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

Inspection report children’s home: 1280370 1 Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

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 and young people can access the organisation’s school and therapy department.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: This is the first inspection.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

First inspection Inspection report children’s home: 1280370 2

p.1

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.2

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 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. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) Specifically, ensure that known health issues are considered in relation to the use of physical restraint, and that any restrictions on practice brought about by these conditions are recorded in the child’s clinical hold plan. 12/03/2019

p.2

Recommendations

 Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15) Specifically, ensure that a receipt is obtained from the pharmacist when disposing of any prescribed medication.  The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are refreshed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) Specifically, ensure that staff know what action they should take when dealing with an allegation or safeguarding concern.  All staff in a care role must have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12) Specifically, ensure that staff’s failure to acquire a relevant qualification within the

p.2

Recommendations

timescales stipulated in regulation 32(5) are taken into consideration when recruiting staff who have prior residential childcare experience. Inspection report children’s home: 1280370 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection of this home since being registered with Ofsted in July 2018. Three children have been accommodated in this time, two of whom have left. Every effort has been made to meet the needs of these children, taking into consideration the experience and skills of this newly formed and evolving staff team. One child is living at the home currently and is making good progress relative to his starting point. Careful consideration is being given to matching a second child who visited the home during the inspection. This visit was sensitively managed and was pitched at an age-appropriate level that made this a positive and fun experience for both children. The visiting foster carer said, ‘I feel much more at ease knowing [name] is coming here. It feels like a home and the staff seem great. He really gets on well with [name] and it is great that [name] will have someone his own age to live with.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education placements are sourced quickly, and good attendance is promoted and supported. Staff maintain close contact with school and are available to offer direct support if required, for example for behaviour management. This arrangement has been effective in ensuring that the child’s complex needs and behaviour can be fully supported in a mainstream primary school setting. Staff work hard to provide children with a much-needed sense of belonging. They recognise the importance of strong parent-like attachments and make every effort to be reliable and positive adult role models. Although still developing, relationships are affectionate and warm and have certainly contributed to children feeling safe, secure and well cared for. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of each child’s needs. These are captured in records that are comprehensively detailed and provide a good insight into individual needs, risks and behaviours. Key working is pitched at an age-appropriate level. Targets

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

are broken down into small, manageable chunks. Staff make good use of pictures and charts to promote participation and reinforce progress in a way that is appropriate to the understanding of the six-year-old child who lives at the home currently. Staff plan meticulously to promote a good routine that ensures that children are kept busy and focused. The child currently living at the home demands a great deal of attention from staff who are responsive to this need. The child enjoys spending time with staff, who have supported him to develop a busy, fun and exciting activity programme that is based on his individual needs and interests. For example, the child has joined a football club and is learning to swim. In the home, the child is surrounded by his toys and games, which staff use to keep him occupied and on task. A great deal of emphasis is placed on keeping the child calm, and routines such as bath time and

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

bedtime are used effectively in this respect. Children’s health needs are met well. Children are supported to attend appointments, which ensures that routine checks, such as the dentist and the opticians, are up to date. Staff maintain good links with the in-house therapy team, which offers one-to-one Inspection report children’s home: 1280370 4 sessions to children as well as advice, support and guidance for staff. One aspect of medication management requires improvement. Staff are not routinely obtaining a receipt from the pharmacist when disposing of prescribed medication.

p.3

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

Keeping children safe is integral to all aspects of care practice. Individual risks and vulnerabilities are captured in detailed risk assessments that are fully understood and implemented by staff. Staff act as any reasonable parent would do in ensuring that young children are given the right supervision and support, relative to their age and understanding. For example, staff will follow children when they leave the home without permission, successfully encouraging them to return without the need for reporting them as missing to the police. The manager has a good knowledge of safeguarding and takes her responsibilities seriously in this respect. She can identify key safeguarding agencies and knows how to access these should their specific support be required. Staff are trained in basic safeguarding, which is refreshed annually. However, during a discussion with the inspector, one member of staff did not demonstrate a sufficient

p.4

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

understanding of how to gather information during the initial stages of a child making an allegation. As staff’s confidence increases, so does their ability to implement consistently a structured environment that is based on clear expectations, boundaries and planned daily routines. These are individually tailored to suit the needs of young children and are sufficiently flexible to promote a measured and proportionate approach to what is often unpredictable, and sometimes volatile, behaviour. Staff make every effort to avoid physical restraint, but when it has been necessary it has been as a last resort and done in a sensitive and caring manner. Individual clinical hold plans require improvement. Information pertaining to specific health conditions, specifically asthma, has not been considered or recorded in relation to physical restraint practice. Although this has not been detrimental to the child, there is

p.4

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

the potential of increased risk through breathing difficulty when physical restraint is being used.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run effectively by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. The manager is also registered for a second home run by the organisation and splits her management time between the two. She prioritises the needs of each child and has been effective in modelling a child-centred approach that is fully embraced by the staff team. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and has a clear vision of the type of service that she wants to develop. She has taken a planned approach to developing a new service and has established a good foundation on which to build through strong leadership and management. The manager is working hard to establish a credible and competent staff team that can Inspection report children’s home: 1280370 5 work across her two homes. Children are benefiting from the care and support from staff, who demonstrate a genuine commitment to supporting the children to make

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

positive changes in their lives. Staff talk with enthusiasm about their work and are highly complimentary about the support that they receive from the registered manager. Staff have been inducted well into the home and receive purposeful supervision that supports professional development. A good range of mandatory and needs-led training is available to the staff team and appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure that unqualified staff can attain a relevant qualification. However, legislative timescales for completing qualifications are not considered when recruiting experienced staff. Consequently, one member of staff is not yet qualified despite working in a care role in a home for over two years. The manager maintains good oversight of staff practice, care planning and children’s progress. She implements a range of effective internal quality assurance processes that are used to promote an improvement agenda. This monitoring activity is further

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

enhanced by the monthly scrutiny of an independent visitor, who provides a sufficiently detailed report that can be used to address any identified shortfalls.

p.5

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.5

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: 1280370 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes Ltd

p.6

Children’s home details

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

p.6

Inspector

Paul Scott, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1280370 7 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.

p.6

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.7

Inspector

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

p.7

Inspector

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

p.7