Children's Home run by CareTech Community Services Limited in Dudley

Inspection report children’s home: SC483662 1 SC483662 Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This short-break service provides care and accommodation for up to six young people who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. The service is privately owned and forms part of a large social care organisation. The registered manager was registered with Ofsted in July 2017 and is appropriately qualified and experienced for the role.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 December 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 requires improvement to be 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: 16 January 2018

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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: SC483662 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2018 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Good 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC483662 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 15/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 15/02/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC483662 4 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 15/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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’)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 15/02/2019

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Recommendations

 When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) Inspection report children’s home: SC483662 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Patient, nurturing and compassionate staff form positive relationships with all young people. Young people look forward to and enjoy staying at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff match young people well and ensure that the young people who visit the home for short breaks are compatible with each other. As a result, young people are in groups that help them to settle and thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have fun and enjoy doing the things they love the most. They participate in varied activities within the home and in the community, such as playing in the well- equipped sensory garden; using the sensory room; visiting local parks; cooking and baking; going to the cinema and going out for meals. As a result of their positive experiences, young people develop social skills, friendship groups, confidence and independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people work towards and achieve individualised targets. Staff support children well and help them to develop independence skills in line with their age and abilities. Young people are well prepared for their transition to adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite young people having complex needs, staff ensure that young people have a voice and have input into their day-to-day care. Young people engage in regular key- worker sessions and young people’s meetings. Staff use different methods to communicate with young people, such as using words and pictures. This gives young people opportunities to express their wishes and feelings, and to choose activities and plan the menu.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

New young people are given a warm welcome by staff and their peers. Young people visit for tea and this helps young people to get to know the staff and other young people, and to get used to the home environment. The tea visits gradually increase to overnight stays and are done with consideration of each young person’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home offers a warm and welcoming living environment for young people. Young people can bring their personal belongings to display in their chosen bedroom. This helps young people to settle and feel at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The short-break service helps young people and their families. Parents appreciate the good care that children receive. One parent told the inspector, ‘The staff are like my family and when my child is unwell l have the confidence that they know how to meet her complex health needs.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC483662 6

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

Staff know young people’s strengths and vulnerabilities well. They have clear safeguarding policies and procedures that enable them to safely care for young people. Risks identified in young people’s healthcare plans are cross-referenced to individual risk assessments. Staff manage these risks and vulnerabilities appropriately. This promotes young people’s welfare.

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

Staff provide young people with consistent routines and boundaries, which help young people to feel safe and secure. Clear behaviour management plans provide staff with guidance on how to manage young people’s behaviour effectively. Staff understand the triggers for behaviour and know how best to support young people. They do this well.

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

Staff recognise young people’s progress from their starting points and celebrate this with them. Praise and positive reinforcement help young people to understand what acceptable behaviour is. Furthermore, this approach boosts young people’s self-esteem and helps them to feel valued.

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

Records show that staff use lawful and proportionate restraint only as a last resort, to keep young people and others safe. However, aspects of the recording of restraint incidents require improvement. For example, some records do not contain information such as dates of debriefings to staff and young people, the location of the incident and they do not fully cross-reference information about any injuries sustained. Records also lack management oversight. A requirement is raised to improve this recording shortfall.

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

There have not been any complaints or missing-from-care episodes since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers do not use monitoring systems consistently well, and this compromises the effectiveness of management oversight. Six-monthly reviews for young people are not held with the placing authority within timescale. This means that some young people’s plans are not up to date. Although the manager and senior managers take some action to raise this issue with placing authorities, they do not do this promptly or sufficiently to be effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers and staff communicate regularly with parents and review young people’s care arrangements with them. This mitigates some of the risks associated with not having a formal review. However, a lack of a comprehensive review, which includes all relevant parties, has the potential to compromise young people’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Most aspects of recruitment practice are good. However, there is a lack of clear recording about enquiries into one member of staff’s employment history.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has not completed the annual update of the home’s location risk assessment. As a result, she does not review any potential risks within the local area and Inspection report children’s home: SC483662 7 use this information to inform staff and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager works well with partner agencies overall and this supports young people’s progress in education and health. The manager is particularly supportive of parents. For example, she supported a parent to attend a health appointment with their child. In addition, the manager will do her best to accommodate young people at the home when parents are in crisis. This eases pressure on families and helps them stay together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff speak highly of the manager. They feel supported by her and receive good-quality supervisions and appraisals. Staff say that they are listened to and have access to good- quality training, which enables them to carry out their roles and responsibilities well. This subsequently improves the quality of care they give to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Although staff receive an annual appraisal, the manager does not. The new senior manager in post is aware of the concern and is in the process of addressing the 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: SC483662 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC483662 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 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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