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

Inspection report children’s home: SC394875 1 SC394875 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 part of a private organisation that runs several children’s homes . It accommodates up to two children who have complex needs and emotional and behavioural difficulties. The manager registered with Ofsted in 2011 and is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 September 2019

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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: 6 September 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC394875 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2018 Full Good 17/10/2017 Full Good 03/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC394875 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare . In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 31/10/2019

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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— if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that 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)(b)(3)(d)) This is in relation to the recruitment of agency workers. 30/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children. The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation . (Regulation 39(1)(3)) 30/10/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair, and the above principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36) Ensure that senior staff members are offered a debrief and that someone independent to the incident undertakes the debrief of other staff involved in the Inspection report children’s home: SC394875 4 incident.  All children’s case records (regulation 36) 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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered several opportunities to engage in one-to-one work with staff and managers. This enables them to share their wishes and feelings and reflect on issues that may be worrying them. It also provides children with the chance to develop a positive and trusting relationship with staff. Staff support children to engage in different leisure activities at the home and in the community. These activities include attending local clubs, going to the park, going on days out, and playing on the Xbox with staff. One child aspires to become a football referee and the home has supported him with opportunities to attend a course to develop his skills. As a result of participating in different activities, children develop new skills and confidence, while having fun. Children have access to therapeutic support through the organisation’s therapist. When children refuse to engage with this, staff work closely with the therapist to develop a

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

good understanding of children’s needs and how to help them. This enables staff to support children effectively. Staff support children to be healthy and attend GP, dentist and optician appointments as needed. This helps to ensure that children’s physical health needs are met. Staff work well with the children to maintain basic routines and expectations around independence. Staff understand that children struggle with this, and support them with personal care, washing, cooking and keeping their bedrooms clean. This ensures that children learn independence skills at a pace that is right for them. They also learn to take pride in themselves and the environment around them. Children engage readily in education and their attendance is good. Staff communicate well with children’s teachers, which means that information about children’s needs is appropriately shared and this supports children’s progress. However, there is a delay in

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the home receiving minutes and action plans from meetings such as personal education plan reviews and annual reviews of children’s education, health and care plans. While this has not had a direct impact on children’s progress to date, it has the potential to do so because staff cannot easily track whether any recommendations raised are followed up.

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

Since the last inspection, one child has experienced significant emotional turmoil and, as a result, has directed his anger and frustration towards staff and the home. Dedicated and committed staff explore the reasons behind the child’s behaviour and have adapted Inspection report children’s home: SC394875 5 their techniques to better support him. This has helped the child to have the space to explore his feelings in a safe and supportive environment. Children’s risk assessments and behaviour managements plans are detailed and updated to reflect changes in risks and strategies. Staff implement the strategies and guidance set out in these documents well, and this enables them to reduce and manage risk to help keep children safe. Staff promote positive behaviour by giving children regular rewards and minimal negative consequences. This approach helps children to feel valued and raises their self- esteem. It also helps children to understand their behaviour and make more positive

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

choices. Staff and managers have explored different strategies to try to de-escalate children’s behaviour. However, physical intervention is needed at times to keep children and others safe from harm. There is some good management oversight of restraint incidents. However, when managers are involved in a restraint, they do not receive a debrief, and furthermore they review the incident that they have been involved in. This does not provide for independent scrutiny of all restraint incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A stable and experienced management team runs this home, and children benefit from strong leadership, stability and consistency. Staff feel valued and supported by managers and each other. They work well as a team and feel listened to. Managers offer experienced staff the opportunity to develop and progress their career within the organisation. This enables the home to retain experienced and skilled staff. New staff benefit from the support of experienced staff and managers. All staff receive regular supervision and appraisals. Effective supervision allows staff to reflect on and develop their practice. Professionals working with staff, such as local authority social workers and the police community support officer, state that staff communicate well with them and keep them informed of children’s progress and any concerns. This keeps relevant partners up to date and enables them to offer appropriate support to staff and children when required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers track children’s progress, undertaking a monthly review of what is working well and any difficulties. This helps them to understand where children are at and to set targets to further support children’s development. This good practice means that staff have a sound understanding of children’s strengths and needs and how to meet these needs. Staff undertake a range of mandatory online training courses and have access to some face-to-face specialist training, including from the organisation’s therapist. However, not all staff have received training in self-harm, including ligature training, to fully understand how to manage these risks. This has the potential to limit staff’s ability to respond to such risks effectively. Managers ensure that staff who are recruited by the organisation to work at the home are subject to thorough recruitment checks. However, when recruiting through employment agencies, managers do not have all the required information for agency

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

workers, such as employment history, references and qualifications. This means that Inspection report children’s home: SC394875 6 managers do not know if agency staff have the skills, experience and qualifications to meet children’s needs. Generally, the home has a good system in place to respond to and deal with complaints. However, on two occasions when a parent made a complaint, the records do not show if the parent was informed of the outcome of their complaint. Therefore, it is not clear if parents know how their complaint was dealt with and what the outcome was.

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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: SC394875 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

Shazana Jamal, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC394875 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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