Children's home run by Esland North Limited in Amber Valley

Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 1 SC063794 Registered provider: Esland North 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 home provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours. The registered manager holds a level 5 qualification.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/07/2017 Full Good 31/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/09/2016 Full Good 31/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 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 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—

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Requirement Due date

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)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that all safeguarding concerns are escalated to the young person‟s local authority without delay. 03/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that internal placement plans are up to date and reflect young people‟s progress. 03/12/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a warm and nurturing home. Staff invest in young people and know them well. Staff offer young people hugs and show signs of affection. This helps young people to feel secure and to build trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to make well-planned moves. One young person was able to visit the home to meet the staff and the other young people. She was also able to Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 4 choose her bedroom. Staff quickly established her interests in arts and crafts and involved her in discussions on redecorating the lounge. This approach has helped the young person to settle quickly and develop a sense of belonging. The young person told the inspector, „It‟s been really good so far. The staff are nice. They talk to me loads and helped me to settle in.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Recently, some young people have faced uncertainty regarding their next placement move. For one young person, this has coincided with an escalation of challenging behaviour. Prior to this, she made good progress, with excellent school attendance and a reduction in risk-taking behaviour. However, the current placement impasse means that she is not in education and lacks structure and direction. It is acknowledged that the registered manager has escalated her concerns to the local authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to participate in the day-to-day running of the home. Regular young people‟s meetings take place. These meetings enable young people to discuss key aspects of their care. They discuss their progress and make decisions on activities, menus and the decor of the home. This gives young people a sense of ownership and responsibility for their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a range of activities, including trips to local trampoline parks and visiting arts and crafts stores. Staff also support young people to develop their hobbies and interests. For example, one young person is a keen photographer. Staff developed her pictures onto canvas and they now take pride of place in the lounge. One social worker for another young person told the inspector, „He has done more activities in the last three months in this home than he‟s done in the last three years in previous placements.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with the in-house therapy team to ensure that young people receive specialist support. This enables young people with difficult histories and experiences to stabilise. Staff use a calm and measured approach to de-escalate challenging situations. In addition, they support young people to explore difficult thoughts and feelings and learn strategies to self-regulate. One parent told the inspector, „She [the young person] is very well supported. She has made a lot of progress. Her behaviour has improved; she is a lot calmer.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to prepare for their future. For example, young people complete a „journey to independence‟ folder which focuses on key issues such as budgeting, healthy eating and their support networks. Staff also support young people to take age-appropriate risks. For example, a young person was able to use public transport independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people know how to complain and exercise this right. The registered manager has responded to recent complaints, although the responses were not within the agreed timescale and were not personalised. Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 5

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

Staff support young people to manage their risk-taking behaviour. For example, targeted individual and groupwork sessions focus on the risks associated with going missing from the home. One young person learned about the risks of child sexual exploitation in a training event organised by the staff. This equips young people with the understanding and skills needed to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff understand the risks associated with each young person and work closely with social workers and the police to keep young people safe. However, staff missed a recent opportunity to safeguard one young person and this potentially placed the young person at risk. In addition, some risk assessments contain contradictory information.

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

Young people seek support from trusted members of staff to share their concerns. Importantly, staff treat these concerns seriously and act accordingly. For example, one young person recently spoke to staff about an abusive ex-partner. Staff worked alongside the police to support the young person to keep her safe.

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

Staff use a proactive approach to managing challenging behaviour. For example, they know each young person‟s triggers and act swiftly to calm young people when they are agitated or anxious. As a last resort, staff use restraint to keep young people safe. Incidents of restraint are clearly recorded and allow staff and young people time to reflect and learn from the event.

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

The registered manager has developed strong links with key safeguarding agencies such as the police and youth offending teams. Staff invite local community police officers to meet with young people and discuss their challenging and risk-taking behaviours. This preventative approach avoids young people having unnecessary involvement in the criminal justice system.

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

Staff respond appropriately when young people go missing from the home. They are diligent in searching for young people and, when necessary, contact the police to report them missing. Missing protocols contain clear guidance for staff, including details on each young person‟s associates and their addresses. This level of detail helps to keep young people safe.

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

The registered manager ensures that recruitment processes help to protect young people from unsafe adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is well resourced and its members work well together to provide young people with good, nurturing care. They are knowledgeable about each young person and genuinely care about them. Staff communicate with each other effectively to ensure that young people receive consistent care. For example, regular staff debriefs and team meetings have a significant focus on young people‟s progress. Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 6 Staff have either completed their level 3 qualification in residential childcare or are working towards the award. They benefit from access to a good training programme that equips them with the necessary skills and knowledge needed for the role. New members of staff receive excellent inductions and quickly settle into the team. One such staff member told the inspector, „It‟s been great. It‟s a pleasure to come to work. It doesn‟t matter who I am working with, they are all really welcoming. They are really supportive.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has an effective monitoring system in place. As a result, she can review patterns and trends of young people‟s behaviour as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the home. The registered manager collates this information each month and incorporates it into her six-monthly review of the service. This level of oversight helps the registered manager to continually improve the experiences of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff develop strong relationships with families and professionals. Young people benefit from this joined-up approach. One social worker told the inspector, „Their [the staff‟s] level of communication is amazing.‟ However, internal placement plans are not up to date and therefore do not reflect the current progress of each young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and appraisal. The registered manager strikes a good balance between staff support and challenge. This ethos encourages staff to challenge each other in a healthy and transparent manner. A member of staff told the inspector, „If we have an issue with another member of staff, we will openly talk about it. We all get on. We are like a family. This really helps the young people.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home environment is well presented and has a warm and welcoming feel. Young people‟s bedrooms are personalised, and their pictures are on view throughout the home. Staff involve young people in choosing the decor of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that plans for each young person identify their needs. She is a strong advocate for young people and challenges local authorities when she feels they are not making decisions in the best interests of the 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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 7 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: SC063794 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Gareth Leckey, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC063794 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 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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