Children's Home run by New Roots Children’s Services Limited in St Helens

Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 1 Registered provider: New Roots Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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: 11 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Two compliance notices were made at the last inspection under regulations 12 and 13. A monitoring visit took place on 29 March 2019, and the compliance notices were met. Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 3

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Recommendations

 Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) In particular, the independent person should observe young people at the home and regularly consult them and stakeholders, such as professionals and family members.  Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up to date

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Recommendations

and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should have a workforce development plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Regulation 45 sets out requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least every six months; also see regulation 13(2)(h) (the leadership and management standard). The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the quality

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Recommendations

standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)–(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) In particular, Ofsted should receive regulation 40 notifications in a timely manner. Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the responsible individual has prioritised safeguarding and improving the quality of care provided at the home. The staff have a clearer understanding of the young people’s needs and the strategies required to meet these needs effectively. As a result, young people have had a more positive experience and made good progress since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The responsible individual and staff ensure that a young person who is completing his GCSEs has structured routines that support him to revise and sit his examinations successfully. Regular communication is maintained with education professionals to make sure that relevant information is shared and the young person receives appropriate support to meet his needs. Furthermore, plans are in place for the young person to attend college after he leaves school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health and well-being needs are met well. Routine and specialist health appointments are attended as necessary to ensure that young people receive suitable support and intervention to meet their physical and emotional health needs. Staff spend time talking to the young people about health-related issues to raise their understanding and awareness of the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and them accessing the necessary support to meet their physical and emotional development and needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning at the home is good. Plans for young people are detailed and include relevant information relating to their needs and the action required to ensure that these are met. For example, the education, contact and health arrangements for the young people are clear. The young people’s local authority care and placement plans are followed by staff. As a result, the placement aims and objectives for one young person have been achieved. Therefore, the young person is soon to be reunited with his family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The views, wishes and feelings of young people are regularly sought during young people’s meetings, key-work sessions and daily discussions with the young people. However, these views are not always recorded in young people’s plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Improvement has been made to the procedures for considering referrals for new young people to move into the home. A referral is currently being considered, and the records and compatibility assessment demonstrate that full attention is given to whether the staff have the necessary experience, knowledge and skills to meet the young person’s needs. Furthermore, the gaps in the referral information provided have been explored with the placing local authority. The increased rigour in the procedures for new admissions to the home is likely to result in young people being placed appropriately, where their needs can be met well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home offers young people a warm and nurturing environment that feels like a family home, with photographs and personal items displayed around the home. Regular Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 5 maintenance to the home and improvements to the decor help to ensure that it is a pleasant place for young people to live. Furthermore, young people have a say in the day-to-day running and the development of the home.

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

Safeguarding practice at the home has improved since the last inspection. Staff have received additional safeguarding training, and policies and procedures have been simplified by leaders, then read and understood by the staff team. Furthermore, regular discussions take place with the staff team about safeguarding practice and the individual risks to young people. Consequently, the staff are more confident in identifying, managing and reducing risk.

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

Young people have detailed and effective risk assessments that identify the strategies to manage and reduce risks. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated when changes in risk are identified. This helps staff to keep the young people safe from harm.

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

The young people and staff have a good understanding of the expectations of behaviour at the home. Behaviour is well managed, and the use of rewards and incentives encourages positive behaviour and good relationships in the home. The responsible individual and staff focus on acknowledging positive behaviours and helping young people to turn negative responses into positive behaviour. This approach means that the home is settled, with young people being able to regulate their behaviour and emotions more effectively.

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

Young people receive advice and guidance on how to keep themselves safe from harm. Staff spend time talking to young people about the risks that they may face, such as physical and verbal threats, causing damage, endangering their sexual health and going missing from home. Furthermore, young people are supported to take age-appropriate risks as part of developing their independence skills, for example travelling independently and using a mobile phone.

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

The arrangements for administering and recording young people’s medication have been developed, and there is enhanced monitoring and scrutiny by the responsible individual. Staff have undertaken additional training in the administration and recording of medication, which has resulted in medication being stored, administered and recorded appropriately.

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

The responsible individual and staff understand the procedures to be followed when an allegation is made. All allegations are reported to relevant safeguarding professionals, including the designated officer for the local authority, and are investigated appropriately. However, there has been some delay in the provider informing Ofsted when allegations have been made. Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual has prioritised improving the shortfalls identified at the last inspection before considering any new young people moving into the home. This has resulted in improved procedures and processes and staff having a clearer understanding of their role. As a result, outcomes are improved for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual is fully involved in the care of the young people and knows the staff and young people well. The responsible individual is supported by a highly committed and competent team of staff who share his motivation for achieving the best possible outcomes for the young people. The team feels valued and supported by the responsible individual, and two members of staff said, ‘We feel more supported and want to learn, succeed and improve the Ofsted judgement.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision that helps them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young people. The continuous professional development of staff is a priority for the responsible individual, and he ensures that staff receive regular training and development opportunities. All staff have either completed their level 3 qualification or are enrolled on the course. Regular team meetings allow the responsible individual and staff the opportunity to discuss good practice and share information from training and research, and this enhances their knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recording systems are an area that the responsible individual has identified for development. While there are improvements in the quality of some records, such as risk assessments and placement plans, the responsible individual accepts that some other records need to improve, for example key-work session records and minutes of young people’s meetings. Furthermore, when an incident report was written sometime after the incident, it had been signed and dated by staff and the responsible individual with the date of the incident, not the date on which the report was written.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The monitoring and review systems at the home have improved and now help the responsible individual to identify the strengths and areas, both for development at the home and for the staff team. The responsible individual takes effective action to address shortfalls and build strengths to improve practice and outcomes for young people. However, the independent monitoring of the home does not include regular observations or consultations with young people, professionals and family members. This does not provide a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the young people in the home’s care. Furthermore, the home’s quality of care review also lacks feedback from others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a detailed development plan for the home that ensures the continuous development of the home, staff and young people. However, there is no workforce development plan that fulfils the workforce-related requirements of the regulations for children’s homes. However, this information is recorded in other documents about the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 7

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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 difference 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: 1277656 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Roots Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 139, Stoney Lane, Merseyside L35 9JY

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 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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