Children's home run by Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 1 SC037670 Registered provider: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

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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 name of the service changed on 8 August 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

It is a local authority children’s home providing short breaks for up to two children and young people at any one time.

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Information about this children’s home

The aims of the service are to support children and young people who may:  be at risk of family breakdown  be at risk of coming into care  require emergency accommodation  require additional support and/or short breaks to assist them to return to live back home with their family  require stability and support to safeguard themselves and live healthy lifestyles  require one-to-one support to achieve personal goals and aspirations  require support to assist their families or carers to manage difficult behaviour.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager who has made an application to be registered.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 16 to 19 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 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: 17 November 2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 2 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

17/11/2017 Full Good 27/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/09/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 3

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Statutory requirement

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 registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care is completed. (Regulation 45 (4)(a)) 30/11/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should develop a systematic approach to consulting children on their views about the home’s care, their experiences and the difference that it is making to their lives, to inform and support continued improvement of the quality of care provided. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that children’s case records show the impact the quality of care is having on the experiences, outcomes and improvements for children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.2) In particular, make sure that summaries written at the end of children’s involvement with the service evaluate the support that children have received and its impact on their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children come to stay in a friendly and supportive place. The staff provide children and their families with the help they need to deal with their problems. In most cases, things improve, and children continue to live with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make positive progress in every aspect of their lives. They are healthier, and have better family relationships and improved emotional well-being. Staff have helped children to re-engage with education and health services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The arrangements for children’s care and support are carefully planned. The manager makes sure that the staff have the expertise to meet the aims of each child’s plan and Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 4 their assessed needs. Staff are involved in the design of children’s plans and make sure that they are carried out. They work effectively within the wider support network to make sure that children and families get the right support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are very skilled at engaging naturally with children and making them feel at ease. Their patience, creativity and warmth help them to build positive relationships with children, including children who find it difficult to trust adults.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that when children come to stay it is a positive experience. There are always plenty of interesting things to do and children have fun. Importantly, the home is also a place that gives children a chance to have a break away from stressful situations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to enjoy and achieve new things, such as horse-riding and going for a bike ride for the first time. Staff also help children and their families find activities that they can enjoy doing at home. For example, preparing, cooking and eating meals together has helped one family to enjoy time with each other and repair their relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities for informal learning. A social worker said, ‘Staff helped [Name of young person] to develop their life skills, including going shopping, planning and cooking meals and managing money. This was the help that she needed.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to children’s wishes, and their feelings about what is happening in their lives, and respond appropriately. For example, staff have listened to a child’s worries about coming to stay because he has not been away from home before. They are giving him plenty of time to get to know them and visit to see the house, so that he can make an informed choice about staying when he is ready.

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

The manager and staff make sure that children come to stay in a safe place. Their professional practice and the safeguarding arrangements protect children from harm and support their emotional well-being.

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

Staff understand the vulnerabilities of each child and any concerns about their safety. Staff have the expertise to recognise any signs that may indicate that a child may be at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or harmful sexualised behaviour. They are vigilant and act whenever they are concerned about a child’s welfare.

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

Staff work effectively with families, social workers, safeguarding services and the police to identify the risks facing children and take appropriate action that protects them. Staff make sure that children’s safety plans are followed consistently and work to keep children safe.

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

Staff actively support children to understand risks and manage their safety. This includes helping children to use technology safely, recognising exploitative and negative Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 5 relationships. Staff help children to make choices that protect them and other children from harm.

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

Staff’s calm, understanding and reliable approach is helping children and families to sort out their difficulties. Staff help children to find ways to manage their anxieties and frustrations and reduce aggressive and violent behaviour. One child found that hand massages and breathing techniques helped her to feel calm.

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

Staff are creative and resourceful in finding what works with individual children and families. They adapt their way of working to meet each child’s needs and circumstances. For example, a member of staff helped a child to use cards to say how she was feeling and an ‘emotional first aid kit’ to manage high levels of anxiety. Staff encourage and challenge children to make positive changes. Sensitively supporting a child to get up and get dressed in the morning and to have a better daily routine helped to improve her emotional well-being and supported her return to education.

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

Staff encourage and support parents to feel more confident and manage their children’s behaviour at home. They have helped parents to understand and listen to their children and to find the right strategies to deal with problems. They have helped parents to work together consistently to put in place suitable boundaries that help children understand the expected standards of behaviour.

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

Staff have well-established working relationships with health and intensive family support services. They work together effectively to support children and their families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual took suitable steps to appoint a new manager when the registered manager left. The new manager has been in post since June 2018 and provides clear and effective leadership. He is a competent and experienced manager. He manages this service and another children’s home. He is well organised and has the capacity to be in day-to-day charge of both children’s homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff are ambitious for children to do well. They make sure that children have a safe, friendly, fun and supportive place in which to come to stay when they need a break. The manager makes sure that children and their families receive a high standard of support tailored to their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are knowledgeable, experienced, skilled, well trained and motivated. They are resilient and do not give up trying to make a positive difference in children’s lives. The manager provides staff with excellent support, guidance and encouragement. Staff have regular opportunities through practice-related supervision and team meetings to reflect on children’s progress and their own performance, and to share and develop their skills and knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an accurate understanding of the home’s strengths and the areas that Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 6 need to improve. He recognises the importance of the time staff spend getting to know children and supporting them in the community before they first come to stay. This helps children start to build relationships with staff and feel at ease about spending time away from home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is acting to develop and improve the service. The number of children using the service has reduced recently. In response, the manager has relaunched the service by sharing information about what it does with social workers and other professionals. He is talking to the managers of similar services in other local authorities to find out about their experiences and share good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has involved children in the development of the service. Children chose its new name as part of relaunching the service. They chose the new name because, as one child said, ‘When I’m at home, my stress levels are really high, and when I come to stay, it all goes, and everyone cares for me and spends time with me.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, the manager needs to develop an in-depth understanding of the quality of care provided and how it is making a difference to children’s lives. The children’s case records do not adequately include the information needed to measure children’s progress and the effectiveness of the service. Summaries of children’s involvement with the service do not evaluate the impact of staff’s practice on children’s experiences and outcomes critically. The summaries do not show children’s views about their experiences of being supported by the service. This is a missed opportunity to understand the things that work and the obstacles to progress, and to share good practice and continuously make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The local authority has not provided Ofsted with the review of the home’s quality of care report at least every six months.

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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: SC037670 7 Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Knowsley MBC, Children’s Services, Huyton Municipal Buildings, 6th Floor, Huyton, Knowsley, Merseyside L36 9YU

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Post vacant Martyn Swindell (application received)

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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