Children's home run by Teen-Works Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2503574 1 Registered provider: Teen-Works Care 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

The home is one of three homes owned by a private company. The home provides care and support for up to three young people who are no longer able to live at home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since February 2019. She is also the manager of another home in the company.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since registration. No young people were present during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2503574 2

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person has a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 Regulations 35-39 detail the records that must be kept in a children’s home. All children’s case records (regulation 36), must be kept up to date. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) In particular, the healthcare plans and risk assessments should reflect all the action and support necessary to support young people.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information in a non-stigmatising way, and record it in a way that will be helpful to the child. The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.4, 14.5) In particular, reconsider the use of some terminology, such as the word ‘absconding’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been caring for young people since July 2019. Currently one young person is living the home, but was staying with their family at the time of inspection. Social workers are complimentary about the staff and the support that the young people have received.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a caring, nurturing and supportive home where they receive the help that they need to recover from traumatic and harmful experiences and develop in a positive way. Staff have a good understanding of the young people’s needs and build positive relationships with them. Staff said that the young people happily sit and talk to them about things that are upsetting them. This helps young people come to terms with what is happening around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In the short time that young people were here they made positive steps with regards to their health and well-being. These included attending medical appointments and considering ways in which to reduce their use of alcohol, recreational drugs and cigarettes. This has been an improvement for young people as they have not attended appointments before. Social workers are complimentary about the support the young people receive. Inspection report children’s home: 2503574 3 Healthcare plans and risk assessments reflect the needs of the young people. However, on one occasion they did not make clear the required action to take, for example contacting health professionals for advice, when a young person returned home under the influence of an unknown substance. This could have further increased the young person’s vulnerability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are consulted on all aspects of their care and their views are interwoven throughout their plans. This includes their desire to see family members more frequently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to develop their independence according to their individual needs. They carry out tasks such as helping to do their own laundry, choosing the menus, and shopping for personal and household items.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Arrangements for young people moving in or out of the home are planned well. Young people are encouraged to visit the home on several occasions, choose their bedroom and begin the process of decorating it. A social worker said that this had worked well for their young person and helped them to settle in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s time with their families and friends is carefully and sensitively managed. Consequently, young people enjoy the opportunities to spend time with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s education is well supported. Staff genuinely want each young person to do well in school. They work closely with school staff and are quick to identify any issues that may impact negatively on a young person. This means they can quickly resolve any emerging issues.

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

Safeguarding practice is secure. The registered manager responds quickly and sensitively to safeguarding issues, and this helps to keep young people safe. Staff understand good safeguarding practice.

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

Staff understand the young people’s vulnerabilities. Some young people do go missing, and staff are quick to initiate effective systems to locate them and bring them home safely. Staff work hard to keep young people safe, however they are realistic in acknowledging when the home may not be the right place for them. In such cases, they work in partnership with social workers and other professionals to secure alternative accommodation for the young person.

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

Clear rules and boundaries are consistently applied. This means young people know what is expected of them, such as handing over their mobile phones at night. Staff have a clear insight into the reasons behind young people’s behaviour. They work positively with young people to find the best ways for them to express their emotions and moderate their behaviour.

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

Young people live in a warm, welcoming family home. They personalise their own bedrooms and help staff to choose soft furnishings and items for the home. Inspection report children’s home: 2503574 4 Recruitment and vetting procedures are effective. Swift action is taken in response to any concerns made about staff. This ensures transparency and keeps young people safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A qualified and very experienced manager leads the home. She is supported well by her deputy and staff team. The registered manager brings with her a wealth of experience that has enabled the staff to build a strong, solid foundation for the development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is very aware of the strengths and areas of development for the home. However, this has not yet been formalised into her workforce development plan. The diverse skills and experiences of staff are utilised well to support young people and each other. Staff said that they have been very well supported, especially in the last few weeks, which have been particularly challenging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with good support and encouragement. They have regular opportunities, through practice-related supervision and team meetings, to reflect on their work and to develop their practice. Staff respond quickly and effectively to the ever-changing needs of young people, especially in challenging situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records and documentation are generally well maintained. However, not all are recorded to the same good standard, and this means that the story of a young person’s time here could get lost. A contributory factor may be that the home is using both electronic and paper records. Words such as ‘absconding’ have been used on occasion to reflect when a young person has been missing from the home. This is not appropriate. The registered manager is aware of these issues and a move to using the electronic records is due to commence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the home is evolving and is contributing well to the ongoing development of the service. The registered manager has delegated effectively specific roles to staff, such as fire safety. This promotes their areas of interest and individual responsibility.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are continually looking at different ways of working with young people. They use practice-based research, such as information relating to adverse childhood experiences, to help young people to understand the impact of past experiences and to help them to consider ways of moving on from these.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: 2503574 5 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

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Information about this inspection

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: 2503574 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lonsdale & Marsh Ltd, Cotton House, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, Liverpool L3 9TX

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Inspector

Chris Scully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2503574 7 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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