Living Springs

Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 1 Living Springs Living Springs Barratts Coppice Farmhouse, Bridgnorth Road, Stourton, Stourbridge DY7 6QY Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre provides accommodation and assessment for up to nine families. The service operates as a registered charitable company based on the Christian ethos. The centre provides supported living accommodation for families alongside those receiving an assessment.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 21 January 2014

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This residential family centre is good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Families benefit from strong support from experienced, caring and committed staff.  Staff listen to families and engage them in meaningful discussions about their assessments. Families trust staff and can talk to them.  Staff provide daily feedback to families which enables them to understand how to improve their progress.  Staff recognise the emotional demands that assessments place on families.  Staff are aspirational for families and want them to achieve their best in their assessment.  Staff work skilfully with families who have learning difficulties.  Highly trained and vigilant staff ensure that children and parents are kept safe in the centre and in the community.  Staff work closely with families to help them understand risk.  Families benefit from comfortable and homely surroundings where they can focus on their assessments.  The registered manager works hard to drive up standards for the benefit of

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Key findings from this inspection

families.  Assessment reports are detailed, insightful and evaluative and provide families, courts and placing authorities with valuable information and guidance.

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Key findings from this inspection

The residential family centre’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager does not always complete the complaints procedure in keeping with the organisation’s policy.  Families are not always given information about the centre before they are admitted.  Risk assessments need to record more clearly the reasons for reducing the amount of supervision that a family receives in their flat.  Some impact assessments need to include more detail about how staff are to address any issues that could arise from admitting the new family.  Families do not always know which staff are sleeping in the centre at night. Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall, within 28 days after the date on which the complaint is made, or such shorter period as may be reasonable in the circumstances, inform the person who made the complaint of the action (if any) that is to be taken. (Regulation 5 (5)) 30/10/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that except in an emergency, parents and children are given information, before arrival, about the centre and the placement, training, supervision, assistance and assessment they can expect, in a format which meets their needs. Parents and their children should visit the centre prior to a placement decision being made. (National minimum standard 7.3)  Ensure that prior to a placement, a risk assessment is carried out to ensure both that the centre is well placed to meet the family’s needs and that the family is able to fit in with the centre’s other residents. It informs the level of supervision necessary for the parents and is kept under review throughout the placement. (National minimum standard 9.1). This specifically refers to improving the process of carrying out risk assessments prior to a placement starting.  Ensure that staff and residents know who is sleeping in the centre each night.

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Recommendations

(National minimum standard 15.8) Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff support families to engage in their assessments. Resources such as art therapy and psychoeducation help parents with their emotional and psychological well-being. Staff are sensitive to families who have learning difficulties and work hard to ensure that parents understand and can engage fully with their assessment. The social worker for one parent who has a learning difficulty commented, ‘She is now able to follow things and they are working on the issues that are raised.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents form trusting relationships with warm and caring staff. One parent said, ‘I’m glad I’m here with my baby.’ Families talk to staff about their concerns and feel supported. Staff understand the ethos of the home and want families to have the best chance to achieve and keep their children. Half of the families assessed over the past 12 months have returned home with their child/children. Staff understand the emotional demands of the assessment and high levels of surveillance on families. Staff regularly review levels of monitoring to ensure that families are kept safe but can also move on in their assessment. Surveillance is reduced only when it is safe to do so, allowing parents to have free time at the centre and in the community to test their abilities and confidence. Parents said that the assessment process is fair.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff listen to parents and provide them with opportunities to express their views individually and in regular residents’ meetings. Staff involve parents closely in their reviews and help them to understand the issues that are coming out of their assessments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Assessment reports are thorough, evidence based and well written. Reports are based on daily observations and clear analysis of each family’s progress. Risks are balanced with protective factors. Reports provide valuable recommendations which inform families and guide the courts and professionals in their decision-making. Parents engage in a range of individual and group work as part of the assessments, including parenting skills which involve play and safety. They undertake the freedom programme to address issues of domestic abuse and can attend regular individual and relationship counselling sessions. The social worker for one family commented, ‘The placement was excellent, and staff were very cooperative and pleasant.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre is maintained and cleaned to a high standard. In addition to the cooking facilities for families in each flat, there is a large kitchen, which staff use to give families cooking demonstrations. There is also a play room with a sensory area and space for family contact and for quiet meetings. Individual flats are light and well furnished.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff are keen to promote equality and diversity and ensure that their practice is non- oppressive and inclusive. Parents feel that staff support them with their individual Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 5 needs. Staff accompany families to local towns to go shopping, and provide babysitting so that parents can have some time to themselves. Staff also provide a weekly outing for families to enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

When families arrive, they have a planning meeting at which staff explain the rules and aims of the centre. Staff give families the residents’ manual. However, some parents said that they were not provided with information about the centre before they were admitted. One parent commented that she would have brought more personal items with her if she had known what was being provided in her flat.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff prioritise safeguarding and keep families safe. High levels of monitoring are in place at the start of all assessments and reduce over time, but always based on a detailed risk assessment that puts children’s safety first.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The centre is calm and well organised, and families are aware of and respond positively to the clear boundaries and routines that are in place. Professionals praise staff for good behaviour management and the ability to de-escalate any friction between parents. Staff are aware of the potential risks that some families can pose to others and ensure that any issues are addressed.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff teach parents safe parenting so that they can recognise and reduce risks for themselves and their children. In many cases, families become safer as their assessment progresses. Staff skilfully assess the balance of risk and protective factors daily with families and are alert to any changes that could place them at increased risk. This vigilance enables staff to allow families opportunities to demonstrate their progress with increasing free time, while still ensuring that children are kept safe.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Parents can attend the freedom programme, counselling and receive support for mental health and substance misuse issues.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Professionals said that safeguarding is a high priority at the centre. The social worker for a parent who was volatile and verbally aggressive commented, ‘I felt that everyone at the centre dealt with this extremely well and ensured the safety of [the] baby at all times. The communication between staff and myself has been fantastic and I cannot thank them enough for the support.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Impact assessments sometimes lack detail to ensure that staff receive specific guidance when an issue arises. For example, when a risk was identified that a violent ex-partner of one parent could come to the centre, the strategies to manage this eventuality lacked detail. Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works hard to drive up standards in the service and has recently appointed a deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy demonstrate thorough knowledge of each family’s needs. They know where families are in their assessments, and where parents are failing to make progress, but also what the parents have achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager work closely with placing local authorities but are not afraid to challenge them on behalf of families. For example, the deputy manager advocated for one parent to have unsupervised time, based on clear risk assessments and evaluation of the parent’s needs to progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy provide staff with regular, supportive supervision. Staff praised the quality of supervision, which allows them to reflect on practice. Staff are up to date with training. For example, staff have recently completed training in attachment issues and child development. All staff are qualified to either a level 3 diploma or have a degree.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have introduced new systems that help staff focus more on the main issues and the needs of the family. As a result, reports have been shortened and are more focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff handover meetings have been moved from the general office to a quiet room where staff can engage in a structured meeting. There is a board on the wall that prompts staff to start all discussions with the experience of the child, before discussing the family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work with a range of other professionals, including placing authorities, health, counselling, drug services and the courts. Professionals provided very positive feedback about the service. One social worker said, ‘Communication, planning, care and support and quality of service is excellent.’

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and parents. They watched how professional staff work with children and parents and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential family centre knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and parents 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 Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 7 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 8

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: Barratts Coppice Farmhouse, Bridgnorth Road, Stourton, Stourbridge, West Midlands DY7 6QY

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Inspectors

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Lisa O’Donovan, social are inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Living Springs 9 to 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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