Children's home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Inspection report children’s home: SC470413 1 SC470413 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services

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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 registered to provide care for up to two children who may exhibit a variety of behaviours and who are likely to have experienced placement breakdowns because of their early childhood experiences. A private provider operates the home currently as a solo provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a manager who has been in post since July 2018. The manager became registered in January 2019 and holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management

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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 outstanding

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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: 16 October 2018

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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: SC470413 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/07/2018 Full Inadequate 01/11/2017 Full Good 15/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC470413 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— take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare.

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Recommendations

 Where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home or in preparation for leaving the home, the home must challenge them to meet the child’s needs (see regulation 5(c)). Staff should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. The registered person should consider the use of an independent advocate (see paragraph 4.16) if the child’s needs are not being met. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one young person had been living in this home for three weeks. The inspector also looked closely at the overall experiences and progress of the previous young person who lived in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are happy in this home and build trusting relationships with staff. A young person told the inspector, ‘Staff are always with me… they are friendly and easy to get on with. I can talk to them.’ Staff seek young people’s views. The registered manager Inspection report children’s home: SC470413 4 also responds directly to young people when they make comments. This reassures them that they have been heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people help to decorate their home, which is beautifully maintained. The home has a nurturing and calm atmosphere.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to pursue activities that they enjoy, such as boxing classes and volunteering at an equine yard. This social interaction promotes the emotional health and well-being of young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager ensures that young people are well supported when moving into the home. This helps to reduce young people’s anxieties and helps them to settle quickly. Staff sensitively support young people when they leave the home. Young people take with them daily diaries and scrapbooks of photos and memorabilia celebrating their progress. This helps them to remember their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager works well with other professionals to ensure that young people’s health needs are met. Staff are trained to meet specific health needs and liaise with specialists when this is required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to return to education. Staff attended school with one young person, gradually withdrawing when she achieved 100% attendance. This young person went on to sit three GCSE exams. Another young person volunteers at an equine yard in readiness for an apprenticeship starting in September. Staff attend these sessions to provide additional reassurance and supervision. On two occasions, young people have experienced delay in the completion of education assessments and identification of the correct educational provision. The registered manager has advocated on their behalf and challenged professionals about this. However, she has not always escalated this challenge sufficiently to achieve the quickest possible resolution for young people.

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

Staff develop positive relationships with young people’s families. One parent described the home as ‘nurturing and supportive’ and staff as ‘welcoming and understanding’.

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

Staff work closely with other professionals, including mental health and sexual health workers and the police, to help young people become increasingly safe. Risks are identified and understood well by staff. Young people trust staff and talk to them about their concerns. When young people need to be protected from harm, staff are proactive by working together with parents and other agencies. When risks escalate, the registered manager shares any concerns and requests support from other agencies. However, on one occasion a delay in the response of a placing authority was not continually challenged or escalated.

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

Young people’s behaviour improves because of the support that they receive from staff. Staff help young people to feel safe. Physical intervention is not used. Young people Inspection report children’s home: SC470413 5 express their feelings in key-working sessions and staff provide consistent boundaries and opportunities for positive interaction.

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

Staff respond well when young people go missing. Their actions are well coordinated and in line with behaviour support plans. Staff actively look for young people and return them home. Risk assessments are good and are updated to reflect any new incidents. On one isolated occasion, staff did not take effective action when a young person went missing. Although they actively searched for the young person, there was some delay before they talked to the police directly. The registered manager has learned from this incident. She has updated the young person’s behaviour support plan so that it includes very specific guidance for staff to follow if missing incidents occur. The registered manager has debriefed staff and delivered additional team training. Her actions have improved practice and significantly reduced the likelihood of this shortfall reoccurring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager leads by example and is an exceptional role model. She inspires her staff team. The inspector observed the enthusiasm and commitment of staff while they supervised a young person who was attending the gym and volunteering at an equine yard. Their motivation for young people to succeed is impressive and inspirational.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has an excellent knowledge of the young people and expertly oversees the work undertaken by staff. She wants young people to be successful and is ambitious for them. The registered manager advocates for young people, for example by supporting a young person with a health condition to be in control of her own medication. This advocacy helps young people to become confident about carrying out essential tasks required for independent living. When the registered manager is concerned about risk to a young person, she will analyse behaviour and consult with other professionals and parents before making a clear, well-informed decision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager’s relationships with other professionals support young people’s progress and help to keep them safe. One worker who supports young people who go missing, told the inspector that the registered manager keeps them informed and manages incidents promptly and professionally.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager’s excellent leadership skills have resulted in significant improvements since the last inspection. All recommendations from the previous inspection and internal monitoring visits have been immediately resolved. Young people’s views now enhance all of their records. Young people contribute to aspects of their day- to-day care and they are included in decision-making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has a clear and detailed vision for the home. She has established effective and robust monitoring systems to ensure that young people are cared for in a home which is safe and delivers high-quality care. Records are maintained effectively, and information is accessible and informative. Inspection report children’s home: SC470413 6 Staff are extremely well supported in their work. Supervision sessions are excellent and are valued by staff. Sessions are child focused, but also include time for professional reflection and development. This helps to improve staff practice and the support that young people receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager chairs highly effective team meetings. The meetings include discussions about young people’s progress and generate ideas about how to minimise the challenges that they face. The registered manager also ensures that each team meeting allows staff to receive training in specific areas of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager ensures that staff are highly trained. Training is commissioned to respond to the specific needs of young people who are referred to the home. The training programme includes important topics such as child sexual exploitation, knife crime and county lines. This equips staff with the knowledge and skills required to provide the best possible care. In addition, the registered manager has recently completed therapeutic training which enhances her practice. The learning from this training will be disseminated by the registered manager to her staff team.

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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: SC470413 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unity Residential Care Services Ltd, 98 Lancaster Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5 1DS

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Inspectors

Joanna Warburton: social care inspector Annemarie Parker: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC470413 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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