Children's home run by Aurora Care Young People’s Services in Ribble Valley

Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 1 SC484358 Registered provider: Aurora Care Young People‟s Services

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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 children‟s home offers care and accommodation for three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or a learning disability. This is a privately run children‟s home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/05/2017 Full Good 26/01/2017 Full Requires improvement 19/10/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(c)(i)) 12/12/2018

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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(2)(a)(i)) 12/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home‟s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(2)(a)(c)) 12/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in 12/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 4 relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(e)) 12/12/2018

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Recommendations

 As part of the policies for protection of children, the registered person should include information about whistle blowing, with clear procedures for how a staff member should report to an appropriate authority any concern they have about a child within the home being either at risk of, or already experiencing significant harm. The policy should reflect the principles set out in the Francis review „Freedom to speak up‟. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 43, paragraph 9.15)

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Recommendations

This relates to the need to ensure that staff are clear about what to do if they have any concerns about the responsible individual. This should all be included in the relevant policy.  All policies should be reviewed regularly and revised appropriately. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 44, paragraph 9.19) This relates to the safeguarding policy, which needs to be updated.  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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improvement to be good

Young people are making good progress in this home. This is due to the well-planned, individualised and nurturing care that they receive from staff. Staff have a good understanding of the young people‟s needs. The young people spoken to during inspection said that they like living at the home. Relationships between the staff and young people are good and the inspectors were able to Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 5 see this. Professionals have been complimentary about the staff in the home. One social worker said: „In the short time [name] has been in placement, I have not had any concerns with the care afforded to her. She has settled well and is getting on well with staff and, at times, the other young people.‟ All young people in the placement are attending school and training placements. The young people have their health needs met. Staff ensure that the administration of medication is

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improvement to be good

well managed and, as a result, there have been no medication errors. Staff make referrals to relevant agencies as appropriate, including Addaction, to help young people make healthier choices. Young people are able to share their views in young people‟s meetings and they attend their review meetings. Young people are aware of their rights and know how to make a complaint if needed. All young people enjoy positive experiences in the home. The staff support young people to attend their activities. One young person attends Scouts and is enjoying this. Another young person attends a running club twice a week and she has received certificates for her achievements for her running. Staff also promote and support the young people to have positive family contact. The young people live in a warm and cosy environment. Inspectors noted that there are some outstanding repairs that need to be completed in the young people‟s bedrooms. This

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improvement to be good

will ensure that their living conditions are better. Staff prepare young people to gain the skills required for moving on to adulthood. During inspection, one young person was cooking for herself and others. There are independence plans in place to help the young people develop these skills. One young person has moved into the home since the last inspection. This was an emergency move, and the staff gave the young person a good welcome. She received a welcome pack that contains a card, chocolates and toiletries. The other young person had a planned move on to semi-independent living.

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improvement to be good

Each child has an individual risk assessment in place. The manager should ensure that all staff read and understand each child‟s risk assessments and the required actions. This should also include staff from another home who are covering staff shortages. Risk assessments need to be up to date and detail emerging risks. For example, in the risk assessment for one young person, there was no room search identified following an incident of drug misuse. Staff respond to most missing from care incidents well. There have been a few incidents where young people have returned to the home under the influence of substances. Staff have also responded to these situations. However, during the inspection, not all staff spoken to were clear about actions set out in risk assessments. Staff did not describe all the actions required if a young person returned home under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Staff promote positive behaviour by using behaviour charts and encouraging praise. There

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 6 are few incidents of challenging behaviour and staff can de-escalate these. The safeguarding policy needs to be updated in order to reflect the staff changes in the organisation. The manager needs to ensure that all staff understand the safeguarding procedures that they must follow if a concern arises about a child. Staff also need to understand what to do if an allegation is made against a member of staff. Staff should be clear about what to do if they have any concerns about the responsible individual and this procedure should be included in the relevant whistle-blowing policy document. Staff are carrying out key-work sessions with young people on keeping themselves safe. These sessions are not always recorded. Recording needs to be up to date and detail the work that the young people have done with staff. Staff do not notify Ofsted if there is a serious incident in the home. This hinders the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has left the home and has gone to manage another home in the organisation. The deputy manager is acting as manager. The responsible individual has changed since the last inspection. These changes have led to some instability in the leadership and management of the home. The deputy manager is a very experienced and child focused member of staff. She is committed to ensuring that young people receive a good standard of care. The acting manager has a good understanding of each young person‟s needs, and of how these needs affect the young people‟s progress. The home has a stable, experienced and committed staff team. Staff feel well supported by the acting manager. There are some gaps in staff supervision. Staff have received online training from the organisation, but feel that they need more face-to-face training. This training should be face-to-face training on understanding drug and alcohol issues and the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

effects on young people. The responsible individual needs to update her safeguarding training as she holds the role of designated safeguarding officer. The acting manager is aware of the strengths of the home and the required areas for development. She has already identified from her own audits that recording in case files is an issue. She has spoken to staff about this, but it is still an issue. The management team does not always make child-focused decisions about young people coming to live in the home. The statement of purpose states that information received should highlight all potential areas of risk before a young person‟s admission. However, the home has admitted a young person without this being in place. Staff have not been able to assess whether they can meet the young person‟s needs, or whether there are any risks posed to the young people already living in the home. Staff highlighted that this as an issue

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

with the admissions procedure. There has been no impact on this occasion, but young people are not being admitted in line with the home‟s statement of purpose. Despite this, during the inspection, there was evidence of staff contacting placing authorities when all relevant paperwork for admissions is not provided. Professionals have been complimentary about how staff support the young people‟s progress in this home. An independent reviewing officer said: „He is really happy and settled Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 7 in his placement and the staff that I have met are all really caring and nurturing towards [name]. [Name] is being encouraged to develop his independence and is going to start making his way to school, which he is looking forward to.‟ Due to shortfalls in recording, it is not possible to see any evidence of any work done with a particular young person, where racism was highlighted as an issue. Diversity work would be

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

beneficial for this young person, to give them the skills and understanding to help them deal with situations in the appropriate way.

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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: SC484358 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aurora Care Young Peoples Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pendle Suite, Hawkshaw Business Park, Longsight Road, Clayton-le-Dale, Lancashire BB2 7JA

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Inspector(s)

Jenny Brady, social care inspector Sarah Billett, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC484358 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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