Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Herefordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC402426 1 SC402426 Registered provider: The Priory Group

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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 home accommodates up to five children and young people. A private company manages the home. The statement of purpose says, ‘As a children’s home we aim to provide a caring, safe, warm and stimulating environment. This involves high standards of healthcare, physical comfort, emotional security and positive, enthusiastic role models. We aim to provide respite from negative sub-cultures and positive relationships with significant adults.’

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is qualified in social work and management. She has led and managed the home since 2009.

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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: 7 September 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Recent inspection history

Inspection report children’s home: SC402426 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/09/2017 Full Good 02/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/07/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC402426 3

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that

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Recommendations

distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and

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Recommendations

sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive good individualised care and support, and live here long term in most cases. Staff are well organised. Staff prioritise daily routines, education and activities well. As a result, young people make good progress in all areas. One young person’s social worker said, ‘[Young person] has made excellent progress. Staff provide effective daily routines and consistent boundaries. They also effectively support and promote family contact.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC402426 4 Young people enjoy quality time with staff who take their views into account. The staff help young people to become more confident and competent in regard to doing things for themselves, and assist them in developing their social skills. For example, young people are learning to cook, clean and do their laundry, and are learning to drive and to manage their phone and internet use, ready for living independently. Young people

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

enjoy holidays with staff. Young people are part of football teams and cadets, and work towards their Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. One young person has become a prefect at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are good at supporting young people to live together. They help them to welcome new young people and tolerate each other’s differences. Staff ensure that each young person’s bedroom is comfortable and furnished to their personal choice. However, many shared areas of the house are locked, including a toilet, a bathroom, a kitchen food cupboard and the kitchen itself. Communal rooms are empty of young people’s own things and there are few games or entertainment items that are not locked away. This creates an institutional feel. The reasons for this are not properly recorded or kept under review.

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

Staff strive to form positive relationships with young people. They supervise them well overall, usually addressing difficult behaviour with tolerance, distraction and clear guidance. One young person who has lived here for over four years said, ‘My anger control is a lot better. Staff show respect to me.’

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

Staff and the manager identify young people’s risks clearly and provide boundaries and targets that are aimed at protecting young people and helping them to take responsibility for their behaviour. A member of staff said, ‘Good routines, structure and boundaries really do help.’ Many staff are also skilled in using empathy, warmth and insight to understand the underlying reasons for unsafe behaviour. As a result, serious incidents necessitating physical intervention are few, and the police have not been needed to manage young people’s behaviour.

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

Young people rarely go missing. Staff and the manager responded proactively to a young person who ran away almost as soon as he was placed in the home. They made great efforts to get in touch with the young person and his family and social worker. They sensitively talked through the situation and set out ways in which they could meet his needs and wishes.

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

Staff do not often use restorative approaches in an empathic way. This occasionally holds back young people’s progress towards safer behaviour. For example, staff overreacted to a young person’s use of social media to contact friends. Staff did not show professional curiosity and explore how risky the behaviour was before withdrawing internet access and subsequently her free time to see friends. Avoidable incidents of assault and going missing happened as a result. Inspection report children’s home: SC402426 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is very experienced and provides intelligent, diligent leadership and management. She is liked and respected by staff and young people. Many young people who have lived here over the last nine years phone or call here to see her from time to time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear understanding of the progress that young people are making. She is thoughtful about matching new young people to the group that already lives at the home. She provides staff with regular supervision and regularly works alongside them during shifts, so that she is up to date with young people’s needs as well as the care practices of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager personally invests in improving the progress and outcomes of young people. She challenges any services for young people if their response is not effective. She is particularly influential in securing full support for young people in relation to their education and health. She is also successful in ensuring that young people enjoy good opportunities to think about, discuss and explore current issues and fun topics. Her development plan for the home says, ‘We will make good use of team meetings to explore issues, achievements, progression of the young people; to pass on information; and to discuss different approaches including use of research-based practice, strategies and ways of working with them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is well organised about reviewing records and preparing reports about young people’s progress. She writes honest and detailed reports, and reviews records in a timely way. However, some of her reports contain stigmatising comments about young people. Some of her reviews of records do not analyse the practice of staff or identify where it could improve. Records are therefore less helpful to young people and less helpful as an aid to the improvement and development of the staff’s practice.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC402426 6 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: SC402426 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector

Rachel Britten: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC402426 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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