Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children‟s home: 1244287 1 Registered provider: Roc Northwest Ltd

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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 home is one of many operated by a private provider. The home can provide care and accommodation for young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. There are currently five young people living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 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: 11 January 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

11/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1244287 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 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 that staff—

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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 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments identify clear risks to children and strategies for staff to manage and reduce the risk of harm. 18/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Recommendations

 Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 63, paragraph 14.10)  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 Inspection report children‟s home: 1244287 3 opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of 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

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Recommendations

9.30)  A child‟s bedroom should not generally be entered without their permission, though it may be necessary to establish routines to allow for rooms to be cleaned regularly. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child‟s or another person‟s safety or well-being. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 16, paragraph 3.20)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home that is safe, homely and provides them with the space they need. The home has previously been damaged by young people during times of crisis. Incidents of damage have decreased, and the current manager has ensured that the home is redecorated and maintained to a high standard. Any damage is repaired immediately. There is a plan for further refurbishment; a new kitchen has been ordered and children have been able to give their views on what they would like.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into the home are well planned. Impact risk assessments ensure that the individual needs of each child are carefully considered and that there are strategies in place to manage and respond to any areas of concern. One child who has previously experienced several placement moves has settled in this home. Staff have provided support to the child and his family and this has improved their relationship. Consequently, contact has significantly improved and is now increased to include overnight visits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of this home is the relationships between staff and children. Staff spoke positively of their team members and the children. Developing trusting and positive relationships is a key priority for the staff and managers. The managers and staff demonstrate a very good understanding of children‟s likes and dislikes and as a result they are able to be sensitive to their needs and ensure that together they design routines and activities that will encourage children to engage.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Direct work undertaken with children is of a high standard. The work is planned to ensure that children develop an understanding of risks and how to keep themselves safe, as well as understand issues that are important to them, such as developing healthy relationships, bullying and online safety. The work completed is creative and helps develop and improve the skills and knowledge of children. Furthermore, when children need specialist support, the staff work with other agencies to ensure that they get the support they need. Inspection report children‟s home: 1244287 4 Children attend school or education placements regularly. When necessary, the managers in the home are proactive in challenging decisions made by others that may not be in the best interest of children. They seek to work with different agencies to resolve any difficulties and suggest different ways to resolve issues. Staff also demonstrate that they act as advocates for the children. This means that children

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

continue to progress with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in community activities and have recently undertaken a project to provide „Christmas boxes‟ for a national charity. As a result of the enthusiasm and encouragement provided by staff, children have managed to exceed their original target.

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

Incidents in the home are decreasing and children are becoming increasingly safe. Individual behaviour management plans give a good understanding of what motivates children, what they like to do for fun and what interests them, and as a result staff can identify triggers early and intervene to prevent incidents escalating. Actions and strategies to manage challenging behaviour are clear and ensure that children are supported not only to manage their behaviour but to repair relationships after events.

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

Risk assessments are unnecessarily lengthy and do not clearly indicate the risk of harm to children. Strategies do not always indicate the desired staff practice to manage and reduce risk. The home has a robust system of evaluating, reviewing and monitoring incidents of restrictive physical intervention. This enables the managers to identify any patterns and trends and learn from incidents.

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

Due to the risks posed by some children, it has been necessary to undertake room searches in order to keep children safe. Where these have taken place, the reasons for the search have not always been explained to children and where possible their permission sought. Furthermore, not all searches have been subject to managers‟ monitoring and oversight. A recommendation is made to address this shortfall.

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

During the inspection, some incidents reviewed by the inspector were deemed to be serious. In discussion, the current manager agreed that a notification should have been made. The manager made the necessary notification before the end of inspection and made plans to ensure that all staff are aware of her threshold of seriousness, to ensure that consistency is achieved in ensuring that the regulator is informed of serious events.

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

Incidents of children going missing from home are reducing. If this does happen, staff are proactive in their responses. They follow each child‟s missing-from-home protocol and report to all relevant agencies in a timely manner.

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

One social worker told the inspector that following a recent crisis for a child, she would have expected his missing behaviour to escalate, as this has happened in his previous placements. However, on this occasion, this has not happened, and he has accepted the support of staff in the home. Inspection report children‟s home: 1244287 5 The staff and manager seek independent return interviews from local authorities. However, when they take place, the staff are not seeking feedback on what children said and using the information to try and reduce any further incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management of this home was an area of concern at the previous inspection. As a result, the provider has taken steps to strengthen the leadership and management of the home and there have been changes to the management team. The provider has ensured that a senior manager has provided hands-on support to the children and staff. They have maintained visibility in the home to ensure that a consistent approach is used while a new manager was appointed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider conducted its own internal review of the home and identified areas for improvement in decor, management and systems. As a result of this review, the home has been able to focus and prioritise areas for improvement. The managers of the home demonstrate a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home further benefits from good internal and external monitoring and review. The quality of care report by the current manager included a self-assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the service and included plans to further improve it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager is an experienced residential manager with a strong focus on child- centred practice and has a good understanding of attachment issues for children and how this can impact on their behaviour and development. However, there has been a delay in the manager applying for registration with the regulator. This has meant that the home has been without a registered manager for a number of months. The application was received before the inspection and the relevant checks are under way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager leads a team of staff who have high aspirations for children and a good understanding of their needs. Staff are motivated and passionate in the support they provide. Relationships between the children and staff are positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children‟s meetings are held on a regular basis. Participation and engagement from children are good. Children are encouraged to plan activities and meals and discuss what they would like to see happening in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is good, and staff are given a range of training to enable them to have the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of children. However, a high proportion of the staff team do not have the relevant qualification required for their role. While staff are working towards this qualification, some staff have significant residential experience in other homes within the organisation and have yet to complete their qualification. Inspection report children‟s home: 1244287 6

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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: 1244287 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Caretech Community Service Ltd, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Jessica Forshaw, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1244287 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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