Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 1 SC359836 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by Lancashire County Council. It provides care and accommodation for six children and can provide care for children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 28 to 29 November 2018

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

outstanding

The children‟s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children‟s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2017 Full Good 12/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/09/2016 Full Good 02/06/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.3

Requirement Due date

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

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, that risk assessments are updated after incidents. 25/01/2019

p.3

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 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

p.3

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 25/01/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

p.3

Requirement Due date

the name of the child; details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; 25/01/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 4 the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

p.3

Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

p.4

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

p.4

Recommendations

 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‟, pages 16 and 17, paragraph 3.20)

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children‟s progress is outstanding. Children are all currently attending education. When there are difficulties with children and their education, staff at the home respond swiftly to ensure that alternative education plans are in place. Partnership work with education colleagues is excellent.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One young person has recently been helped to have driving lessons and has now passed Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 5 his driving test. With the support and determination of the manager and staff they have been able to provide the young person with his own car. The young person said, „When I first came to [name of children‟s home], I suffered horrendously with anxiety but thanks to staff‟s great understanding and patience they have helped me so much and I have now got over it. I was at a point where I struggled to leave the house and get up in a morning, but I‟m now attending college and looking for employment. I have learned to drive. This is all down to [name of children‟s home] as I would never have got to this point without them.‟

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

This commitment to children has made other children in the home feel that they can have whatever they want. One child told the inspector that the registered manager makes them feel that anything is possible if they work together.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Another key strength of this home is its ability to match children‟s needs and placements and high-quality transition planning. One child said, „I like how when new people are moved in, [manager‟s name] tries to choose the best people to fit in as we are all very settled.‟

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children develop excellent relationships with the staff team, who know children well. Staff understand the impact of early childhood experiences on children‟s ability to develop and to maintain healthy relationships. Children‟s feedback throughout the inspection confirms this. One child said, „I have an amazing key worker who has also helped me with everything.‟

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children develop independence skills that prepare them for adulthood. The staff recognise that preparation for future life means not only developing practical skills but also focusing on ensuring that children understand issues with isolation and loneliness. Staff try to introduce skills and offer children advice about how children can engage with wider support once they have moved on from the home.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children‟s progress is recognised and rewarded with certificates and celebratory events, which gives them a sense of pride. One young person who has recently left the home attended an awards event with staff support. The young person told the inspector, „They have not just abandoned me. [Manager‟s name] messages me, rings me. She is taking me out for tea. She is getting me a Christmas present. Wish I was back here!‟

p.5

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

Children living at this home are becoming increasingly safer. Incidents of restraint and children going missing are reducing. However, when restraint has taken place, staff debriefs have not always taken place to allow staff to reflect on the incident and for managers to learn from what happened and to improve future practice. Where necessary, room searches have been completed as part of a response to risk. Records do not always reflect that the reason for a room search has been discussed with children and records do not reflect any actions taken following the search, such as the removal of dangerous items and that this has been explained to children. Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 6 Managers recognise that evaluation and monitoring systems are an area for development to ensure that there is effective evaluation and monitoring of the service and staff care practice. The current system to monitor incidents prevents managers from

p.5

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

learning from incidents and recognising patterns and trends.

p.6

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

When incidents do take place, staff react quickly to discuss children‟s feelings, to give practical advice and to offer referrals to other services where needed, such as the GP or Adaction. Staff help children to understand risk and how to stay safe. They understand the need for children to become independent and that taking appropriate risks now will help children to manage their behaviours and to regulate their responses in the future.

p.6

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

However, after some incidents, risk assessments have not been updated to ensure that all staff are aware of children‟s risk-taking behaviour and there is no clear guidance for staff about the strategies to follow or actions to be taken when needed. Some of these risks include excessive alcohol misuse that requires hospitalisation and fire setting. This means that staff may not be aware of planned measures to help prevent incidents from escalating. Furthermore, serious incidents have not always been notified to the regulator. This does not allow Ofsted to monitor actions taken by the provider in response to incidents at the home.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This is the manager‟s first inspection following her registration with Ofsted. Since her appointment, she has driven improvements resulting in positive outcomes for children. The manager is supported by two deputy managers, who are qualified social workers, and between them they have extensive experience in working with children in a residential setting.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The ethos of the managers is clear to all staff who work there, and they have the best interests of children at heart. Managers lead a team that has high aspirations for children, a good understanding of their needs and whose members are motivated and passionate in the support that they provide. Relationships between the children and staff are sincere and positive. One young person said, „Staff are 110% honest and trustworthy.‟

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the service and make use of external monitoring. External reports by the independent visitor are rigorous, detailed and provide actions for the manager to prioritise to drive improvements at the home further.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children engage in the daily running of the home, for example children‟s meetings have been used to improve the children‟s guide and to agree house rules. Children have also been supported to develop a system to gather feedback from visitors to the home.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is good. However, not all training has been refreshed regularly to ensure that staff are up to date with the latest developments. Staff attendance at team meetings is good and managers undertake regular supervision. This supports staff practice and Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 7 development and consistency in staff practice.

p.6

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.

p.7

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: SC359836 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: PO Box 78, County Hall, Fishergate, Preston PR1 8XJ

p.8

Inspector

Jessica Forshaw: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC359836 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9