Children's Home run by Chances CCFSS Limited in Gloucestershire

Inspection report children’s home: SC016697 1 SC016697 Registered provider: Chances CCFSS 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 home is owned by a small private company.  The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The home provides individual therapeutic care from a qualified psychotherapist.  The manager was registered in February 2012.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 12 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2017 Full Outstanding 21/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/12/2016 Full Outstanding 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC016697 2

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the site of the building works in the garden is adequately protected to prevent children accessing it and that dog waste is disposed of promptly to reduce the risk of infection. 30/11/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people at this home received outstanding care and protection for the four years up to and including the last full inspection on 13 December 2017. The new overall rating reflects a small number of health and safety concerns found during this inspection. The registered manager has taken immediate action to respond to these shortfalls. This means that there is no continuing impact on the children and young people’s welfare and safety. The home’s exceptional strengths continue to be the high quality of therapeutic care and the children’s relationships with the staff. Children feel well supported by the staff’s sensitive, nurturing care. For example, when a child has a bad dream, the staff ask if the child wants them to look after it for them. They ‘catch’ the dream in a blanket and look after it until the next morning. The child can then talk about their dream if they wish to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager is a qualified psychotherapist with many years of experience in working with children and adults. This means that therapy can be built into the children Inspection report children’s home: SC016697 3 and young people’s care plans. The home is now building a bespoke therapy room in the garden, to further enhance the service. The home uses well-mannered, carefully trained dogs to provide reassurance and positive regard for the children and young people. This has had many beneficial outcomes. For example, the dogs help the children to calm before bedtime. Ofsted received many positive responses to the annual survey from children, parents, staff and professionals outside the home. One parent commented, ‘The staff are doing an excellent job and I tell them so all the time.’ All those who contributed their views to this inspection commented on the excellent level of communication with the staff and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

their child-centred approach. The children and young people make exceptionally good progress in this home. One child received help to face his fear of the sea. He now loves being in the sea and has his own wet suit. Another young person bravely sang a duet with a school friend. Some children and young people undertake voluntary or paid jobs. One young person is attending school full-time and achieving well. Some other young people have been excluded from school. The registered manager and staff are advocating strongly to help them return to education outside the home. The home encourages children and young people to engage in community activities. One child has overcome considerable personal fears. As a result, they have been able to participate in the community by joining in with kick-boxing, football and youth clubs. One young person has made substantial progress towards achieving her Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, there were unprotected building works in the garden. The work was risk-assessed to be completed during half-term, when the children and young people were away from the home. This was not possible due to poor weather, which was outside the home’s control. A few days before the inspection, the builders left the premises to obtain supplies. A young child was able to climb a ladder and access the roof of the new structure. He also had access to tools left on-site. The registered manager acted immediately to ensure that the children and young people are protected from accessing the construction site. The inspector also had concerns about the disposal of dog waste from the three dogs who live in the home. Although there were clear protocols for removing dog waste and disinfecting the artificial grass in the garden, the risk assessment specified that this should be done once a day. This did not provide a sufficient level of hygiene.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager responded immediately to this concern. She instructed staff to manage the dogs’ routines differently. They will now be kept in their kennels after feeding, until their toileting is complete. Every other aspect of safeguarding practice is good. Children and young people are helped and encouraged to behave well. They participate in setting their own targets and receive rewards for positive behaviour. Sanctions are not required, because the staff Inspection report children’s home: SC016697 4 support the children and young people through learning and restorative practice. Staff recruitment is managed safely. The registered manager will not appoint unless she is completely satisfied with an applicant’s skills and experience. This helps to protect children and young people from potentially unsuitable adults. No children or young people have gone missing or made any complaints since the last

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improvement to be good

inspection. There have been serious incidents and restraints. These all involved a child who was still settling in at the time. The number of restraints have considerably reduced since this child’s admission. This is because the child has formed strong relationships with his carers. He now uses his ‘red card’ to let the staff know that he needs some time to himself. Restraints are well recorded. The child-friendly narrative account helps the child to understand how the incident came about and to learn from it. The registered manager ensures that there is an extensive debrief for all parties after any incident. The child’s comments after the most recent incident show an exceptional degree of self-knowledge and insight. This is a clear benefit from living in a therapeutic environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a highly experienced and skilled registered manager, who is also the responsible individual. She is exceptionally child-focused and ambitious for the children and young people. As responsible individual, she has made considerable investments in the service. These include the construction of a new therapy room and office in the garden. The aim is to enhance the home’s facilities and remove the office from the main house. The present office will become a homely space for the children and young people. Experienced, well-trained staff show great commitment and loyalty to their manager. This means that they stay in their posts for many years and provide consistent, nurturing care to the children and young people. The staff are extremely well supervised and supported. They receive ongoing clinical and practice supervision daily. The manager also refers them to literature and research documents to guide care planning and practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care staff also have access to specialist training. The registered manager has invested in training some staff to a high level in specific therapeutic techniques. This keeps the staff up to date with the latest knowledge and demonstrates the manager’s commitment to their development. Ultimately, increasing the staff’s skill base benefits the children and young people. The registered manager is also very well supported in her role. She receives regular clinical supervision from an appropriately qualified professional therapist. This provides additional external scrutiny and continuing professional development. The children’s records are extremely child-focused and speak directly to the child. Individualised care plans are informed by relevant research. This provides staff with good-quality written information to help them to care for the children and young people. The registered manager understands the importance of good communication when

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

working with other agencies, particularly if there are any safeguarding concerns. The Inspection report children’s home: SC016697 5 numerous professionals and parents who took part in this inspection commented on how well the manager and staff keep in touch with them. This helps to ensure that parents and professionals are kept informed about any developments with their child or young person. The manager and staff have strong links with other agencies, and challenge the agencies when necessary. Children and young people have access to independent advocacy to help ensure that their rights are maintained.

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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: SC016697 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Chances CCFSS Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Fairview Court, 119-127 Fairview Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 2EX

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Inspector

Heather Chaplin, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC016697 7 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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