Children's Home run by Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited in Manchester

Inspection report children’s home: SC381339 1 SC381339 Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) 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 local authority children’s home is run by a private organisation. The home offers care and accommodation for up to four young people who may experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager who is qualified at NVQ level 5.

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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: 7 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC381339 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/12/2017 Full Good 14/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 08/11/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC381339 3

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Recommendations

 The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history according to their age and understanding. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) With specific regard to reviewing young people’s progress through more detailed link-work sessions.  Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and add further information to them. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6)  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) This specifically relates to the metal front

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Recommendations

door of the home.  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Specifically, ensure that strategies to address episodes of challenging behaviour are known and implemented by staff.  The registered person must ensure that the procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying include the record of how incidents are managed and monitored. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people understand the aim of their placement and are making positive progress towards their individual goals and targets. Care planning is good. A young person said, ‘Staff are great. They help me with everything. I like it here.’ However, records of work undertaken with young people, such as link-work sessions, do not contain sufficient detail to reflect on the progress being made. Furthermore, records such as risk assessments, healthcare plans and link-work sessions are not consistently reviewed or commented on by young people. Consequently, opportunities to work in partnership with young people and provide opportunities for them to review and develop their plans are missed. Recommendations are made to address these matters. Education attendance and attainment are areas of significant development. Since living at this home, all young people attend suitable educational placements. Attendance and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC381339 4 attainment are good compared to young people’s individual starting points. A social worker said, ‘The staff liaise with the school all the time. This means that my young person gets the support he needs. His attendance has increased to 93%. They are really committed to helping him achieve his best.’ Healthcare planning is good. Young people are registered with local practitioners and receive good support from external agencies such as the looked-after children’s nurse, drug and alcohol services and the child and adolescent mental health services. Good relationships between young people and staff are evident. Young people say that they can approach staff to talk about any difficulties they may have, and that staff are receptive and help them to resolve any problems. Observation of the interactions between young people and staff clearly highlighted a genuine mutual trust and respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Building trusting working relationships with families is a strength of this home. Consequently, relationships are improved. This means, where appropriate, that young people have regular contact with important family members. Contact plans are regularly revised and updated to ensure that young people receive the most appropriate support to aid successful and positive contact with relatives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planned and unplanned activities take place on a regular basis. Young people enjoy both group and individual activities, such as attending football matches, theme parks, cycling, cinema and spending time with friends in the community. Young people also have access to a variety of in-house activities, including video gaming, arts and crafts, and board games. Staff promote regular exercise and social interaction. Consequently, young people have improved health and fitness and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are consulted regularly about the running of the home. They have regular ‘teen meetings’, one-to-one link-work meetings and provide written summaries in the in- house care surveys. Records demonstrate the action taken to address young people’s suggestions. This validates that their views and opinions are encouraged and respected in the home.

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

Young people’s safety is prioritised. Improved impact assessments now ensure that all young people placed at the home are assessed against the needs, interests and aspirations of those already resident.

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

Since the last full inspection on 7 December 2017, two young people have been discharged from the home. This has resulted in a steady decrease in the use of physical intervention. All staff receive annual training on the use of physical intervention, including de-escalation and redirection techniques. A staff member said, ‘We only ever use physical intervention as a last resort. We have great relationships with the young people and usually we can de-escalate situations without the need to physically intervene.’

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

Behaviour management plans reflect the individual personalities of young people. This means that overall, staff understand the triggers for negative behaviour and the most Inspection report children’s home: SC381339 5 effective methods of managing challenging behaviours. However, one behaviour management risk assessment did not include the agreed strategies for managing and/or reducing risk of challenging behaviours. The failure to include this strategy results in an inconsistent approach by staff when addressing this type of behaviour. A recommendation is made to address this matter.

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

Sanctions are restorative and meaningful. Therefore, through reflection, regular key- work sessions and young people’s meetings, young people learn about the impact of their behaviours in order to make effective change.

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

Since the last full inspection, two young people have been discharged from the home. This has resulted in a notable decrease in the number of incidents of going missing. Missing from home risk assessments are further developed, and this ensures that staff have a clear individual protocol for managing concerns on the infrequent occasions when a young person is absent.

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

Staff are vigilant in monitoring young people and take appropriate steps to intervene should there be an incident of bullying. Records detail the incident and the action taken by staff to address this. However, although incidents are rare, records do not include an updated strategy, or the follow-up work undertaken with young people when an incident has occurred. This work is essential in order that young people begin to understand the impact of their behaviour. A recommendation is made to address this matter.

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

Young people know how to complain and receive valuable information from the home and their placing authority to guide them in this area. Since the last inspection, there have been no complaints made at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since April 2018. He is qualified at NVQ level 5 and has extensive experience in working with children and young people in a residential setting. The registered manager is supported by an experienced and committed staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good internal monitoring systems provide the home with a clear approach to the overall monitoring of care. Records highlight areas for development and reflect some of the matters identified during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home employs a committed and enthusiastic staff team. Staff receive consistent and relevant training in the home. A staff member said, ‘Training is good. We have face-to- face and online training, and this is always relevant to the work we do. If we want more specific training, we just ask, and it is always put on for us.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good support from the registered manager. A staff member said, ‘The manager is great. He has made lots of positive changes. I love coming to work here. It has a great atmosphere, and everyone is happy.’ Supervision takes place regularly and includes a review of care practice in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC381339 6 The manager and staff demonstrate their commitment to developing and improving practice. The effectiveness of this approach is measurable in the progress young people make from their initial starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the procedure for notifying Ofsted of incidents under Regulation 40 and submits notifications accordingly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children’s home is a purpose-built building owned by the local authority and run by this private organisation. The home is situated within a private estate close to local amenities. However, the entrance to the home fails to present as a warm, welcoming homely environment. This is because the front entrance consists of large metal front doors which are locked with a slide bolt. The doors are not in keeping with neighbouring homes and this makes the home stand out. It is important that the children’s home fits into the local community and provides a welcoming environment for all young people accommodated there. A recommendation is made to address this matter.

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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: SC381339 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Social Care Services Group, 31 Shaw Road, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Inspector

Maria McGranaghan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC381339 8 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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Inspector

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