Children's Home run by Your Chapter Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 1 Registered provider: Care 4 Children Residential Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to four young people. The home specialises in caring for girls who have been subject to child sexual exploitation. A private company owns and operates this home.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager successfully registered with Ofsted in May 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 10 January 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 3

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Recommendations

 The specific responsibilities of the home towards supporting the health and well- being of each child should be agreed with the placing authority and recorded in the child’s placement plan. It is the joint responsibility of the registered person and the placing authority that this is agreed at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.7)  The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make excellent progress in all areas of their development, and their day-to-day experiences are extremely positive. Staff consistently provide children with personalised and nurturing care. Children say that they are ‘loved and cared for’ and ‘always feel special’. Continual verbal praise, appropriate affection and understanding from staff mean that children learn to build strong and healthy relationships with adults. This supports their development, and they grow in confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home offers on-site education and a clinically led therapeutic service. The registered manager coordinates effectively the positive partnership-working practices between these services. This provides children with bespoke and reflective care. Staff make sure that children’s views, wishes and opinions are central to the formulation of their internal and statutory care plans. Staff work closely with children to help them to understand their specific targets and the support available to achieve them. This integrated approach to meeting children’s needs means that children make sustained progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff prioritise children’s health needs. An assistant psychologist works with care staff to deliver a trauma-informed model of care that identifies children’s complex needs. There is a seamless collaboration between these professionals. This effective sharing of information means that staff continually review children’s emotional progress and can adapt their approach to support children’s engagement and participation. One child said, ‘Everyone works together to help me, they don’t judge me. I can open up at last.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Some children smoke cigarettes and tobacco. The home operates a bespoke smoking reduction programme, supported by the organisation’s clinical team, with the aim of helping children to reduce the amount that they smoke over time. However, case files do not clearly record the details of the arrangements for managing this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Education is central to the culture and ethos of the home. All children attend the on-site school. Care staff work alongside teaching staff to help children to achieve their full potential. Children enjoy education, and their attendance is exceptionally good. They recognise the importance of education and the positive impact that it has on their futures. Staff are very ambitious for children and continually celebrate their achievements. Consequently, children are ambitious for themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children take part in a wide and varied range of social, leisure and educational activities. Staff continually encourage children to try new things and to make the most of the opportunities and facilities in the local community. This helps children to develop new hobbies and interests, grow in confidence and build on their social skills. One child said, ‘I’m really good at things I never thought I’d even try. It makes me proud.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff work well with social workers and other agencies to plan children’s journeys into adulthood, appropriate to both their emotional development and chronological age. They Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 5 consider possible barriers that children may face, such as access to other facilities and resources, including further education and training. This approach increases the likelihood of children successfully moving on from the home. Children view their time in the home as the starting point for their future. One child said, ‘Living here means I got my life back. I won’t waste that.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children benefit from regular contact with their families, when this is appropriate. Staff fully recognise how important these relationships are to children. They understand the feelings of loss that some children associate with living away from their families and the impact that these feelings may have on their progress. This means that, as children grow into adults, staff encourage them to revisit the foundations of these relationships and consider their own needs.

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

Children are safe and protected from harm. Managers work with health and educational professionals to devise comprehensive and effective risk assessments. These emphasise children’s vulnerabilities and positive behaviours rather than their challenging behaviours. Excellent risk assessments successfully guide staff in how to best support children when their anxieties increase, and they identify the strategies that children find useful to help them to manage their own behaviours and risks. This approach means that children begin to take age-appropriate responsibility for their own safety and to recognise the triggers that influence their actions.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been no occasions when children have gone missing from the home. Robust ‘missing from home’ plans and collaborative partnerships with other agencies means that staff know how to respond to these incidents, should they ever occur. Exceptionally positive relationships between staff and children mean that children feel safe and are confident that staff will keep them safe. One child said, ‘I wouldn’t run away from here. If I thought I was going to, I’d talk to staff and tell them how I was feeling.’

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

The use of physical restraint is exceptionally rare. Staff use this measure of control only as a last resort, to prevent an immediate risk of significant harm. They understand the traumatic memories that restraint can evoke for children and are sensitive to this potential. Staff place emphasis on verbal de-escalation, and this approach further enhances children’s feeling of safety and security.

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

Children benefit from a programme of personalised incentives. These help them to understand how to make positive choices. Staff encourage children to consider how their behaviours may impact on others. Subsequently, children learn to live together and appreciate and respect each other’s feelings.

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

Managers have an excellent knowledge and understanding of child protection thresholds and referral processes. Safeguarding policies are clear and succinct. This ensures that staff understand their own responsibilities for protecting children. The registered manager works in partnership with the designated officer for the local authority. This Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 6 means that any allegations of abuse or harm are quickly investigated. This good practice promotes children’s safety.

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

The home environment is safe and very well maintained. Staff regularly undertake health and safety checks, and quickly report any concerns. This creates a warm, welcoming and comfortable home for children.

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

Managers make sure that they carry out a variety of checks to assess the suitability of staff to work with children. When new staff have previous social care experience, managers follow up all relevant references and confirm the accuracy of this information with human resources departments. However, on one occasion managers accepted and verified a reference provided by previous colleagues rather than line managers when the applicant did not have a background in social care and their references were not relevant to this field. A recommendation is raised to address this. The impact of this shortfall on children’s safety is minimal because the home has a stable staff team and no vacancies, currently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from regular and high-quality supervision. Managers use these meetings to encourage staff to assess and reflect on their practice and to review their learning needs. This approach encourages staff to recognise how their own behaviours may impact on children and to be responsible for their own development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Most staff hold relevant qualifications for their role or are working towards achieving these awards within the required timescales. Training programmes mirror children’s individual needs and the overall aims and objectives of the service. Consequently, children work with staff who have the skills, knowledge and qualifications to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager monitors the service and the quality of care that children receive effectively. She uses this information to determine patterns and trends across the service and evaluates these to identify areas for improvement. Excellent consultation with children, their families and other agencies further supports this process. Subsequently, the service continually evolves to meet children’s changing needs and reflects the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Collaborative and partnership-working arrangements between the manager and external agencies, including the placing authorities, are very positive. Other professionals say that the registered manager is ‘an excellent advocate for children’ and ‘the driving force that changes children’s lives for the better’. The registered manager is steadfast in her expectations of others. When their actions fall short of the acceptable standard, she appropriately challenges these professionals. This ensures that children have suitable access to the services that they need to support their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff promote equality and diversity. They support children to appreciate and accept people’s differences and understand the negative impact of discrimination. Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 7 The registered manager ensures that she embeds this good-practice approach in the day-to-day running of the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 8

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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 difference 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: 1250186 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Children Residential Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Stuart Road, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2SR

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Inspector

Jo Stephenson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1250186 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 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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