Children's home run by My Life - My Choice Ltd in Hyndburn

Inspection report children’s home: SC489038 1 SC489038 Registered provider: My Life-My Choice 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 home provides care and short break accommodation for children and young people who have disabilities. Services are provided to children who are up to 17 years old and they can be continued through the transition period of their lives from the ages of 18 to 25.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in place who has been registered with Ofsted since March 2015

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC489038 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/07/2018 Full Good 22/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC489038 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— that 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(2)(a)(i)) 13/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children’s home; if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that— the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(3)(a–d)) 13/09/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the Inspection report children’s home: SC489038 4 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)

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Recommendations

 Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. Safe arrangements must be in place for the storage and use of medication with a limited shelf life to ensure it is not used beyond the date of expiry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are cared for by staff who know them well and have a good understanding of their needs. Managers and staff are responsive to young people’s changing needs and provide well-planned, individualised care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most parents speak highly of the service and express confidence in the care their children receive. One parent said, ‘We are more than happy. We are delighted. [Name removed] just needed the right people to care for him and we found them here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have good knowledge of young people’s healthcare needs, and they provide safe and effective care. A medical professional recently complimented the home, stating that a young person’s health and general well-being has significantly improved due to the care he receives there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s individual methods of communication are carefully detailed in their care plans. This helps staff to understand how young people might express themselves. Therefore, opportunities for young people to make choices in their day-to-day lives are increased.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have access to a range of activities inside and outside the home. The home is well equipped with facilities that include a hydro-pool and a ball pool. Young people are also supported to make good use of community resources and develop new skills. For example, managers have recently sourced an allotment so that young people can participate in gardening activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff assist young people to develop their independence skills, which helps support their transition into adult services. Preparing for adulthood plans are a recent positive development. These are individualised plans which detail the young person’s strengths and needs and enable staff to support young people in a focused and consistent way.

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC489038 5 Parents and carers express confidence in the care provided to their loved ones. One parent described feeling able to rest in the knowledge that his son was safe and well cared for during his stays at the home. He said, ‘I have total trust in them.’

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

All staff are provided with safeguarding training at the start of their employment, which is regularly updated. Managers and staff are able to identify safeguarding concerns, and clear procedures enable them to respond to any concerns appropriately. This helps to promote young people’s safety and well-being.

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

There have been improvements to risk assessments and risk management plans. However, further improvements are still required to ensure that, when risks are identified, there are clear plans in place to manage them. This will help to support consistently safe practice.

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

Some young people have complex health needs and are vulnerable to emergency situations such as status epilepticus. There are clear emergency protocols in place that inform staff of the actions they must take in such situations. In addition, staff receive enhanced training so that they are able to take effective action.

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

There is good insight into young people’s behaviours. Individualised plans describe behaviours that young people may present and why. Clear strategies help staff to respond to young people’s behaviours in a consistent and positive way. This helps young people develop safer behaviours over time.

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

Incidents of physical intervention are not excessive. Any incidents that do occur are recorded and closely monitored by managers. Some improvements have been achieved in the standard of recording, but these improvements are not yet consistent across all records.

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

Recruitment procedures are generally satisfactory. These help to protect young people, as prospective employees must undergo a range of background checks before being offered a post. However, some shortfalls were identified in relation to recording additional checks, as a result of information received. A requirement is raised to support improvement in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in place who has been registered with Ofsted since March 2015. She is supported by a well-established and highly experienced management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers work well with external professionals to help ensure that young people receive the care and support they need. There is good evidence that managers advocate for young people and challenge external services that are falling short. Inspection report children’s home: SC489038 6 There have been improvements in impact risk assessments. The needs of young people who wish to use the service are carefully assessed. This helps to ensure that only young people who can be safely cared for will be admitted to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Daily risk assessments and matching processes mean that careful consideration is given to the mix of young people staying at the home at any one time. Staffing levels are carefully assessed in line with the needs of each young person, and staff are organised effectively. This supports safety and the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff recruitment and retention has been identified as an ongoing challenge for the service. Managers are taking steps to address this issue. Despite some staff turnover, the use of agency staff has been avoided so that young people continue to benefit from consistency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring has improved significantly. Managers demonstrate a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service. Processes have been developed to identify themes or trends, which helps to identify areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Methods for obtaining feedback have been reviewed and formalised. Regular consultations now take place and managers are in the process of considering how these processes can be more inclusive. This will help managers to understand and learn from young people’s experiences and outcomes.

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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: SC489038 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: My Life-My Choice Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Andrea Brighouse

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC489038 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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