Children's home run by Cherished and Devoted Care

Inspection report children’s home: 2484696 1 Registered provider: Cherished And Devoted Care

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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 is owned and operated by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to four children who have emotional and/or social difficulties. The registered manager has been registered since 21 November 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

Date of last inspection: This is the children’s home’s first inspection since registration

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: 2484696 2

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children to aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare. The standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b) and (2)(c)) In particular, ensure that staff receive training programmes tailored to the personal needs of children, including training in understanding attachment and trauma, emotional development, mental health and the evidence-based ways of working with children with attachment and mental health difficulties. Also, staff have training opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge in helping children stop smoking and using cannabis and other substances. 30/06/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should have the relevant guidance, skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-being including use of cannabis, alcohol and tobacco. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18) In particular, the manager should develop the policy on smoking to include detailed guidance about children using E- cigarettes, which includes the law about children using E-cigarettes, and advice and guidance from a suitably qualified health practitioner.  The registered manager’s review of the quality of the care should provide an in- depth analysis of children’s experiences and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the

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Recommendations

home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the Inspection report children’s home: 2484696 3 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 15.2 & 15.4)  The registered person in appointing the independent person must make sure that the appointment does not give rise to a conflict of interest that would, or would appear to, compromise the ability of that person to reach a rigorous and impartial judgement of the quality of that home’s care. Where the independent person is an employee of those carrying on the children’s home, they must be employed solely for the purpose of quality assurance within the home. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.6 & 15.7)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who have complex needs receive a high standard of care that is making a positive difference to their lives. The manager and staff provide young people with the emotional stability and opportunities they need to improve their lives. Young people are making incredible progress in their education, health and emotional well-being. They are growing in confidence, learning to trust adults and accept help. They are learning to manage their feelings, make good choices and have aspirations for their future. A young person said, ‘Since I’ve been here, I’ve grown up. I don’t need to do stupid stuff. I’ve sorted my head out. They’ve got me back into education and I want to get a job.’ The manager works effectively as part of the wider support network to plan and make good decisions for young people’s care. The manager carefully matches young people and staff’s ability to respond effectively to the young person’s assessed needs. She

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

makes sure that staff have training relevant to the personal needs of the young person moving in. She also assesses the young person’s compatibility with the young people already living at the home. Staff make sure that young people get a warm welcome when they first move in and help them to feel at home. Staff are skilled at engaging with young people and building healthy relationships. They quickly get to know young people and find out what is important to them. Young people know that the manager and staff genuinely care about them and what happens in their lives. A social worker said, ‘The way that staff are able to connect with the young people and display a real commitment to them has been really refreshing. I have been blown away by how they have managed to engage our young person into education in a very short period of time when others have failed.’ The manager and staff work tirelessly with the virtual schools to make sure that young

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

people get the right support to achieve better education outcomes. Every young person has missed a lot of school, but they are now taking part in education and working hard Inspection report children’s home: 2484696 4 towards getting qualifications. They take part in work experience, being offered apprenticeships and accepted on college courses for September 2019. Young people’s health and emotional well-being continue to improve. They have a nutritious diet, healthy appetites, are physically active and get a restful night’s sleep. Staff have a detailed understanding of young people’s specific medical needs. They make sure that young people always get the support, treatment and medication that they need and attend health appointments. Staff encourage young people to stop smoking and using cannabis and other substances. However, staff do not always have relevant guidance, knowledge and training to help them in this work. For example, the policy on smoking does not include

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

detailed guidance about young people using E-cigarettes, the law relating to E-cigarettes and up-to-date health advice.

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

Young people feel safe. They talk to staff when they are worried or upset. They know that staff listen, care about them and will do everything they can to help them. A young person said, ‘I know that I can talk to these and they will sort things out.’ The manager’s and staff’s knowledge and practice protect young people from harm. Staff have a good understanding of each young person’s vulnerabilities and any concerns about their safety. They continually assess the risks for each young person and take every necessary step to make sure that young people are protected. The manager and staff take decisive action when they are worried about young people’s safety. They use well-established safeguarding partnerships to identify and understand the risks and follow safety plans to deal with the dangers to young people. The manager reviews safeguarding incidents and takes necessary precautions to improve young

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

people’s safety. Staff help young people to be aware of risks and to manage their safety. They support young people to learn from mistakes and make better choices in the future. Since coming to live at the home, young people have become increasingly safer from the dangers of exploitation, self-harm and bullying. They are no longer going missing from home or involved in crime. The managers and staff are safe and dependable adults. They provide young people with the warmth, consistent boundaries and expectations that they need to feel safe and emotionally secure. Staff have worked successfully to build young people’s resilience and to overcome their anxieties. For example, over time staff have helped young people to feel comfortable in crowds, such as at the supermarket or a football match. Staff work positively with young people to find the best way possible to help them when they are having a difficult time. They understand how young people’s previous adverse

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

experiences influence their relationships and development. Staff understand that a young person responds best to a gentle tone of voice, but will become upset to a raised voice because of how he was treated in the past. Staff see beyond young people’s behaviour to try to understand what is wrong. For example, when a young person shows Inspection report children’s home: 2484696 5 rude behaviour in a public space, he is letting staff know that he does not feel safe and needs to leave straight away. Staff intervene calmly and confidently to help young people deal with strong emotions. A young person said, ‘I can be a very angry person. Staff give me the support I need. They know how to calm me down if I get angry. They help me to use breathing techniques.’ Staff are also helping young people to learn the skills to deal with arguments and sort out problems amicably. A young person said, ‘I had an argument with another young

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

person last night. Staff spoke to us and calmed things down. They helped us sort it out. We said sorry and shook hands. The way staff helped us showed they cared.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a skilled and effective leader. She is very ambitious for young people to feel safe, to be happy and to do well. This ethos is easily seen in every aspect of the quality of care that young people receive and staff professional practice. The manager and staff make sure that young people live in a safe, warm, stable and friendly home that meets their needs and helps them reach their potential. The manager has a detailed understanding of the progress that each young person is making and makes sure that they are always cared for in line with their agreed plans. The manager is quick to identify when young people are struggling and takes suitable action to make sure that they get the best possible help. She uses productive working relationships with social workers, education and health services to help young people have better outcomes. The manager has created the right environment for staff to provide young people with a

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

very good standard of care and consistency. Staff are knowledgeable, experienced, skilled and motivated. The manager provides each member of staff with positive support, guidance and encouragement. Staff have regular opportunities through practice-related supervision and team meetings to reflect on young people’s progress and understand how they can better support them. The manager’s careful monitoring of the running of the home, records and events has resulted in improvements in the quality of care that young people receive, including how staff help young people to manage their feelings, the security of the house, and the retention of staff. However, the review of the quality of the care report does not provide an in-depth analysis of young people’s experiences and the impact that the care is having on their lives. The report does not identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care. It also does not identify the actions that need to be carried out to deal with the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

weaknesses and how those actions will be addressed. At present, the review process and report are not being used effectively as tools for continuous improvement in the home. The home’s training plan does not provide staff with all the necessary skills and knowledge that they need to support the young people they are supporting. Young people would benefit from staff having training in helping young people to stop smoking Inspection report children’s home: 2484696 6 and using cannabis, understanding attachment and trauma, emotional development, and mental health and evidence-based ways of working with children with attachment and mental health difficulties. The independent person, who provides external monitoring of the home, is also carrying out the supervision of the manager and training staff in physical intervention. These additional roles may compromise the independent person’s ability to reach a meticulous

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

and impartial judgement of the quality of the home’s care.

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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: 2484696 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherished And Devoted Care

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Phillips

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2484696 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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