Children's home run by After Care (NW) Limited in Sefton

Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 1 SC063673 Registered provider: After Care (NW) Limited

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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 privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have complex needs and behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager at the home. 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 4 September 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/08/2017 Full Good 09/05/2017 Full Inadequate 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare.

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Requirement Due date

Also, that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)) 01/08/2019

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 01/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for 01/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 4 each child, which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, two young people have moved out of the home following an unsettled period. One young person left the home following a serious safeguarding incident and the other young person left in a planned way. There are currently three young people living at the home, and they are reasonably settled and making progress.

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improvement to be good

The acting manager and staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the needs, progress and plans for each young person. However, the content of placement plans does not show this. Placement plans lack sufficiently detailed and up-to-date information about the progress young people are making in their education and health outcomes. For example, there is limited information about the reasons for and outcomes of health appointments and young people’s attendance and achievement in education.

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improvement to be good

The attendance, engagement and provision of education for young people are generally good. Two young people have suitable arrangements that are meeting their educational Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 5 needs. However, the arrangements for one young person are not helping him to achieve positive outcomes. The acting manager is working with education professionals to address this.

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improvement to be good

Staff support young people well to maintain a strong sense of identity. Keeping in touch with family members is promoted and managed in young people’s best interests. The manager is communicating with one young person’s social worker to formalise arrangements to allow the young person to see his family. This will help to avoid his going missing from the home in order to see his family. As a result, young people are spending quality time with family members and can maintain and develop relationships with those who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

The young people’s health and well-being needs are understood well by staff. They are supported to attend routine and specialist health appointments such as those for their children looked after health assessments. This staff support extends to helping young people to attend child and adolescent mental health service and speech and language therapy appointments when necessary. However, young people’s health needs are not consistently recorded in their healthcare plans to reflect the progress and positive work being undertaken.

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improvement to be good

Care planning is good and ensures that young people are suitably placed and receive the support and intervention required to meet their needs. However, the home does not have up-to-date local authority care plans, personal education plans or copies of statutory health assessments for all young people. Although this has not yet compromised the care given, it has the potential to result in shortfalls in the care and intervention provided.

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improvement to be good

The relationships between staff and young people are trusting and nurturing. Staff spend time with young people and they enjoy many activities together such as cooking, playing pool and attending the cinema. Regular conversations and key-working sessions take place. These sessions are targeted to the individual needs of the young people. Young people spoken with during the inspection talked positively about the acting manager and staff and how well they help and support them. Young people feel valued and listened to and have a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

The condition of some areas of the home need improvement. Some walls, carpets, rugs and furniture in young people’s bedrooms are damaged and are unclean. Furthermore, offensive language was written on two of the young people’s bedroom doors. This does not provide young people with a supportive and nurturing home environment. Inspectors also identified DVDs and computer games that are not classified for the age of all of the young people living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Although safeguarding shortfalls are not widespread, safeguarding practice needs to improve. Suitable action is not always taken when safeguarding incidents occur or when Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 6 there is concern for young people’s welfare, such as when young people have been missing from the home, have had a dangerous weapon in their possession, or when they have made a disclosure or have been bullied at the home.

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improvement to be good

The response and recording of safeguarding concerns for young people do not always ensure that young people are helped and protected. For example, one young person had been missing from the home for two days and contacted a member of staff during the night to be collected. Regrettably, because no drivers were on duty, the young person was not collected and remained missing for a further two days. Furthermore, records relating to some safeguarding concerns for young people do not show what action was taken to keep them safe.

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improvement to be good

Despite some shortfalls identified in safeguarding practice since the last inspection, the young people who currently live at the home do not frequently engage in high-risk behaviours. The young people now feel safe. One young person said, ‘I did not feel safe when I first moved in, because of the behaviour and intimidation from other young people. However, they no longer live here, so I feel safe, secure and settled now.’

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improvement to be good

Comprehensive impact risk assessments are undertaken before young people move into the home. Thorough consideration is given to the referral information about the young person, the needs and risks for the young people already living at the home and the relevant knowledge and skills of the staff team. As a result, young people are suitably placed. Risk assessments for young people detail the risks that they face and the strategies to manage and reduce the risks. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated when changes are identified to guide the staff’s practice.

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improvement to be good

Young people benefit from detailed behaviour management plans that are followed by staff consistently. Young people understand the expectations of behaviour and benefit from clear and predictable boundaries. Reward and incentive charts help the young people to concentrate on individual targets and a restorative approach is taken to managing negative behaviour. This approach helps young people to reflect on their behaviour and to make positive changes.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake room searches and physical intervention when necessary to make sure that young people and others are safe from harm. Records following these interventions show that they are completed appropriately and that the staff and young people can reflect on the circumstances surrounding the intervention and can learn from it. However, on one occasion, when a physical intervention was used to safeguard a young person from bullying, a physical intervention record was not completed. This recording oversight is indicative of shortfalls in the recording and monitoring of the home’s records.

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

The home is currently managed by the deputy manager, who has been promoted to acting manager. She is motivated and enthusiastic and has developed good relationships with the young people, staff and stakeholders. The acting manager has a good Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 7 understanding of the needs of the young people and the strengths and areas of development for the home and the staff team.

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

The management oversight, monitoring and review systems are not sufficiently robust. Shortfalls in the home’s records and the sharing of safeguarding information are not promptly identified and addressed. Furthermore, the independent monitoring of the home lacks rigour and does not evaluate all serious safeguarding incidents, for example when a young person was in possession of a dangerous weapon. These are missed opportunities to reflect on the home’s strengths and weaknesses and to identify themes, trends and areas for improvement.

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

The acting manager and staff work collaboratively with professionals and family members and effectively challenge when they feel other professionals are not doing their absolute best for the young people. However, information about safeguarding incidents is not always shared appropriately with social workers and records do not demonstrate the collaborative work and challenge. This does not ensure that young people always receive the most appropriate care and intervention.

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

The home’s statement of purpose is child-focused, and it sets out the home’s ethos and how the acting manager and staff will meet the needs of the young people they care for. The statement of purpose appendix is regularly updated with changes to the staff team. However, the manager’s details are recorded inaccurately in the main part of the document.

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

Recruitment practice is robust and safe. Recruitment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, gaps in employment and references are obtained, explored and verified to make sure that only the most suitable staff care for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be 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 and staff receive regular training and development opportunities. Team meetings allow the manager and staff the opportunity to discuss the needs and progress of the young people, staff practice, and to share information from training and research, which enhances their knowledge and skills.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 8 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC063673 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: After Care (NW) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 45 Kensington Road, Southport, Merseyside PR9 0RT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Timothy Blundell

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Inspectors

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Marina Tully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC063673 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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