Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1211772 1 Registered provider: The Priory Group

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides accommodation for up to six children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private provider. The manager was registered in August 2017. He has considerable experience of working in a residential setting.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 26 to 27 February 2019

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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 outstanding

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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: 1211772 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/08/2017 Full Good 08/12/2016 Full Good 16/06/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: 1211772 3

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) In particular, the staff team should demonstrates all reasonable efforts taken to ensure that return home interviews take place following missing episodes.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information

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Recommendations

about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, there should be a consistent approach to recording times in daily logs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people living in this home receive a very good standard of care. They access a range of support services including in-house therapeutic support such as equine therapy. Consequently, children and young people are making progress in most areas, taking into account their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For children and young people who are not in full-time education, further education or training, the management has ensured that alternative education provision is put in place. This has included home tuition for some children and young people and is likely to aid reintegration into formal education settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children and young people are well supported. Sexual health is addressed in key worker sessions and visits take place from the vulnerable, exploited, missing, trafficked (VEMT) nurse. Children and young people are educated on how to help keep themselves safe and learn about appropriate relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is confident to support children and young people in a diverse range of Inspection report children’s home: 1211772 4 matters. This includes supporting children and young people in gender and identity issues. The manager has been proactive in sourcing support and advice to both the staff team and children and young people on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) matters. This helps young people to embrace diversity and feel confident to share or express their views with the adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people have taken part in charitable events, shared their home- grown vegetables with their neighbours and donated to foodbanks. They have also attended fetes and other community events. This helps children and young people to develop positive relationships and participate in their local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a recent new admission to the home. New admissions are very well considered and risk assessed to take into account the needs of all children and young people. Assessment and planning are done in consultation with the children and young people, staff team, other professionals and the families. Children and young people are sensitively welcomed into the home, and this enables them to settle quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are consulted via regular house meetings and in key worker sessions. The wishes and feelings of children and young people, including the activities they access, inform part of their care planning. A professional commented, ‘This is a fantastic home. They are a very skilled team. Their biggest strength is that they build fantastic relationships with the children. They just go above and beyond.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child and young person has a comprehensive care plan and risk assessment that they are encouraged to read and contribute to. Where children and young people have communication difficulties, the staff team has been creative and developed plans and children’s guides in pictorial formats. This means that every child and young person is supported to participate and have their views considered, which makes them feel valued.

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

There is a very good safeguarding culture in the home. Safeguarding is included as a standard agenda item in team meetings and in staff supervisions. When there have been safeguarding incidents, the correct procedures have been followed. The staff team follows individual risk assessments to manage risks effectively.

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

Missing from home episodes are rare. When there are missing from home episodes, action is taken to aid the safe return of children and young people. Return home interviews with an independent visitor, in the main, are offered to children and young people. The inspector found one incident when this had not happened. Independent visits following missing episodes help strengthen risk assessments and risk management strategies.

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

Children and young people said that they feel safe and know the adults are there to help protect them. One young person commented, ‘I love the staff here. They really care about you. No matter what you go through, they are there. I really like being here.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1211772 5 The use of social media and the internet is carefully managed to enable children and young people to enjoy using it safely. The staff team has taken a rigorous approach to educating the young people in keeping safe in a variety of settings. This includes educating them in the risks of accessing social media, bullying, relationships and sexual health. This helps children and young people to keep themselves safe in and outside the home.

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

The children and young people are encouraged to engage in a healthy lifestyle. There are intermittent episodes of some children and young people using illicit substances. The staff team has used reactive and proactive strategies to help children and young people understand the risks of using illicit substances. This has helped some children and young people to reflect on the choices they have made and potential effects this could have on their health.

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

The manager has developed his own monitoring tool to track self-harming behaviours. This is an effective system to track themes and trends. Consequently, there has been a reduction in self-harming behaviours for some children and young people.

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

Incentive schemes and behaviour management plans are effective at managing negative behaviours. The home has seen a reduction in damage to the property. Sanctions applied are restorative in nature. This helps children and young people to understand the effects of their behaviour and helps promote pro-social behaviours.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used to manage behaviour. They have been appropriately recorded, and the manager has reviewed individual incidents. This enables him to monitor practice in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is very experienced and qualified for the position held. He is supported in his role by a dedicated staff team with varying skills and abilities. The manager leads by example. He and his staff team have a shared goal and are aspirational for every child and young person who they care for. This supports good outcomes for children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is confident in challenging other professionals where there are shortfalls in the quality of care provided to children and young people. He continues to maintain positive working relationships with a range of professionals. Feedback from professionals is impressive. Comments commonly included phrases such as ‘strong leader’ ‘passionate’ and ‘highly knowledgeable’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager recognises the importance of developing a highly skilled staff team. He has been astute in his recruitment process. This means that he can utilise the skills of his team effectively. All mandatory training is in date. Additionally, he has sourced training that is relevant to the needs of the children and young people. Training includes trauma and attachment, self-harm awareness, the ‘Prevent’ duty, foetal alcohol syndrome, the foundation for growth and much more. The staff team feels confident and valued as a Inspection report children’s home: 1211772 6 result.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is very present in the home. This enables him to monitor practice and ensure that maintenance of the home is given priority. The children and young people have an excellent relationship with him and seek him out to speak with him. This means that if a child or young person has a concern they can speak directly to the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has excellent monitoring and tracking systems in place, and there is additional oversight from the responsible individual. This means that the robust systems that are in place quickly respond to shortfalls and identify trends and themes. This supports and improves practice and the quality of care that children and young people receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the home’s strengths and its areas for development. He is able to accept constructive feedback from his independent visitor as well as the inspector to help drive improvements forward. His workforce development plan is impressive and he has a clear plan for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

In the main, records are completed to a very high standard and there is excellent management oversight. However, there is currently an inconsistent approach to recording daily logs. Some members of staff do not record times. This makes it difficult to track timelines and has been made as a recommendation.

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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: 1211772 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Priory Education Services Limited, 80 Hammersmith Road, London, Middlesex W14 8UD

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1211772 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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