews of the quality of care. However, these reviews have not always included the views of children, their parents, placing authorities or staff. Consequently, some opportunities to get varied feedback on how the home is operating are missed. In turn, this can limit the opportunities for the manager to identify ways of improving the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some recent team meeting minutes described a discussion about concerns for children, but the registered manager and staff said that they are unaware of the specific concerns and why the minutes are recorded as they are. This is despite the registered manager and all staff having signed the minutes which, in this case, means that the monitoring was ineffective.

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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: SC060743 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Spar Road, Norwich NR6 6BX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Catherine Kenney

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Inspector

Clive Lucas: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC060743 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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