Children's Home run by New Start in Knowsley

Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 1 SC471289 Registered provider: New Start

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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 one of three that are owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to care for four children and young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, learning difficulties and/or mental health issues. The manager has submitted her application to be registered with Ofsted.

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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: 12 December 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2018 Interim Not judged 19/04/2017 Full Good 05/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 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 (1) requires the registered person to ensure— the 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)) 02/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child, which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child: are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 02/08/2019

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Recommendations

 Children should be encouraged by staff to see the homes 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 62, paragraph 14.6)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all their staff have been adequately trained in the principles of restraint and any restraint techniques appropriate to the needs of the children it is set up to care for as defined in the homes statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.57) Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been closed for over 12 months and recently reopened with a new manager and staff team. Two young people are now living at the home. They have made good progress during the short period since they moved into the home due to the good quality of care that they receive. Transition planning for young people coming to live at the home is a real strength of the manager and staff team. The manager and staff are aware of the anxieties that moving home can cause young people, and they are skilled in supporting young people through this time. A good assessment of referral information, along with communication with parents, social workers and others, means that young people move into this home positively. The manager and staff team prioritise the education needs of young people. One young person who has not been attending education for some time is now regularly attending and engaging in education. The young person said, ‘I started attending education again

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

because I had no choice, but school is much better than I expected it to be.’ Young people are encouraged and supported to complete homework. The manager and staff liaise with education professionals to ensure that information is shared, which helps young people to receive the most appropriate support at home and in school to meet their educational needs. The young people’s health and well-being needs are thoroughly understood by staff. Routine and specialist health appointments are attended as necessary. There is a clear therapeutic model of practice applied throughout the home, namely Trauma Focussed Care. Staff are trained to recognise the signs and symptoms of trauma and respond in ways that are safe and meaningful to promote recovery from trauma. Additionally, young people have weekly therapy sessions with the company psychotherapist to address issues identified in their treatment plans. Care planning for young people is compromised due to the home not receiving local

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

authority placement plans for young people. Furthermore, the home does not have its own placement plan for a young person who has recently moved into the home. The placement plan for another young person lacks detailed information relating to the care planning, education and health needs of the young person. Records do not sufficiently demonstrate that young people have viewed and contributed to their plans. The manager and staff support young people well to maintain a strong sense of identity. Arrangements for keeping in touch with family members are promoted and managed in the young people’s best interests. Relationships between the manager, staff and family members are positive and family members are encouraged to visit the home. A parent said, ‘The manager and staff are very friendly and respectful, they are in regular contact with me to share information.’ This constructive approach to building relationships

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

between young people and their families helps toward achieving the objectives of returning young people home to their parents’ care. Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 5 The home was refurbished before it reopened and is a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment. The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard. Young people are encouraged and supported to personalise their bedrooms and to keep them clean and tidy. This approach encourages their sense of belonging and develops their independence.

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

Safeguarding practice helps to keep young people safe from harm. The manager and staff have a good understanding of the individual risks young people face. Young people say that they feel safe and that staff do all that they can to help and protect them. Although the individual risks to the young people are known and understood by the manager and staff, risk assessments do not include sufficient information about all known risks, for example those relating to previous missing from home occurrences and incidents of self-harm. Although this has not yet compromised the safe care provided, it has the potential to result in shortfalls in safeguarding young people. The effective safeguarding practice of the manager and staff results in a reduction in risk-taking behaviour from when young people first move into the home. Young people who have previously had a history of being missing from home and substance misuse

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

have not engaged in these behaviours. Staff spend time talking to the young people during key-work and direct work sessions about the strategies required to reduce the risks that they face. Accordingly, staff and young people work together to manage and mitigate risks. The staff’s approach to managing behaviour is good and promotes positive responses from young people. Rewards and incentives supplement this by placing the emphasis on helping young people to turn negative responses into positive behaviour. This approach means that the home is generally settled, with young people enjoying good relationships with each other and the staff. Since the home reopened, there have not been any incidents that require the use of restrictive physical intervention to keep young people and others safe from harm. However, not all staff are currently adequately trained should the need arise for restraint to be used. This does not ensure that the use of restraint would be safe and effective.

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

The location risk assessment is detailed and evaluates the information obtained from the police and other safeguarding professionals about the area. Consideration is given to the training, knowledge and skills of the staff team and how they can manage and reduce the risks that the area potentially poses to young people. As a result, young people are safeguarded effectively from known risks in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced for her role. She has extensive experience as a registered manager and a proven track record of leading and managing an outstanding children’s home. She is motivated and enthusiastic and has developed good relationships with the young people, staff and stakeholders. The manager is very supportive to the members of the staff team, who feel well supported and valued. As a Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 6 result, staff performance, practice and the quality of care provided to young people are good. Prior to the home reopening, the manager, staff team and company responsible individual/psychotherapist spent time together to get to know each other and to complete mandatory training courses. In addition, specific training was completed in trauma-focused care and cognitive behaviour therapy to ensure that there is a consistent trauma-informed approach to the care that is provided to the young people. As a result,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the manager and staff team have been equipped with the training in order to meet the ethos and the aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Regular supervision and team meetings take place that provide opportunities for members of staff to discuss the needs and progress of the young people, as well as practice-related issues and the areas of development for the home. This, in addition to suitable training, means that staff are supported well and have the necessary skills to carry out their roles. Monitoring and review systems help the manager to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the home and the staff team. She takes effective action to adequately address any shortfalls identified to improve practice, the quality of care provided and the outcomes for young people. The home’s development plan shows the manager’s vision for the ongoing development of the home and the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals is very positive about the standard of care, the level of communication from the home and the resulting progress for young people. One social worker remarked that she was impressed with the effort the manager and staff made to help their young person, and an education professional spoke about the good level of support and communication from the manager and staff. This demonstrates that the manager and staff work effectively with others to ensure that the needs of the young people are met well.

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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: SC471289 7 Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Job Bank, 4 Tunnel Road, Liverpool L7 6QD

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC471289 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 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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