Children's home run by Time-Out Children’s Homes Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC356864 1 SC356864 Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes 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 is one of several children’s homes operated by a private company. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. If required, children can access the organisation’s school and therapy department. The manager has been in post since October 2017 and was registered with Ofsted in January 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: SC356864 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2017 Full Good 18/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/05/2016 Full Good 10/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC356864 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 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)) 13/02/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) Specifically, provide additional support to those children who find it difficult to maintain good standards of tidiness.  In accordance with managing medicines in care homes (March 2014), care home providers offering non-prescription medicines or other over-the-counter-products (homely remedies) for treating minor ailments should consider having a homely remedies process, which includes the following: what it is for. (‘Managing medicines in care homes’, paragraph 1.161) (‘Guide to the children’s home

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.17) Specifically, ensure that the reason for non-prescribed medication being given to a child is included in the home’s medication records.  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Specifically, review each child’s risk assessment to ensure that the risk management strategies relating to free time are proportionate to the child’s age and level of risk.  The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are refreshed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page Inspection report children’s home: SC356864 4 43, paragraph 9.12) Specifically, ensure that staff know what action they should take when dealing with an allegation or safeguarding concern.

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Specifically, improve the quality of key-work records by ensuring that they include achievable and measurable targets, how these targets have been reviewed and what further work is required to support the child’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both young people have lived at this home for two years or more. They enjoy good relationships with staff who work hard to address their diverse and complex needs. The young people are settled, talk positively about their care experiences and are making good progress in some areas of their lives. Historically, these young people have not attended school. The team has worked hard to overcome the barriers to participation. A range of education agencies and professionals have been involved and several different approaches and curriculums have been tried. The effectiveness of this work has been variable, with one young person making good progress, relative to their starting point, while the other continues to mostly refuse to attend school. Young people’s physical and emotional health needs are supported well. They are registered with local practitioners and are encouraged and supported to attend routine

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

appointments. Staff work closely with the organisation’s therapy team, which is available to support the young people as well as provide advice, support and guidance for staff. The procedures for managing and administrating medication are generally good. However, records pertaining to non-prescribed medication do not include consistently the reasons why the medication is being given to the young person. This could make it difficult to identify patterns that may indicate underlying and more serious causes that require a visit to the doctors. Young people have lots of opportunities to express their views and opinions. Staff are interested in what young people have to say and take every opportunity to engage them in meaningful conversations, which are recorded as key conversations. Key-work sessions are held each month where staff set targets in relation to the young person’s individual needs. However, although relevant, the recorded targets are often not specific

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

enough to measure and there is little evidence that staff are reviewing these and identifying future work. This non-focused approach creates the potential for identified work not to be followed up and completed. Young people are supported well to maintain and improve relationships with the important people in their lives. Where appropriate, staff ensure that young people’s parents are kept informed about their child’s progress and involved in planning their Inspection report children’s home: SC356864 5 child’s care. This is a key principle for one young person who is planning to return home in the forthcoming months. Several improvements have been made to the house since the last inspection. Young people are encouraged to regard this as their home and both appeared relaxed and at ease during the inspection. Staff encourage and try to support young people to contribute to keeping the home clean and tidy. This has proven a challenge in relation to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

one young person, whose bedroom on the day of the inspection was extremely messy. Staff recognise the need to be persistent in their efforts to ensure that a decent standard of tidiness is maintained.

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

Young people are suitably protected from harm. They say that they feel safe and that they can confidently raise concerns, which are always taken seriously. Staff act as responsible adults and always convey to young people the importance of making the right choices to keep themselves safe. Young people have taken this on board and incidents of risk-taking behaviour are extremely rare. Strategies for managing potential risks and vulnerabilities are recorded in each young person’s risk assessment. These documents are reviewed regularly and mostly support the fact that these two young people know how to keep themselves safe. However, the limitations placed on free time are disproportionate to the assessed level of risk. Also, there is a potential to inhibit the opportunities young people have to develop socially and to take age-appropriate risks. Staff practice is underpinned by a range of safeguarding procedures and risk

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

assessments. Links with external safeguarding professionals and agencies are in place. When necessary, the manager has used these links effectively, for example in the management of the three allegations made against staff. Staff are trained in safeguarding, which is refreshed annually. However, during a discussion with the inspector one member of staff did not demonstrate a sufficient understanding of how to gather information during the initial stages of a young person making an allegation. Staff take a positive approach to behaviour management and incidents of seriously challenging behaviour are extremely rare. Physical restraint, in which staff are trained, is used as a last resort and has only been necessary on two occasions since the last inspection. The use of sanctions is also rare, with staff opting for a restorative approach that enables young people to reflect, learn and rebuild relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since October 2017 and was registered with Ofsted in January 2018. He is suitably experienced and is well on the way to completing the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. The manager is registered for a second home run by the organisation and splits his time effectively between the two. He is fully involved in ensuring that good standards of care Inspection report children’s home: SC356864 6 are maintained in each of the homes. He is supported well by a staff team that is as equally committed to helping young people to progress and achieve their individual potential. Staff confirm that they feel supported in their work. They receive regular supervision, which they say is purposeful and supportive of their professional development. Performance reviews are completed every four months to ensure that staff are on track to achieve the targets set at their annual review. This competency-based approach,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

combined with good training opportunities, is reflective of the organisation’s commitment to developing a competent and effective workforce. The manager maintains good oversight through the effective use of a range of quality assurance processes. Monthly scrutiny by the independent person further strengthens this monitoring activity and ensures that shortfalls are identified and addressed. The manager and staff promote an inclusive approach to care planning. Young people’s needs are communicated well and this ensures that everybody understands their roles and responsibilities in relation to care planning. Underperformance is challenged by the manager. However, on two occasions he has not been sufficiently proactive in escalating this challenge. This means that statutory records are not always received in a reasonable timescale following children looked after reviews and, more pertinently, has contributed

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

to a delay in producing one young person’s education, health and care plan.

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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: SC356864 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Mill Fold, Ripponden, Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire HX6 4DH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Dominic Macauley

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Inspector

Paul Scott, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC356864 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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