Children's home run by Footsteps Care Homes Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 1 SC059782 Registered provider: Footsteps Care Homes 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

This privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to six children who have learning disabilities. At the time of this inspection, four young people over the age of 18 years were living at the home, awaiting transition to an adult care provision. A 16-year-old child was also living at the home. The service is preparing to move to new premises shortly.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 2 23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/11/2016 Full Good 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

(v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v)). In particular, that staff understand action to take in the event of a child making an allegation against a senior member of the staff team. 01/03/2019

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health (Regulation 12(1)(2)(d)). In particular, that fire doors are not propped open. 01/03/2019

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Recommendations

 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 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). In particular, that records of key-work sessions are appropriately detailed and highlight discussions held with children. Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home offers placements to children and young people who have learning difficulties. Children and young people make steady progress from their original starting points and enjoy very positive experiences. They receive individualised care that meets their specific needs. Staff create relevant placement plans that are in accordance with local authority care plans. This ensures that placement objectives are understood, and that identified needs are well met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s relationships with the staff team are excellent. Staff invest their time and effort creatively with residents and this is greatly appreciated. One young person said, ‘I really do like the staff here. Every one of them. They are kind, and you can have a laugh with them.’ Children and young people trust staff and say they would go to them if they were unhappy. A local authority social worker said, ‘The placement has been very successful. She’s very happy here and has a good relationship with staff. She feels like they’re her family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work very creatively with children and young people to ascertain their wishes and feelings. Staff are skilled in using alternative methods of communication to understand children’s likes, dislikes and preferences. For example, staff use pictorial cues and objects of reference with one child to ascertain his preferences. The staff’s knowledge and understanding of this child are so astute that staff can interpret how he is feeling by the way he is jumping. Children are aware of how to make complaints, but do not do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people who attend school or college do so very regularly. As a result, their learning outcomes are good. Children and young people have set targets that they are working towards. These goals are often set in conjunction with other professionals. Typically, these goals focus on socialisation and communication development, and the completion of personal care tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people enjoy a good range of recreational and play activities. For example, staff know to play a child’s preferred African music YouTube clip when he arrives home from school. On the day of the inspection, some young people were decorating the inside and outside of the house in preparation for Halloween.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people live healthy lifestyles. They register with primary healthcare services and attend appointments. Staff provide nutritious food options and children and young people regularly participate in physical exercise, such as swimming. Children and young people access specialist services, which helps with their general development. The child and adolescent mental health service, dieticians and diabetes nurses are regularly involved and offer young people and staff healthcare advice. Communication between the staff team and healthcare professionals is effective in ensuring that children and young people’s healthcare needs are expertly met. Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 5 Staff receive training in first aid and in the administration of medication. This ensures that children and young people receive appropriate medical attention as required. Staff also receive specialist training to meet the specific health needs of individual children,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

such as the management of epilepsy and diabetes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s identity needs are well catered for by the home. Staff support children and young people to listen to gospel music, as it is similar to what they might hear if they went to church. Children and young people are given private time to explore their own bodies and to develop an awareness of their sexuality. Staff have an expert understanding of the impact that children and young people’s disabilities have on their behaviour. Staff demonstrate genuine care and sensitivity in their work with the children and young people.

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

Children and young people feel safe at the home and with the staff team. Staff protect them from harm, abuse, accidents and bullying. A social worker said, ‘Safeguarding is very good here. They risk assess everything prior to any activity. They then send their risk assessments to me for discussion. It’s very safe.’ A young person said, ‘Do I feel safe here? What do you mean? Of course I do!’

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

Risk assessments identify known and anticipated risks, and are kept up to date. Risk assessments include strategies that help reduce risks. For example, staff are working with children and young people on road safety and ‘stranger danger.’ Children and young people do not go missing from the home, and are not involved in criminal exploitation or child sexual exploitation. Staff are vigilant in their supervision of residents, which helps to keep children and young people safe.

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

Staff manage complaints and allegations in accordance with the home’s child and adult protection procedures. The staff’s communication with designated officers and other safeguarding professionals is consistent and appropriate.

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

The home’s child and adult protection procedures help staff to keep children and young people safe. Safeguarding policies and procedures feature in the induction process for new staff. Longer-serving staff receive ‘refresher’ safeguarding training. However, not all staff demonstrate good knowledge of the action to be taken in the event of a child or a young person making an allegation against a senior member of staff. Children and young people will benefit from managers evaluating the effectiveness of the staff’s safeguarding training.

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

Children and young people largely adhere to the home’s rules and boundaries, which helps keep them safe from harm. All staff receive training in de-escalation techniques and the staff team manages challenging behaviour well. Since the last inspection, there have been a number of critical incidents, including the use of restraint. In these instances, staff interventions were appropriate in protecting children and others from Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 6 harm. Records of restraint are detailed and clear, and include debriefing discussions.

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

Behaviour management plans support the staff’s practice in reducing challenging behaviour. Staff make effective use of praise, rewards and incentives to encourage positive behaviour.

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

The home’s premises are physically safe and appropriately secure. Staff regularly conduct health and safety checks to eliminate hazards. However, some fire doors are not used appropriately. During the inspection, some were propped open. This is not safe practice.

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

The home’s recruitment vetting practices are thorough and are in line with safe staff- recruitment procedures. This confirms that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership of the home is strong. The registered manager and the entire staff team are committed to improving the quality of the service, and to enhancing the experiences of children and young people. The registered manager is a qualified, experienced practitioner with a background in working with children and young people who have disabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A local authority social worker said of the registered manager, ‘She’s quite forthright. She’ll advocate very strongly for young people and find a way to make things work. She’s no wallflower, which is commendable. She’s excellent.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s monitoring systems are good. Managers undertake weekly and monthly monitoring exercises. These explore most aspects of the home’s functioning and offer some insight into the quality of the service. Monthly independent monitoring visits help to highlight the home’s strengths and any shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider ensures that there are sufficient staff working in the home to meet the needs of the children and young people and to keep them safe. Staff training opportunities are good and there is a particular focus on specialist disability training. Newly employed staff have an induction and thereafter receive training that meets their professional development needs. Senior staff complete management training at level 5. This is to enhance their skills in supporting care staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team receives good support and feels well supported by managers. A staff member said, ‘The managers here are lovely. They check our stress levels and you can go to them at any time. The team is a priority.’ The supervision of staff is regular and meaningful. There is a focus on children and young people’s needs and their experiences. This enhances the quality of care children and young people receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose is a detailed document that outlines the aims and Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 7 objectives of the service. The residents’ guide is available in both in the written word and symbols. This allows children and young people who have differing communications skills to access information about the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff’s partnership working with external professionals is very good. Staff liaise with local authority social workers and with health and educational professionals as required. This supports the effective coordination of children and young people’s care. A social worker said of the home, ‘Staff are able to identify my young person’s needs on a day- to-day basis. They are very proactive and adapt their ways of working with her, so that it works. The staff team go above and beyond what they’re required to do and keep me updated with absolutely everything.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a clear vision for the service’s development and they demonstrate a commitment to ensuring that outcomes for children and young people continue to improve. This is illustrated by the home’s planned move to new premises that are better suited to meeting the accommodation needs of children and young people. The service has ambitious yet realistic plans in place to offer children and young people a high standard of care.

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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: SC059782 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Footsteps Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anslim Narinesingh

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC059782 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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