Children's home run by Good Foundations Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 1 SC065789 Registered provider: Good Foundations 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 owned children’s home provides care for up to three children and young people who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 27 June 2018.

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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: 7 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/06/2018 Full Good 27/02/2018 Full Inadequate 21/11/2017 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 3

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulation including quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11). In particular, the independent person (under regulation 44) should see children and seek their views to inform the independent person’s assessment of the children’s home. Furthermore, the review of the quality of care report (under regulation 45) should include the views of children about the children’s home and show how their views influence improvements in the quality of care they receive.

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Recommendations

 The independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulation including quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) In particular, the independent person should seek the views of children’s families and professionals involved in the care or protection of the children, including their social worker, independent reviewing officer, teachers, and health professionals, to inform the independent person’s assessment of the children’s home.

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Recommendations

 The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to understanding the child’s needs, progress and the help that they require. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulation including quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) In particular, the records of individual work with children should include an evaluation of the effectiveness of the work, the child’s response, and identify what needs to happen next to help the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a friendly, nurturing and very comfortable home. Staff provide young people with the warmth and understanding that they need to feel at home. A young person said, ‘I love living here. They support me in everything I do and always listen.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of parenting and support that young people receive is making a positive difference to their lives. Young people are making important progress in education, health, emotional well-being, personal safety, social skills and preparing for adult life. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘What the young person is getting is really positive. They have helped him to be settled and get things fixed in his mind. He is clear about Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 4 what he needs to do to achieve his goals. They are working really well with him and supporting his aspirations.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy healthy and trusting relationships with the adults caring for them. Staff treat young people with dignity and respect. A young person said, ‘Because it’s the first home where I haven’t been treated as a kid, I feel that I’ve really matured since I’ve been here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to young people’s wishes and feelings and respond appropriately. They help young people to develop the skills to manage difficult feelings and to express their views in a mature way. Staff support young people to take part in meetings and make decisions affecting their lives. For example, a young person talked calmly in his meeting about his frustrations in delays in his plan and, with the adults, was able to negotiate a positive way forward.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When young people are not taking part in education, staff work hard with social workers, teachers and the local authority to get them back into education and training as soon as possible. Young people are involved in choosing the right school or college for them. Each young person now has a suitable education placement arranged to start in September 2019.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people take part in carefully chosen activities to help keep them healthy, safe, physically fit and active. They have opportunities to develop their confidence, self- esteem and social skills and help develop healthy relationships. Young people enjoy going to the gym, playing football and going for bike rides.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to see their families and friends. They make sure that spending time with these important people is a safe and positive experience for young people. Staff make sure that young people can take part in activities with their friends and families. A young person said, ‘Staff pay for me to go trampolining with my brother.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people’s physical health and emotional well-being. They encourage young people to play a role in looking after their own health. Staff help young people to recognise the importance of healthy lifestyles, a nutritious diet and being active. Most young people go to the dentist regularly and have the treatment that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people get good health advice and guidance so they can make informed choices about their own health needs and care. When young people are reluctant to engage with health services, staff encourage them to accept the support. Staff work with the health professionals to make sure that the service continues to be available for the young person when they feel able to use it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to develop emotional resilience and practical skills to live independently. They are making a valuable contribution to the plans for young people’s future. Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 5

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

The manager and staff have created a home where children feel safe and are protected from harm. Young people have a strong sense of safety and well-being. They see the staff as people they can trust. They talk to staff when they are worried or have a problem. A young person said, ‘Staff are fantastic. I can talk to any of them.’

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

Staff’s knowledge and professional practice protects young people from harm. They use up-to-date and well-informed risk assessments and plans to reduce the dangers to young people’s safety. The quality of care that young people receive is helping them to become increasingly safer from the risk of going missing from home, self-harm, crime, aggression and exploitation.

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

Staff recognise when children are at risk of harm. They take decisive action when they have serious concerns about a young person going missing from home or being at risk of criminal exploitation. The manager escalates her concerns when the plans are not protecting young people . This has included requesting multi-agency risk management meetings and for an early review of a young person’s plan.

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

The manager and staff use well-established partnerships with children’s services, the police, youth offending service and support services, such as Catch 22, to understand the dangers, identify support and develop a plan to keep young people safe.

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

Staff work closely with other professionals to help young people to understand risks and how to manage their personal safety. They encourage young people to make good choices about their safety, understand about negative relationships and how to get help when they need it .

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

Staff make sure that they know where young people are when they go out. They keep in regular contact with young people by text message, telephone calls and routinely go out to see them. Young people are getting much better at keeping in touch with staff and coming home on time.

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

The manager and staff provide young people with secure and consistent relationships, which are helping young people to become emotionally resilient. Staff understand that young people may struggle to trust adults. They think carefully about the best ways to engage young people positively and find ways to help them.

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

Staff know young people extremely well and know how best to help them to manage their feelings and frustrations. Staff are calm and patient. They give young people the time and space to talk through what is upsetting them. They are helping young people to develop the skills to manage their emotions safely. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘Staff have supported and nurtured the young person. They see past his history to see him as an individual. They have worked on the positives, giving him responsibility, and he has lapped this up. They are straight with him and he is in the right place to do well.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an effective, well-organised and confident leader. Her child-focused approach has created an aspirational environment that is improving the lives of young people, regardless of the complexity of their needs. The manager is also in charge of another children’s home and demonstrates the capability to lead both homes appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads a caring, experienced, knowledgeable staff team. Staff have the confidence and skills to meet the young people’s individual needs. The manager and staff work hard to make sure that young people live in a safe and nurturing home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager use thorough monitoring systems to make improvements to the quality of care that young people receive. They have a detailed understanding of the progress each young person is making and the priorities for their care. They identify when young people are struggling and have a strong commitment to working through the difficulties to improve things.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager actively brings the wider support network together to deal with the problems that young people are experiencing. She works effectively with the other professionals to make sure that young people’s needs are assessed and understood fully so that they receive the best possible support to help them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager provide each member of staff with very good support, guidance and encouragement. Staff use practice-related supervision and team meetings to reflect on their practice and their development needs and the needs, experiences and progress of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff use good-quality training and development programmes to improve their skills, knowledge and competence. Their learning and development are tailored to the needs of the young people they are looking after. Staff are also supported to complete the necessary qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, young people’s views about their experiences living in the home are not always used to improve the quality of care that they receive. Their views are not included in the review of the quality of care report and the independent person does always speak to young people when he monitors the conduct of the home. Furthermore, the independent person does not consult with young people’s families and the professionals supporting them to inform his assessment of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records of staff’s individual work with young people do not always evaluate the effectiveness of the work and young people’s responses or identifies what needs to happen next to help them. Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 7

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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: SC065789 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC065789 9 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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