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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 1 SC460973 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

This private children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who have social and/or emotional needs. Young people stay for a 12-week assessment period, followed by a further four weeks, if required, to support the young person to their next placement. On arrival, young people engage in a two-week overnight outdoor learning programme that is run by the children‟s home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since November 2014 and holds a level 4 children and young people‟s award and a level 4 management award.

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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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 19 September 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/09/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/12/2016 Full Good 21/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 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

In meeting the quality standards, if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority‟s or a relevant person‟s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child‟s needs are met in accordance with the child‟s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(1)(2)(c)(ii)) 23/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child‟s health. (Regulation 12(2)(d)) 23/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1) and (2)(a)(i)) 23/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home if full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(d)) 23/11/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 4 The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development. This is in relation to training to raise awareness of the „Prevent‟ duty, online safety and anti-bullying. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)) 23/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home the records in schedule 4. (Regulation 37(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This includes a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, and a record of the actual rosters worked. 23/11/2018

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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 the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(3)(5)) 23/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children‟s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46(1)(2)) 23/11/2018

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child‟s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child‟s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child‟s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child‟s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.10) Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 5  Children should be provided with appropriate furniture, such as a lockable cabinet or drawers to securely store personal items, including any personal information.

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Recommendations

(„Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  The home‟s policies and procedures around the protection of children should reflect any requirements of other relevant legislation. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 44, paragraph 9.22)  Ensure that there is a workforce plan in place, which can fulfil the requirements of Regulation 16 Schedule 1. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home‟s records as „living documents‟ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision

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Recommendations

sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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improvement to be good

Staff support young people to take part in a wide range of pursuits that extend and develop young people‟s experiences, skills and confidence. Involvement in activities such as bushcraft, camping, climbing, mountain biking and kayaking all help to support young people to achieve nationally recognised vocational qualifications.

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improvement to be good

Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff and are comfortable and relaxed in their company. One young person told an inspector that he could talk to all the staff and that he would be happy to stay at the home.

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improvement to be good

Young people are in good health, eat well and have the opportunity of daily exercise. They attend routine appointments with doctors, opticians and dentists. When more specialist support is needed, for example therapy or substance misuse services, staff work to support young people to engage.

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improvement to be good

Young people are helped to continue with their learning. For example, staff support one young person to attend school. A headteacher told the inspector, „Despite the home usually not having students at school with us, due to the nature of their 3-month placements, the staff have supported [the name of the young person] very effectively.‟

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improvement to be good

Young people regularly take part in preparing meals and are responsible for ensuring that their bedrooms are clean and tidy. This helps to build young people‟s confidence Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 6 and skills in readiness for adulthood.

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improvement to be good

Managers have acted to ensure that copies of plans from young people‟s placing authorities are held on record at the home. This helps staff to plan young people‟s care. However, young people do not have the opportunity to see the plans developed for them by staff. This limits young people‟s influence on their care and means that young people miss an opportunity to have a full understanding of their situation and the plans for them.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, some action has been taken to improve the home, including the decoration of the downstairs toilet and two lounges. However, there are aspects of the physical environment that require improvement. For example, food in the fridge is unlabelled. One young person‟s bed sheet was ripped. A handle was missing from one young person‟s wardrobe. A chair in the lounge had no feet. A window in the kitchen was rotting. A privacy cover is coming away from a bathroom window. Young people do not have a place to lock precious items in their bedrooms. In addition, young people are unable to enter their bedrooms or the laundry without staff help. These shortfalls detract from young people having a comfortable and homely environment in which to live.

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improvement to be good

Young people‟s risk assessments and plans are individualised by staff. However, these are not promptly reviewed following incidents of physical intervention or when young people have been missing from care. This means that staff do not have the most up-to- date information to enable them to safeguard the young people who live at the home.

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improvement to be good

When young people go missing from the home, staff respond promptly to safeguard the young person. On the young person‟s return home, staff welcome them back and try to understand the reasons why the young person had made the decision to go missing. Staff request independent return home interviews from the local authority. However, when these interviews are not provided managers do not escalate their concerns with the local authority. This leaves young people without the opportunity to talk to someone independent of the home about worries or concerns.

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improvement to be good

The manager ensures that fire equipment is regularly serviced. However, the fire risk assessment is not clear about the number of fire doors on the premises or where they are located. In addition, the organisation has failed to address recommendations arising from a routine safety inspection of the oil tank. These shortfalls compromise the safety of everyone using the premises. During the inspection, the inspector made a referral to the fire service.

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improvement to be good

The provider has a range of policies and procedures to help to support staff in safeguarding young people. However, recent updates do not reflect changes in statutory guidance, in particular „Working together to safeguard children 2018‟. Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 7

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been some changes to staffing, with eight staff leaving the home and seven new staff joining. This change in staffing has provided the registered manager with the opportunity to review the gender balance of the staff team and increase the number of female staff working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are complimentary about the support they receive from the manager. This includes regular supervision and appraisal. One member of staff told the inspector, „The support is good. You reflect on events, how you feel and anything that needs to change.‟ However, the manager does not have a workforce development plan. Consequently, the frequency of supervision for staff is not clear. In addition, managers do not ensure that staff are given a copy of their supervision notes. Furthermore, staff have not completed training in key areas such a „Prevent‟, online safety and anti-bullying. Refresher training for staff in child sexual exploitation is overdue. The registered manager‟s lack of attention to the home‟s workforce planning means that staff have not had the opportunity of improving their understanding in key areas necessary for their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers have not ensured that staff are appropriately vetted before starting work with young people. For example, three members of staff started work without gaps in their employment history being adequately checked. For two members of staff, the reasons why they left employment with children or vulnerable adults have not been thoroughly verified. Shortfalls in safe recruitment could expose young people to unnecessary risks through contact with unsuitable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers do not keep staff rotas in accordance with regulation. Staff rotas do not include any details about when the registered manager or the deputy manager are at work in the home. Furthermore, rotas are not clear about the actual times that staff are on duty and they do not note the time that staff spend giving handover before they leave duty. This means that the rotas are unclear when staff have been in contact with young people should this information be needed in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have established positive relationships with social workers. One social worker told the inspector, „Staff have worked well with the local authority, supporting the young person to feel safe and secure.‟ However, when managers have found concerns in the effectiveness of the local authority, these have not been sufficiently escalated. For example, concerns about delays in confirming one young person‟s next placement have not been made known to senior managers within the local authority. This means that the young person has stayed at the home more than the timescales identified by the home‟s statement of purpose. This has left the young person unsure about the plans for his future. In addition, concerns about the delay in one young person having his initial health assessment have not been escalated with the placing authority. This failure to hold partners to account impacts on young people having access to prompt services to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

meet their needs. The manager has reviewed the suitability of the location of the home. However, the manager has not sought the views of other agencies when completing this review. This means that it is unclear if there are any risks posed to the young people by the local Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 8 area. The registered manager was able to tell the inspector about the areas of development needed to improve services for young people. However, the registered manager‟s most recent quality of care review has no action plan. Furthermore, the review is weak in showing how the views of young people and other stakeholders have helped to shape the manager‟s understanding of the home‟s areas of strength and areas that need development. These shortfalls hinder the manager‟s understanding of the improvements and timescales needed to improve the quality of care for young people.

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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: SC460973 9

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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

Alison Cooper, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC460973 10 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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