Children's home run by New Horizons NW Limited in Sefton

Inspection report children's home: SC485956 1 SC485956 Registered provider: New Horizons (nw) 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 children’s home is registered to accommodate up to two children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The service is delivered and managed by a small independent organisation. The registered manager resigned from his post on 31 October 2018. An interim manager was put in place until a new manager was appointed. The manager has submitted her application into to Ofsted for registration and was in attendance through-out the inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC485956 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/05/2018 Full Good 06/06/2017 Full Good 23/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 17/05/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC485956 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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to ensure that staff are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies. In particular, responding to complaints, undertaking investigations and responding to young people who are missing (Regulation 12(2)(a)(vii)) 30/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that- (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to- (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child (Regulation 13(1) (2)(c). In particular, that staff are trained in specific areas of care that are commensurate with young people's needs, such as LGBTQ and missing behaviour. 30/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 30/06/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC485956 4

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Recommendations

 Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care (see paragraph 15.2) ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 45, paragraph 9.31).  The children's guide should help children to understand: - what the day to day routines of the home are ('what happens in the home'); - the Statement of Purpose of the home (the care they can expect to receive while living there); - how to make a complaint in line with the home's complaints procedure; - how they can access advocacy support or independent advocacy if eligible; and - how to contact the Office of the Children's Commissioner. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 24, paragraph 4.22).

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, most children make good progress. For children who previously lived in the home, some areas of progress were hindered by external factors that the staff were not able to control. This resulted in children being moved on to more appropriate placements for their safety and well-being. Leaders have taken prompt action to evaluate and reflect on this period. They have reviewed their referral and admission decision-making processes to ensure that the home can safely meet the needs of children who move into the home. The children currently living in the home have settled in well and are making good progress. The staff deliver individualised care in a nurturing environment successfully. The staff have a very clear understanding of the children’s needs for support. There is regular communication with parents and social workers. The staff share positive interactions and experiences with the children. This helps the children to recognise their own strengths

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and abilities and improves their self-esteem and self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s education is a key priority for the staff, who work hard with education professionals to ensure that the most appropriate educational establishments are sought in a timely manner. If needed, leaders and managers will challenge those authorities who are slow to respond or act.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are encouraged to engage in activities outside the home wherever possible, fully supported by the staff if necessary. The staff are familiar with what is available for the children in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team has a good understanding of each child’s likes and dislikes. There is a range of ways in which children can voice their views, wishes and opinions, and the staff take these seriously and act upon them. Inspection report children's home: SC485956 5 The children benefit from a home that has been decorated since the last inspection. All works are of a good standard. The home is now very well-maintained. Care has been taken to make the house feel like a family home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children sensitively to maintain and improve their relationships with their families and friends, where possible. The staff develop a good rapport with children’s parents and siblings and keep family and friends fully informed about children’s progress.

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

There are clear and effective safeguarding arrangements in place to protect children. Arrangements meet statutory guidance. Allegations or suspicion of harm are immediately shared with the appropriate safeguarding agencies and managed well. Some paperwork relating to an allegation made by a child, about a member of staff could not be located nor could the work completed with the staff member, described in the outcome action plan. This limits the opportunity to fully evaluate the work that has been completed to ensure that the child was listened to.

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

The staff have all received comprehensive safeguarding training and recognise the risks faced by children in their care. Careful consideration is given to the location of the service and the impact that this has on current and future placement decisions. There is a consistent and proactive approach to managing risk by the staff that reduces the risk of harm to children. This includes regular and effective contact and planning with both the child’s allocated social worker, their allocated exploitation worker and their family, where appropriate. Children say that they feel happy and safe at the home and with the staff team. They say that they feel comfortable in talking to the staff about any concern that they may have.

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

The focus of staff on providing good standards of care means that children can start to make progress in changing their negative behaviours. Individual risk assessments provide clear and sensible strategies to lessen the risks associated with known or presenting new behaviours. As a result, there has been a decrease in missing from home’ incidents in recent weeks. All missing from home incidents are managed well. When a child has been missing, staff liaise appropriately with other agencies, follow protocols and actively search for children. However, there is no formal system for evaluating these incidents. Opportunities to better inform risk assessments are therefore missed.

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

The staff help children to understand risk and how to stay safe, while allowing children to take appropriate risks. This helps children to manage their behaviours and, over time, to make the right choices. This includes the risks that the use of the internet and social media may pose. In addition, the staff use key-worker sessions to help the children to understand how to keep themselves safe. The staff are aware of the risks to young people in the local and wider community. The staff work well with other agencies in addressing behaviours, such as anti-social behaviour missing incidents, and concerns Inspection report children's home: SC485956 6 relating to substance misuse and sexual exploitation. The children are protected by careful recruitment procedures, and regular monitoring of staff also prevents unsuitable people from being employed.

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

Robust and regular health and safety checks ensure that the physical environment for children is safe and protects them from harm or the risk of harm.

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

The home has experienced some uncertainty around management arrangements following the departure of the registered manager in October 2018 and succeeding manager. Since April 2019, management arrangements have been very clear. The interim manager is experienced and well-qualified. Her appointment is already having a strong stabilising influence on the home. Despite the brief time that she has been in post, she demonstrates an excellent understanding of the work that needs to be done. She has submitted her application to Ofsted to be the registered manager of the home.

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

Some of the staff who are new to the home, are not qualified, but they all have good experience of working with children in previous roles. These staff speak positively about their induction to the home. All have received an excellent introductory training programme. There are clear plans in place to further develop their knowledge and skills during their probation. Managers have struggled to meet the high targets relating to the regularity of supervision that are set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. The home’s manager is currently reviewing these arrangements.

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

The child-centred approach of the staff is reflected in the consultation with, and participation of, children in the running of the home. Regular meetings help children to evaluate their behaviour in the previous week and to plan their week ahead. All children are encouraged to express their concerns and they receive good information about their right to complain. There is a clear focus on enabling children time for reflection and to celebrate their achievements. Key-working records are of a high quality and give children a detailed account of their journey.

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

The newly appointed operational manager is very involved in the oversight and development of the home. They acknowledge the need for improvement and show clear commitment to addressing the shortfalls identified in the leadership and management of the home. She is highly supportive of the manager and, together, they have implemented a clear plan for improvement, which is being closely monitored. Leaders and managers can identify areas of strength and weakness and take effective action.

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

Staff are aspirational and ambitious for the children in their care. Every child is offered equality of opportunity.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children's home: SC485956 7 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: SC485956 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (nw) Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Ground Floor, 18 - 20 Coronation Walk, Southport, Merseyside PR8 1RE

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Abbie Rosenblatt

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Inspector

Elaine Clare, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC485956 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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