Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 1 SC440309 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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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 home is operated by Lancashire County Council. The home provides care and accommodation for six children and can provide care for children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home provides short-term care for children while long-term care planning is undertaken.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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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.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 9 November 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/11/2017 Full Outstanding 30/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/12/2016 Full Outstanding 09/12/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 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

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)(6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‟s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(a)) 1/6/2019

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 4 on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home‟s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6

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Recommendations

months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 65, paragraph 15.4) Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home continues to offer an outstanding level of care in line with its statement of purpose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children benefit from insightful and robust assessments that support future care planning. One independent reviewing officer said, „Staff have been proactive in trying to move [name of child] into a foster placement. They have been supportive when arranging visits with the child.‟ Transitions are well managed, and the home continues to offer support for children to promote their new placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children‟s progress is outstanding, ensuring that children develop from their starting points. Children are expected to attend education, and staff use innovative and creative ways to engage with other services and children to promote their engagement with education. Staff ensure that education is not only limited to formal educational provision and ensure that activities are planned to widen children‟s interests and are fun and interesting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children develop excellent, trusting relationships with the staff team. Staff are sensitive to the needs of children who are placed in the home and ensure that they are aware of their care plans. Children‟s feedback throughout the inspection confirmed this. One parent praised staff for all the support that her daughter receives. She said that the staff team does a „marvellous job‟, and that she was impressed and reassured by the staff team‟s nurturing and consistent approach. Furthermore, professionals from other agencies spoke highly of relationships with the staff and manager and the progress made by children.

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

Risk assessment and risk management processes ensure that children are kept safe. Plans to keep children safe include personalised, creative strategies to support children.

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

Risks for children are reducing, and children rarely go missing from the home. One child told the inspector, „I don‟t get up to the bad things I used to.‟

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

After incidents occur, plans and assessments are reviewed and updated. This enables staff to respond effectively and pre-empt and plan to reduce further incidents. Following an incident, a police officer complimented one staff member‟s response, commenting that the staff member had prioritised people‟s safety in an effective way.

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

However, management oversight after incidents of restrictive physical intervention are not always sufficiently robust, and de-briefs are not always undertaken. This means that the learning from these incidents is reduced.

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

Staff receive access to training that helps them to care for children‟s individual needs, Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 6 including self-harm and gender issues. This further enables staff to support children and keep them safe. For example, staff have developed highly personalised toolkits for children who self-harm.

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

Consequences, when used, are fair and proportionate. However, the recording of consequences has not always been in line with regulation. The managers of the home are aware of this and are making changes to ensure that this is addressed.

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

Group work with children, on topics such as British values and child sexual exploitation, enables children to learn about local risks and issues. This helps to develop their understanding and further promotes their safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is well established in her role and has a strong commitment to improving children‟s outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates well for children and encourages children to be actively involved in their care planning, including writing and contributing to their own looked after children‟s review reports.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads a focused and committed staff team. Staff retention is strong, meaning that children benefit from a stable staff team. Staff benefit from regular supervision. One staff member said, „I feel 100% supported. [The manager] is the rock, she is absolutely brilliant. I have never been as supported.‟ However, permanent casual members of staff have not started the relevant qualification detailed in regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service. She recognises that quality of care reports are an area to improve, to ensure that they reflect the development of the service taking into account available guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Independent visits are undertaken on a monthly basis. However, these reports have not always been received by Ofsted. This undermines the regulator‟s ability to monitor effectively and, as such, does not promote children‟s welfare.

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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. Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC440309 8

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Jessica Forshaw, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC440309 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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