Children's Home run by Educare Adolescent Services Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 1 SC371723 Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people aged between eight and 17 who have social and/or emotional difficulties. The current manager has worked for the company since June 2018. He has obtained his level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has over 15 years’ residential experience and has submitted his registration to Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/07/2018 Full Inadequate 06/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/08/2016 Full Good 15/09/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 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 staff—

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(iv)(v)(vi)) 11/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to—

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Requirement Due date

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and 11/01/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 4 that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) The health and well-being standard is that children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(c)) 11/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; and

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a–c)(2)(a)(vi)(vii)(x)) 11/01/2019

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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—

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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 plan, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)) 11/01/2019

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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. 11/01/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 5 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)) The care planning standard is that children have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(b)) 11/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made. (Regulation 35 (2)(3)(a)) 11/01/2019

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been no new admissions to the home. One young person has left the home, and this was a positive outcome for them, returning back to the care of family.

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improvement to be good

Young people report that they are happy and feel safe. Young people report that they have positive relationships with staff and know how to complain.

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improvement to be good

As highlighted at the monitoring visit undertaken on 5 September 2018, staff are working towards promoting young people’s cultural diversity. This is an area that still requires further work, for example exploring a young person’s heritage rather than just providing them with cultural food choices.

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improvement to be good

Young people are now accessing education. This means that they are being afforded the opportunity to reach their academic potential.

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improvement to be good

One young person is currently working towards semi-independence. Some positive work has been undertaken in respect of the home working closely with the placing authority and support workers. The young person told the inspector that, at times, they felt that they were not part of the home, resulting in them spending the majority of time on their own.

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improvement to be good

When young people have disagreements, staff do not always intervene to repair strained relationships. This can leave young people feeling isolated within their own home. Furthermore, young people are not participating in activities. This means that young Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 6 people are not able to integrate with the wider community, which can leave young people feeling bored.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote contact for young people. This helps young people to maintain contact with people who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are in place for young people. However, there has been an occasion when these were not followed. This resulted in a young person going missing and being at risk of harm. Risk assessments are not always updated accordingly and this means that the most current information in respect of young people is not always available to the staff working with young people.

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improvement to be good

Young people are provided with key-working sessions, which gives them an opportunity to express their wishes and feelings. However, not all young people are provided with the same consistency and there are still shortfalls in respect of young people being given support in key areas as identified in their care plans.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical restraint as a last resort and adopt the organisation’s de-escalation model known as playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy (PACE) to engage young people and to help them manage their behaviours and emotions. There has been an occasion when a physical restraint was used to de-escalate an incident, although no record of this incident was recorded as required. This compromises the practice of staff and does not allow for managerial review and evaluation.

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

The manager commenced employment with the organisation in June 2018 and has submitted an application to register with Ofsted.

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

Staff receive regular supervision. This means that staff are receiving feedback in respect of their practice on a regular basis. Some staff have not had their annual performance appraisal. The remainder are scheduled to take place during October 2018.

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

During this period, there have been no changes to the staff team. Although the provider still relies on the use of agency staff, the same core individuals are used within the home. This means that the young people are being afforded with consistency in respect of their care.

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

There have been improvements to the presentation of the home and there is a current plan of redecoration in place. The home is clean and presented as much more welcoming than observed at previous inspections. One young person said that, ‘Staff are taking pride in the home.’

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

Young people do not always eat balanced and healthy meals. The manager has Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 7 previously highlighted that this is an area for improvement, although little progress has been made in respect of young people understanding and making informed choices when it comes to their dietary intake.

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

Although there are monitoring systems in place to evaluate the quality of care afforded to young people, at times this is not consistent.

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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: SC371723 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC371723 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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