Children's Home run by Rite Directions Limited in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report children‟s home: 1254316 1 Registered provider: Rite Directions Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider operates and runs this home. It is registered to provide care for up to four children and young people who present with complex needs associated with learning disabilities or difficulties. The appropriately qualified registered manager has been in post since the home was registered in 2017.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 13 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2018 Full Good 07/03/2018 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1254316 2

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)) 01/08/2019

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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. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)) 01/08/2019

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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 (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to the children‟s risk assessments. Risk assessments should provide the reader, in this case the staff, with the detail of the current risk and strategies required to safeguard the child and others. This includes when the young people in the home reach the age of 18 years and their risk assessment does not reflect any potential additional risks. 01/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy 01/08/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1254316 3 (“the missing child policy”) setting out— the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent. (Regulation 34 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to requesting the completion of return home interviews.

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Recommendations

 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 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) This recommendation is carried forward but relates to a different recording issue. This is with particular reference to the staff using clear language so that they do not mislead the reader.  For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children‟s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek

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Recommendations

as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than „institutional‟ impression. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9) This is with particular reference to the home lacking homely touches and furnishings.  The home‟s procedures must take into account the views of appropriate local services and have regard to police and local authority protocols for responding to missing person‟s incidents in the area where the home is located. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.29) This is with particular reference to the manager sharing the children‟s completed missing from home profiles with the police. Inspection report children‟s home: 1254316 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff put in place consistent routines and boundaries for the children and this is helping the children‟s development of independence and daily care skills. For example, the children are now brushing their teeth and are bathing daily. In addition, they can make themselves a drink and a snack. The children are making progress and they are enjoying the learned independence skills and gaining new experiences. This is echoed by professionals, who identify that the children are making „fantastic‟ progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff provide the children with daily encouragement and guidance to improve their health. As a result, the children are attending all health appointments and engaging with health agencies. One child is now receiving dental treatment after attending the dentist for the first time in 14 years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager works closely with all partner agencies to ensure that the children‟s education needs are met. The staff understand the children‟s barriers to learning and alternative education provision is sourced to meet the children‟s needs. Generally, the children‟s attendance is good, and they show excitement to go to school. A teacher said, „The school and the home work closely together and this has produced some fantastic results for [Child‟s name]. He is a changed character.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a range of activities. Despite their complex needs, the staff support the children‟s active involvement in community-based activities. The staff plan activities well and this reduces the children‟s anxieties, as they go to the cinema, the beach or bowling during quieter times.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from a knowledgeable staff team that is provided with training relevant to meeting the children‟s needs. Specialist training is rolled out to all the staff and there is a strong focus on the staff members understanding of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This training is helping the staff to have a greater understanding of the importance of clear communication, improving relationships with children.

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improvement to be good

The staff provide the current children with high levels of supervision, which ensures their safety. The children have no understanding of road safety, stranger danger and they are not able to regulate their behaviours in public. The staff‟s support and supervision therefore protect children from wider risks. One child was allowed free time without staff supervision, but this resulted in high levels of going missing. The provider was unable to keep this child safe and consequently the placement ended.

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improvement to be good

The staff take appropriate action to locate children who do go missing and ensure their safe return. However, the children‟s going missing profiles are not routinely shared with Inspection report children‟s home: 1254316 5 the police. Additionally, the children are not always provided with an independent return home interview and these are not being requested. This is a missed opportunity for the provider and placing local authority to ensure that children‟s safety and well-being is prioritised. This was a previous recommendation that will be carried forward and escalated to a requirement.

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improvement to be good

The manager has ended children‟s placements when the staff are unable to keep them safe. This means that the group dynamic in the home is managed and further placements of children are matched to the strengths of the staff.

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improvement to be good

The staff have completed research-led behaviour modification training, and this has improved the staff confidence in de-escalating children‟s challenging behaviours. Damage caused as a result of the children‟s escalating behaviours is repaired, but it is impacting on the overall presentation of the home.

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improvement to be good

The manager reviews resources and the staff‟s practice, maintaining the children‟s safety and protection. Staffing levels are increased to respond to children‟s heightened behaviours. This ensures that children continue to receive the level of support needed to keep them safe and to enable them to enjoy their individual activities. This helps the children to feel safe and the frequency of incidents is reducing. However, the children‟s risk assessments do not reflect all the children‟s current risks and the required strategies to safeguard them. The manager has not notified the regulator about serious incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the strengths of the team and how they can achieve good outcomes for the children. The manager only admits children who meet the criteria for admission as identified in the statement of purpose. As a result, children with a similar functioning and ability are now matched together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The enthusiastic staff respond positively to the manager‟s evident passion about the care provided to the children. The staff instil the home‟s ethos through nurturing care to help children overcome trauma and to help them to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff are well supported by their colleagues and the manager. Their practice is enhanced and reviewed through team meetings and supervision. This enables the manager to reflect on gaps in practice, confidence and knowledge within the staff team. However, the language used by staff in the children‟s care records is not clear.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all staff have achieved the required qualification within the prescribed timeframe. The manager has acknowledged this through individualised action plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children benefit from effective partnership working between staff and professionals. The staff communicate well with professionals and attend all meetings about the children. This ensures that children‟s current needs and concerns are shared, and plans are implemented to improve outcomes. Inspection report children‟s home: 1254316 6

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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: 1254316 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tan Y Marian, Constitution Hill, Penmaenmawr LL34 6BA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Daniel Macmillan

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1254316 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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