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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 1 SC484357 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 is run by a private organisation. It offers care and accommodation for up to four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 November 2018

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 5 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 2 25/05/2017 Full Good 23/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/12/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 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)) 02/01/2019

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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)) 02/01/2019

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff work as a team as appropriate. (Regulation 13 (2)(b)) 02/01/2019

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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 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)) 02/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant 02/01/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 4 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))

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home‟s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child‟s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance, and supplement that provided by their school through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-

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Recommendations

being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people in the home are well cared for and receive care that is individual to their needs. Young people develop trusted relationships with their keyworkers and other members of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two of the young people have made good progress from their starting points in terms of their education. One is about to start an apprenticeship and the other has accessed employment. Despite a decline in one young person‟s engagement with school when he moved into the home, there has been effective communication with education professionals to secure a tutor for this young person. Consequently, he is now engaging with a tailor-made education package. It is hoped that this will help his reintegration into school. The tutor told inspectors about how staff support this young person‟s education. This support ensures that the young person has every opportunity to succeed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people have their health needs met in the home, and staff make referrals to specialist agencies where necessary. All staff have received medication training, and this ensures that the administration of medication is well managed. Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 5 Staff prepare young people to gain the skills needed for moving on to adulthood. During the inspection, one young person baked a cake and shared this with staff and young people. There are independence plans in place to help the young people develop these skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For some young people, there have been improvements in their behaviour since they have been in the home. However, for others, there has been a decline in their emotional and behavioural development. To address this decline, staff are working with professionals to ensure that the young people receive the support that they need for their emotional health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are positive about the level of communication they receive from staff in the home. One social worker said: „The staff and manager always updates me on anything significant with regards to my young person and always sends the weekly reports via email.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the young people are settled in the home. One young person is keen to move on from the home, while she is developing her independence skills. The young people in the home know how to make a complaint if they need to and attend house meetings and all meetings relating to their care plans, to ensure that their views are heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into and out of the home are managed well. Impact risk assessments are completed to ensure that staff are fully aware of young people‟s needs and any potential impact that they may have on other young people living in the home. Another young person who moved on from the home had a successful transition to supported lodgings. This was an incredibly positive move for him.

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

Risks to young people are identified by staff and are understood and managed. Young people in the home feel safe. Staff show great insight into the young people‟s needs. Young people know who their keyworkers are, and they can talk to them about issues affecting them. Staff understand the home‟s policies in respect of keeping young people safe.

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

The young people rarely go missing from the home. However, the plans relating to this are not always followed, and there have been delays in reporting missing from home incidents to the police. Issues relating to drug and alcohol misuse are responded to by staff, with specialist agencies working with the young people in order to address these issues.

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

Records do not always demonstrate how staff consistently follow young people‟s plans to keep them safe. For example, records are not clear that staff follow the risk assessment for one young person who is at risk.

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

There are very few significant incidents in this home. Positive behaviour is encouraged, and staff do not need to use physical intervention. Restorative practice does, however, Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 6 take place, and this helps to improve young people‟s behaviour.

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

The home is managed by a permanent, experienced and qualified manager. The home is adequately staffed with suitably vetted staff. Staff are qualified or are working towards their NVQ level 3.

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

The manager has a good understanding of young people‟s educational progress. One young person had stopped engaging in education when he moved into the home. However, more recently, he has engaged with a home tutor and the plan is to increase this tuition to an eventual return to school. Impact risk assessments are carried out before a young person moves into the home, in order to consider the suitability of the placement alongside the potential effect on other young people.

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

Managers and staff receive supervision and are supported to carry out their roles. Staff have opportunities to take part in online training and face-to-face training. Unfortunately, there is a lack of cohesion in the staff team, but this is noted by the manager and will be addressed in team meetings.

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

The manager is aware of the strengths of the home and also recognises areas for improvement, such as recording and ensuring that staff adhere to plans for young people.

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

The home is providing care for three young people in line with their statement of purpose. The home is warm and comfortable but would benefit from redecoration, and there are some repairs that need to be carried out. This will ensure that the living conditions for the young people are better.

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

The manager has not always notified Ofsted or the local authority about significant events relating to young people. This hinders Ofsted‟s monitoring roles. The manager challenges the local authorities when they have not shared relevant information, or if return to home interview information has not been provided following missing from home incidents.

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

Although young people attend young people‟s meetings and are encouraged to share their views in these meetings, there is limited evidence of direct work being done with young people to help them to understand and change any negative behaviours in areas such as health and well-being. Furthermore, there is limited evidence of how the manager consults with young people to secure their views about their 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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 7 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: SC484357 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aurora Care Young People‟s 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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Inspectors

Jenny Brady, social care inspector Sarah Billett, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC484357 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 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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