Children's home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children’s home: SC372611 1 SC372611 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care 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 service is owned by a private company. The home is registered to accommodate two children. Children come to live at the home because of family or placement breakdowns. Some children have difficulties that make their situation very challenging, or they choose not to live in a family setting at this time. Some children have experienced abuse.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of this home has been in post since April 2018. She is in the process of registering with Ofsted. She is a qualified social worker.

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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: 1 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC372611 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/12/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/07/2017 Full Good 12/12/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 24/05/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC372611 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 meet the needs of each child and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and any other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(e)) 30/11/2018

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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 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the induction, probation and training of seniors, deputies and managers. 31/12/2018

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Inspection report children’s home: SC372611 4  Records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home (regulation 36 (schedule3 (14)). This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child’s parents. Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of

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Recommendations

what worked well. This evaluation should inform the quality of care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.31)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are supporting children to achieve good outcomes. Children receive good-quality individualised care. Staff and children have warm, caring relationships and enjoy positive interactions. As a result, children recognise the good progress they have made and can identify the areas they are still developing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children state that a key strength of this home is the staff team. Children said that staff are fun, listen and are very supportive. Staff consult with children. For example, staff are currently trying to encourage a child to decorate his bedroom. It is stark, and up until now, he has not wanted to invest in the room. He has identified that his bed is uncomfortable and too small. The staff team is now supporting him to revamp the whole room, including getting a new bed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s school attendance and educational progress are good. Staff work proactively alongside teachers to support children. When attendance or behaviours have affected positive educational outcomes, meetings have taken place to identify practical or alternative solutions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain contact with those people who are important to them. They ensure that children visit family members, for example driving a very long distance and staying overnight in a hotel to ensure that regular contact is maintained.

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

Staff promote the safety and well-being of children. When children go missing from care, staff respond promptly and go above and beyond to ensure that they return home safely. When safeguarding and sexual exploitation concerns have been identified by staff, they have been sensitively managed and appropriately referred.

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

When children have been missing from care, records do not clearly show whether they have received a return interview from their placing authority. Records also fail to show, where interviews did take place, if children raised concerns that could be addressed to reduce or prevent further missing from care incidents.

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

Staff ensure that they provide children with clear boundaries and responses. This Inspection report children’s home: SC372611 5 consistent parenting is having an increasingly positive impact on children’s stability. For example, damage to the home and incidents of going missing have reduced.

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

Staff work with children to discuss issues such as personal safety and internet use. As a result, children are helped to develop the skills that they need to keep themselves safe, both when they are outside of the home and when online.

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

Some rooms in the home are more welcoming and homely than others. Most of the home has recently been decorated. Work is under way to replace some worn furniture and decorate rooms with photos and pictures. This will help make the whole house personalised, welcoming and homely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have worked hard to promote children’s safety and welfare in partnership with other professionals. They are motivated and feel supported by the new manager and deputy. They benefit from regular team meetings, supervision and training. Consequently, the staff team has a clear understanding of the progress that children have made and the plans for their future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The organisation does not currently have inductions, probationary periods or mandatory training programmes that are specific to staff who are either new to management or new to management within this company. This means that staff with management responsibility may lack appropriate support and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good staff practice and professional curiosity are not consistently captured or supported by the home’s records and procedures. Sometimes records, such as discussions with children after episodes of going missing, are not detailed and do not give timelines. Furthermore, other information, such as places to look and people to contact when a child is missing, is dispersed instead of being in one place. This does not support staff to easily access important information. This also means that managers are not able to monitor patterns and trends.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff work closely with partner agencies to ensure that a good focus is given to the individual needs of each child. The new management team is ensuring that information is promptly and appropriately shared. However, Ofsted has not been informed of one incident that met the threshold of a notifiable event.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC372611 6 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: SC372611 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Edward James House, Hadley, Telford TF1 6QJ

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Inspector

Dawn Bennett, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC372611 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 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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