Children's Home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: 1249123 1 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group 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 and young people, irrespective of gender. It provides short-term placements, with a therapeutic outdoor activity-based response, to children and young people in crisis.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 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: 21 September 2017

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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

21/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1249123 2

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to ensuring that staff training on suicide and self-harm takes into account the use of ligatures and how the staff should deal with such risks. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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

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Requirement Due date

children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to pre-admission risk assessments taking into account the experience and skill of the staff team. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and 31/12/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1249123 3 disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them. (Regulation 23 (1)(2)(a)) The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to managers engaging with the local community to deal with some recent negativity about the home, including threats made to staff by a few local residents. 31/12/2018

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of the information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Those young people who engage with the outdoor activity programme the home offers make good progress. Young people not only learn new skills but enjoy adventurous activities that are new to them, such as canoeing, caving and mountain biking. These experiences help young people to develop confidence in their ability and raise their self- esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placements at this home are made usually at a crisis point in young people’s lives, where concerns for their safety and well-being are the most immediate concern and other care arrangements have been tried and exhausted. Although most young people do not participate in formal classroom education, young people are successful in completing accredited vocational awards. These are usually associated with the activities they are involved in. Inspection report children’s home: 1249123 4 Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff and often identify those relationships as being the most important part of the short-term placements they enjoy at this home. One young person commented, ‘I can’t think of anything that you could change to make it any better. It’s been sound.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement planning is highly individualised and bespoke to the young person’s interests and preferences. Young people are fully involved in designing their activity programme and encouraged to identify what they would like to achieve during their time at the home. This approach helps most young people to engage and invest positively in the time that they have at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote healthy lifestyles, ensuring that young people enjoy a well-balanced diet and regular exercise. Most young people enjoy that staff involve them in meal planning and preparation. This successfully contributes to the development of their independence skills. Young people have good access to routine and specialist healthcare professionals, ensuring that their health needs are fully met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people leave this home with many good memories of the time they have spent at the home. They are proud of their achievements and have many photographs and DVDs illustrating the good times that they have shared with staff doing a variety of adventurous activities.

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

Young people said they feel safe and well supported by staff. Young people know that the rules and boundaries that exist are intended to keep them safe from harm and, overall, they feel these to be fair.

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

Staff have a sound knowledge of young people’s previous risk-taking behaviours and early experiences. They are guided by comprehensive risk assessment and behaviour management planning. These plans help staff to understand young people’s individual personalities and vulnerabilities. This allows staff to safely plan their day-to-day care arrangements and safely plan for the adventurous activities they are prepared to take part in.

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

Young people’s safety is further supported by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA). This part of the health and safety executive regulates and inspects to ensure that equipment used in activities is fit for purpose and that staff are suitably trained and experienced in following good safety management practices in outdoor activities.

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

Most young people’s histories include frequent episodes when they have been missing or absent from their former homes. Staff manage missing episodes well when they occur and are successful in reducing the occasions when young people go missing. They are always proactive in searching for young people and work with the police to find them and return them to the safety of the home. However, during this inspection it was Inspection report children’s home: 1249123 5 identified that on some occasions young people have not had an independent person speak to them following their return. On other occasions when the interview has happened, it has been long after the event. This fails to meet the expectations of good practice following a young person being missing from the home.

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

Placing authorities express confidence in the home, identifying the quality of staff and outdoor experiences as being particularly beneficial to young people in helping them refocus on some of the positive things in life. One social worker commented, ‘He had very difficult and challenging behaviours, which have reduced. Staff have done a good job. They have engaged him in positive activities’.

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

The home’s general health and safety arrangements are effective and kept under regular review. Fire and electrical equipment is regularly checked and maintained to preserve safety within the home. However, a shortfall with one young person’s medication was noted during a recent visit made to the home by the home’s independent person. Staff were unable to account for the shortfall at the time of the visit. A formal review of this matter has not yet taken place. Although the young person did not suffer because of this error, a review would restore confidence that arrangements promote good practice and that all staff are familiar with safe practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection there has been a change in the home’s conditions, to include an outreach activity-based service already operated by the company. The home’s registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced, possessing level 4 qualifications: one in health and social care and another in residential care management. He also has considerable outdoor activity-based experience of working with children and young people. In addition, he has two deputy manager positions to support his role and provide good oversight of those young people residing in the home and those in local outreach placements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s pre-placement risk assessment captures considerable detail about the young person. This provides valuable information and gives staff a good understanding of the young person’s risks and vulnerabilities. However, it does not prompt consideration of staff skill and experience when considering a match. This has already proved to be an important omission on one occasion when a less experienced staff team struggled with one young person’s particularly challenging behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s location risk assessment has been recently reviewed. However, it does not deal with some recent hostility staff have experienced from a few members of the local community, concerning one young person’s placement. Some work still needs to be carried out to rectify and improve local relationships. Consequently, the local community’s views about the home have not been fully evaluated to consider whether this will have a negative influence on future placements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal and external monitoring arrangements are well established and work together to ensure a good level of scrutiny of the service and practice within the home. The home Inspection report children’s home: 1249123 6 works in partnership and maintains good communication with placing authorities, Ofsted and other relevant professionals. This provides good transparency in its practice and operation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a sufficient staff team that allows staff to work in pairs or individually with the young person placed. Continuity of care is promoted, as the staff shift pattern allows staff to work for several days at a time before a shift change. Young people and staff spoken with enjoy this, as it allows them to enjoy camping trips, expeditions and focused time with each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in their role. Team meetings and shift handover times were identified as good opportunities to reflect on young people’s progress and support. Staff receive regular supervision, an annual appraisal and many and varied opportunities for training. However, inspectors identified that not all staff have covered the use of ligatures in either first aid or suicide and self-harm training. This was considered pertinent in relation to at least one young person’s placement at the home. This training would provide staff with confidence in their response, should this be a relevant issue for any other young people placed.

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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: 1249123 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspectors

Gillian Walters, social care inspector Charlie Bamber, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1249123 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 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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