Children's home run by Future In Mind Limited in Bolton

Inspection report children’s home: SC431315 1 SC431315 Registered provider: Future in Mind

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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 and accommodation for up to two young people. It is owned and operated by a small private organisation. The statement of purpose states, ‘Young people are engaged in specialist programmes whilst they are living at [the home], which will enable them to repair the past whilst preparing their future, with a positive change in their behaviours.’ The manager has the required qualification in leadership and management. She registered with Ofsted to manage this home in 2013. She is also the registered manager for another of the organisation’s nearby homes.

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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: 4 December 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: SC431315 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/12/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/02/2018 Full Good 24/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/08/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC431315 3

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3) In particular, ensure that all staff and management received regular supervision, and that this is recorded.  All children’s case records must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3 and 14.4) In particular, ensure that all children’s individual plans, risk assessments and key-

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a warm and nurturing home and receive good care from staff. One young person is ready to move on to semi-dependent living, and has made huge progress since living at the home. The two young people who live at the home are settled and have positive relationships with most of the staff. Staff understand the young people’s complex needs and manage their vulnerabilities well. Staff are appropriately affectionate toward young people and this gives them a sense of comfort and acceptance in the home. Staff support and help young people work towards their independence, while being sensitive to ensuring that the young person’s voice is heard. This ensures that young people are well prepared for their next steps. Staff promote young people’s emotional health needs well. Young people access in- house therapy support. The staff receive regular input from the in-house therapist and this ensures that staff provide young people with a consistent approach in line with the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

home’s therapeutic model. As a result of the support that they receive, young people become more self-aware, learn about their feelings and learn to better regulate their emotions. Young people make good progress in education. One young person now attends school every day and is enjoying her learning experiences. Another young person is making good progress at college and has achieved the necessary qualification to attend a further Inspection report children’s home: SC431315 4 college course. The registered manager and staff encourage the young people to succeed by supporting them with their work and individual aspirations. Staff and the registered manager communicate with the young people’s teachers and attend events such as parents’ evenings. Young people see that their achievements and progress are recognised and celebrated by the staff. Young people have plenty of opportunities to express their wishes, feelings and views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

They engage in regular meetings with staff and each other to discuss their care. As a result, they feel listened to and valued. Staff enable young people to have new experiences, such as visiting Warner Brother Studios and theme parks. Staff ensure that these positive memories are captured in photographs, which are then displayed around the home for the young people to enjoy. Staff support young people to understand their life story. The work they do with young people about this is impressive. Young people have ownership of the work undertaken and this helps them to develop a better understanding of their journey prior to and through care. The staff are instrumental in supporting young people through this sensitive and important time. The registered manager and staff enable young people to maintain important and positive relationships with family members. Young people are supported by staff to see their family members. One young person has been supported in having overnight stays

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

with her parents despite the geographic distance from the home. This has provided some memorable experiences for the young person and her family.

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

Since the last inspection, the number of challenging behaviour incidents and physical interventions has reduced. When staff are required to physically intervene to safeguard a young person, these incidents are well documented. Because the registered manager has good oversight of these incidents, staff reflect and learn from their experiences and improve their practice, which helps young people. The registered manager ensures that all staff have the necessary training to enable them to physically intervene safely, when required. This ensures that young people and staff are not put at unnecessary risk of injury. Young people rarely go missing from the home. When young people do go missing, staff act quickly and decisively to locate the young person. Staff work in close partnership with local services, the police, the placing local authority and the young person to identify any potential risks and consider ways to reduce these.

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

Overall, staff understand risk well and keep detailed and accurate records about safeguarding young people. In most cases, detailed risk assessments and behaviour support plans identify triggers and what specific actions staff should take to manage and minimise risk. However, some risk assessments and behavioural plans have inconsistent information and are not updated regularly. For example, updates to some risk assessments and behavioural plans are completed in handwritten notes and are unclear. This has the potential to cause confusion. Inspection report children’s home: SC431315 5 Staff support young people to feel safe and protect themselves well. They provide key- work sessions that look at the impact of bullying, social media and going missing in order to promote young people’s safety and encourage young people to keep themselves safe. Some key-work records lack detail and quality information. As a result, it is not

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

always clear what the young person has had to say. Staff provide a balance between giving incentives and rewards with consequences in response to the positive and negative behaviours that young people present. This promotes positive behaviour and helps young people to develop skills to manage some of their actions better and take responsibility for their behaviours. The registered manager and staff create and maintain a safe environment for young people. Staff provide young people with appropriate supervision levels to support them to understand and manage risks whether in the home or wider community. The registered manager has taken proactive steps to ensure that hazardous items are removed from the home. In addition, the registered manager has updated the home’s risk assessments and taken action when necessary to reduce the potential risk of harm to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a positive relationship with the registered manager. They feel supported by her and staff told the inspector that the registered manager promotes their professional development. Staff have a good understanding of the therapeutic approach and they use this well to support young people’s progress. Staff receive specialised training when necessary, for example in understanding attention deficit hyperactive disorder, to meet the specific needs of some young people in the home. The registered manager is passionate, enthusiastic and insightful about the care that the young people receive and has high ambitions for the development of the home. She reflects well on young people’s experiences and staff practice and recognises strengths and areas for improvement. As a result of effective management oversight, the standard of care that young people receive has improved since the last inspection. Subsequently,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

young people are making good progress and have positive experiences. The registered manager escalates matters on behalf of young people when she and staff identify shortfalls in the support and care provided to young people by other professionals. She challenges placing authority social workers to ensure that care plans reflect the needs of the young people in the home. For example, the registered manager successfully challenged the local authority assessment and matching criteria for one young person moving into independent living accommodation. This was because the provision did not take account of this young person’s vulnerabilities. This meant that suitable and appropriate accommodation was sought that met the needs of the young person. All new staff are robustly vetted and well supported through their induction. Staff receive a range of training opportunities to inform their practice and development. Most staff are

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

qualified to level 3 in caring for children and young people and those that have not are enrolled on the course. Although staff receive supervision, this does not always happen Inspection report children’s home: SC431315 6 regularly. This is a missed opportunity to further support staff. The registered manager has some innovative ideas to improve the quality of care to young people. For example, she undertakes a monthly one-to-one session with each young person to discuss their individual care plans and spends quality time with them. This gives the registered manager an in-depth knowledge about the young people, builds strong relationships and creates opportunities for young people to express their wishes and feelings. This information enables the registered manager to develop practice and improve the lives of young people.

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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: SC431315 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Future in Mind, 65 Market Street, Hednesford, Cannock, Staffordshire WS12 1AD

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC431315 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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