Children's home run by Phoenix Child Care Limited in North Devon

Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 1 SC381652 Registered provider: Phoenix Child Care Limited

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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 and accommodation for up to two children and young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The home is operated by a private provider of education and social care for children and young people.  The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2008.

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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: 12 September 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/09/2017 Full Good 12/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/08/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 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

12: The protection of children standard The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that safeguarding records clearly record the guidance given by the designated officer. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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)) 14/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

33: Employment of staff The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. 14/12/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 4 (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) In particular, ensure that records of the supervision reflect the discussion that takes place and records any required actions to be taken. These actions need be reviewed regularly to assess progress.

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Requirement Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person— if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced. The independent person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 44 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the report should state whether the independent person’s visit is announced or unannounced, and the start and end time of the visit. In addition, the views of children, parents and social workers are to be sought consistently and reflected in the report. The independent visitor should clearly state whether, in their opinion, children are effectively safeguarded. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

45: Review of quality of care 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. 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. 31/12/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 5 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

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Requirement Due date

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 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the report needs to be more evaluative, including the feedback from children and others. The action set in this report need to be more inspiring and/or challenging.

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Recommendations

 Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (Regulation 35 (3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (Regulation 7 (2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60) In addition, the debriefing with children after they have been restrained needs to be carried out by a member of staff who was not involved in

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improvement to be good

Weaknesses in how well children are helped and protected, and in the effectiveness of leaders’ and managers’ work, mean that the overall experiences of children require Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 6 improvement.

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improvement to be good

Children receive good-quality, individualised care. The staff team has the children’s best interests and development at the heart of its practice. Children are making progress since they moved into the home. Staff prepare children well for their next move and, in some cases, the staff provide ongoing support to children who move on.

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improvement to be good

Staff involve children in all aspects of the running of the home. This helps to promote their practical skills and to build their self-confidence. Children like living at the home and like the staff who care for them. A child who has recently left said he ‘loved’ living there.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children in their education and help them understand the importance of school. Children are doing well in their education. Staff were complimented by education providers about the level of support they provide.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped to understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Staff encourage them to take up physical activities and eat healthily. Children’s healthcare needs are managed well by the team.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a well-furnished home which is welcoming and comfortable. Staff ensure that any damage within the home is quickly repaired. They feel that if they invest in the environment, so will the children.

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improvement to be good

Staff welcome new children into the home with sensitivity. New children are carefully matched with the children already living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding concerns are appropriately managed and staff demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding practices and procedures. However, staff managing safeguarding concerns do not consistently make a record of the guidance given by the designated officer when a referral is made to them. In addition, the records are not held in the children’s home, hindering the audit process.

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improvement to be good

The processes to ensure that children receive a debriefing following being physically restrained are problematic. On too many occasions, a staff member who was involved in the restraint has also been the person who has debriefed the child. This does not provide children with the opportunity to discuss how they felt about the event with a person who was not involved. In addition, two records contained no evidence of children receiving a debriefing.

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improvement to be good

The staff manage incidents of children going missing well. Staff follow children and if they lose sight of them, search for them. Placing authorities are not consistently carrying out return home interviews with children. This was highlighted by the manager, who has escalated her concerns to senior managers within the placing authorities. Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 7 Staff work with children to help them to develop a personal insight and an understanding of their own behaviours, and how these affect them and others. Children are supported to devise strategies that enable them to manage their own behaviours. Each child has an individual behaviour plan, which is kept up to date. This plan provides guidance for staff on how to support that child. This approach, along with clear structure and boundaries, has led to an improvement in most children’s behaviours.

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improvement to be good

The staff demonstrated a good understanding of risk and how this needs to be managed for each child. For most children, this has led to a reduction in risk-taking behaviours. For others, managers have had to make the decision to end placements to safeguard the child.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment practices are good and prevent those who may wish to harm children from gaining access to them. Disciplinary procedures are strong and closely adhered to in practice. This protects children.

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

The home has been through a challenging time since the previous inspection. Staff have worked together well during this time. Leaders and the manager have taken effective action and the home is now more settled.

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

Staff are receiving regular supervision, but the records of these sessions are not comprehensive and require improvement. Despite this shortfall, the staff feel well supported by the manager and the other team members. The staff have regular team meetings and receive clinical support from a psychologist.

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

The manager’s reports about the quality of the service are overly descriptive and lack evaluation. In addition, the reports do not include feedback from children or other professionals. These shortfalls do not aid the manager in developing practice within the home. Current monitoring systems have not identified all the shortfalls found at this inspection. In contrast to this, the analysis that the manager carried out regarding a child’s increased missing person and restraint events is of a good standard and was used to review that child’s plans.

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

The independent visitor visits the home as required. Their report contains a lot of useful information for the manager to use in developing the home. However, the report does not state whether the independent person’s visit is announced or unannounced, nor does it include the start and end times of the visit. The views of children, parents and social workers are not consistently evident. The independent visitor does not clearly state whether, in their opinion, children are effectively safeguarded.

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

The manager does understand the strengths and areas for development at the home. There is a development plan in place to address these.

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

The manager strongly advocates for children. A very good example was the recent Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 8 challenge of a poor placement decision by another agency. The manager took appropriate action to ensure that the child’s best interests were met.

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

The staff team is well trained to meet the needs of the children it cares for. The manager ensures that staff training is kept up to date, and reflects developments in practice and the changing needs of the children. The manager is experienced in residential care and appropriately qualified for the role.

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

Parents and professionals provided positive feedback on the staff and the quality of care they provide. They praised the staff and the manager for their work.

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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: SC381652 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Phoenix Learning And Care Ltd, First Floor, Rolle Quay House, Rolle Quay, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 1JE

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC381652 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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