Children's home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC366112 1 SC366112 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group 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 operated children’s home is registered to provide care for one child who has social and/or emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home aims to provide an integrated approach for the child within a safe and secure environment.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC366112 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/01/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/02/2018 Full Good 16/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC366112 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance, and supplement that provided by their school through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Staff should have the relevant 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 such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.8)  The children’s home must produce a children’s guide. The children’s guide must be made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed (or on arrival at the home if the placement is made in an emergency) and must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to

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Recommendations

make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  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. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. (‘Guide to the children’s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop trusting and nurturing relationships by spending time with the child and supporting her to thrive physically, emotionally and socially. Staff offer the child hugs and they speak to her with affection. They read to her as part of her bedtime routine and ensure that she gets to go on varied holidays. The home operates a therapeutic parenting model. Staff receive training and guidance on how to apply the therapeutic parenting model from the organisation’s therapist team. Consequently, the child benefits from receiving care that is well co-ordinated and Inspection report children’s home: SC366112 4 delivered by staff who know how to help the child who has suffered childhood trauma. Staff help the child to maintain relationships with people who are important to her by working closely with her social worker and members of her family. Staff are proactive in encouraging the child to attend school. Daily routines help the child

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

to be ready for learning. Consequently, her school attendance has increased. The child is in good overall health. Staff support her to attend routine health appointments and looked after children reviews. Staff encourage her to exercise and she regularly goes swimming and horse riding. However, the child is not sufficiently supported to make appropriate choices about what she eats.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that recruitment processes help to protect the child from unsafe adults. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans help staff to know what to do to reduce and manage a child’s risks. Staff regularly review and update them so that the most up-to-date information about the child’s risks is available. As a result, the child does not go missing from the home and the number of occasions that restraint is used is reducing. The manager has developed strong links with key safeguarding agencies such as the police and the designated officer. Staff invite local community police officers to meet with the child. The local community police officer is complimentary about the home and the way that staff keep the child safe. The manager has a range of systems in place to ensure that the home is a safe environment for children to live in. For example, regular health and safety checks and

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

fire drills are carried out in line with organisational policy.

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

At the time of the inspection, the manager had been in post for eight months. The manager was formally interviewed shortly after the inspection by Ofsted to be the home’s next registered manager. The manager has met the requirements from the last inspection. This has led to better quality risk assessments, better managerial monitoring and ensuring that staff provide the child with consistent care in a homely environment. Professionals say that leaders and staff work positively with them. Leaders and staff ensure that the child gets the support she needs to progress. Staff have either completed their level 3 qualification in residential childcare or are working towards the award. They benefit from access to a good training programme that equips them with the necessary skills and knowledge needed for the role. The manager supports staff with regular supervision and new members of staff benefit from a planned

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

and closely monitored induction. Staff say that they enjoy working at the home and they Inspection report children’s home: SC366112 5 value the manager’s support. Staff understand the importance of clear and accurate recording of incidents and daily events. However, staff do not always record the child’s daily experiences in a way that the child can easily understand. The child is not supported to access her records and to contribute to them. This limits the positive contribution that records make to the child’s understanding of her history. Staff encourage the child to express her views through day-to-day discussions and planned meetings. However, staff have not ensured that the child has important information about her right to an advocate and other independent services. This limits opportunities for her voice to be heard even more.

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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: SC366112 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Reflexion Care Group Ltd, Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC366112 7 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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