Children's Home run by Good Foundations Limited in Wirral

Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 1 SC486165 Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides care and accommodation for four children or young people with social and emotional difficulties and who may have special educational needs. The registered manager has been registered since June 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/10/2017 Full Good 21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/08/2016 Full Good 11/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; and

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)) 31/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables and leads a culture in 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 31/01/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 4 meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that the practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(c)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person making sure that: staff have training to develop their understanding, knowledge and skills in supporting children who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect and attachment difficulties and who experience emotional and mental health difficulties; supervision and team meetings provide staff with sufficient time to take into account research and reflect critically on their practice, learning and the needs of the children; and the review of the quality of care report includes an action plan to show how any weaknesses will be addressed.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(a)) 31/12/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a friendly and supportive home. They receive a high quality of individualised care that is making an important difference in their lives. A young person said, ‘When I came here I wanted to stay out of trouble and have a fresh start. The staff have helped me to do this.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have stable and secure relationships with staff. They feel at home because they are treated with warmth and respect. Staff engage naturally with young people and help them to feel at ease. They listen to young people and respond appropriately to their wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to make sure that young people get the support and guidance that they need to meet their personal needs. For example, they are making sure that a young person with gender dysphoria is getting the right help and advice from health and counselling services. Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 5 The staff help young people to have positive experiences and improved outcomes. Young people are enjoying healthier diets and better dental and personal care. Young people see the important people in their lives and are building safe and positive relationships with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are helping two young people to do well in college and to make the most of their education and training opportunities. Both young people are studying subjects that they enjoy and want to pursue as careers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that young people have the skills, opportunities and help that they need to become confident and independent adults. This includes staff encouraging and supporting young people to cook, shop, manage money, make appointments and to use public transport independently and safely. A young person said, ‘Staff have pushed me to be more independent and to get ready to move on into my own place. This was the right thing because I needed it.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people also learn about where they can receive support from in the future and to understand their rights and entitlements as care leavers. For example, staff helped a young person to sort things out constructively when his bursary was not paid on time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are struggling to help one young person to engage in education. The young person’s educational needs and the barriers to learning are not fully understood. The staff are working with his social worker and the virtual school to complete assessments of his needs and to identify a suitable school for him. However, in the meantime, he does not have a suitable daily routine to encourage him to take part in positive activities, which will help him to enjoy learning. The manager and staff have not made sure that he has access to the recommended online education programme.

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

Young people feel safe and live in a calm home. They know that staff listen to their worries and that staff do everything that they can to help them. Staff’s professional practice and the safeguarding arrangements protect young people from harm.

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

Staff help young people to be aware of risks and to manage their safety. They help young people to understand what a healthy friendship is and to recognise when friends are a negative influence. This is helping young people to make good choices about their safety and lifestyle, including no longer using cannabis.

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

Staff have a good understanding of each young person’s vulnerabilities and any concerns about their safety. Staff are vigilant and recognise signs that indicate that a young person may be at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation. Staff continually assess the risks for each young person and take every necessary step to make sure that young people are protected.

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

The manager and staff take decisive action when they have concerns about a young person’s welfare, such as going missing from home or worries about their safety in the Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 6 community. They work effectively with local authorities and the police to follow safety plans that manage and reduce risks to young people.

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

Staff make sure that young people have clear and appropriate boundaries and expectations of the standard of behaviour. Staff deal with negative behaviour constructively and reinforce children’s positive behaviour through praise and rewards. Staff find the least intrusive way possible to help young people to manage their feelings and to control their behaviour. They help young people to understand the impact of their actions on other people and to find positive ways to sort out problems.

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

A young person’s independent reviewing officer reported that, ‘The young person has matured a lot since he moved in and gained insight and skill in how to manage situations as they arise more positively.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and continues to complete the required management qualification to enhance his knowledge and skills. He also manages 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 registered manager provides clear and effective leadership. He is ambitious for young people to live in a safe and supportive home where they can achieve better outcomes and lead happy and fulfilling lives. The staff share these high expectations and work hard to provide young people with the support and guidance that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager have helped staff to develop a consistent and systematic way of working, which is having a positive impact on young people’s lives. For example, staff are now using a clear and structured approach to preparing young people for adult life. Consequently, young people are becoming more confident in their skills and are able to take appropriate responsibilities for themselves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager provide each member of staff with good support, guidance and encouragement. The staffing arrangements make sure that young people receive continuity of care and build safe and stable relationships with the staff looking after them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, staff do not spend enough time in supervision or team meetings reflecting critically on their work with young people. They do not talk about the training that they have completed, what they have learned, how they are using it and the impact that this is having on young people. Staff do not discuss how they can use research to inform their work and understanding of young people’s lives. These are missed opportunities for managers and staff to share and improve professional practice, to develop an in-depth understanding of young person’s needs and circumstances and to think about how best to engage with young people to improve their experiences and outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In addition, staff have not had training opportunities to develop their knowledge and Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 7 understanding of helping young people to recover from attachment difficulties, trauma, abuse and neglect and the best ways to build young people’s emotional well-being and resilience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager reviews the quality of care. However, he has not devised action plans to show how any weaknesses that he has found will be dealt with. This would help him to monitor the quality of care thoroughly, to measure progress and to show the improvements being made. Monitoring reports completed by an independent visitor are not routinely sent to Ofsted. These reports are important because they show how effectively the registered manager is working to improve the quality of care provided.

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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: SC486165 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspector

Nick Veysey: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC486165 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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