Children's Home run by Amicus Residential Care Ltd in Reading

Inspection report children’s home: SC059221 1 SC059221 Registered provider: Causeway Care Homes Ltd

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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 privately run and provides emergency as well as long-term placements for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since March 2007.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 31 October 2018

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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: SC059221 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 19/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC059221 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 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; or 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— 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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 01/01/2020

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high Inspection report children’s home: SC059221 4 quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. They should also play a key role in shaping the ethos of the home through developing a culture of high aspiration for children which is demonstrated through the care, resources and opportunities offered to the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.04)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide consistently good-quality care and support to children. As a result, children make good progress. The established staff team focuses on building and developing relationships with children. This enables children to seek help, advice and support from staff that they know well. Children’s aims, hopes and aspirations are a focus of the staff’s attention. Children and staff all enjoyed the recent holiday, and this enabled relationships to develop further.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported by staff to engage in, and attend, school. Those who have previously struggled with education are supported to explore and consider all of their options, choices and opportunities. Staff work closely with other professionals to develop individual education plans, programmes and timetables to support those who have fears and anxieties about their learning. Staff support children to explore and prepare for future employment and work experience opportunities. However, staff have not ensured that there is clarity and consistency regarding daily routines for those children who are not yet in full-time education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend regular appointments to manage their basic healthcare needs. Staff support and encourage children to develop awareness in how they address their own emotional and physical healthcare needs. Staff refer children to specialist health services when necessary and seek specialist advice and guidance about smoking cessation, the impact of substance misuse and healthy eating.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain relationships with family and friends. Staff work closely with children and their families to ensure that this time is a positive and safe experience for all. Staff regularly advise, guide and talk with children about positive safe friendships and relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children develop their independence and life skills. Staff do this by providing children with a variety of activities. Children are supported to shop and prepare basic meals and undertake basic laundry and household domestic tasks. These skills support children to prepare for adulthood. Staff ensure that children are fully involved in decisions about the home. Children give their views through the regular house meetings, key-work sessions and daily conversations. An example of how the children and staff have worked together is the creation of an all-weather outside seating area, which is Inspection report children’s home: SC059221 5 enjoyed by all.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that they apply effective safer recruitment practices and processes. For example, they did not explore or scrutinise an applicant’s previous employment history or ascertain the reasons for gaps in the person’s employment history. Furthermore, leaders and managers have failed to ensure that recruitment procedures for specialist workers are applied consistently.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is well presented, although managers have not ensured that the home environment is safe. During the inspection, household cleaning products were not stored securely and firefighting equipment was overdue a service. These shortfalls mean that children live in a home where their safety is neither prioritised nor protected.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff respond in a timely manner to safeguarding concerns by reporting and referring to relevant safeguarding agencies. Managers and staff are well informed about risk factors and signs of potential concern. Staff are vigilant and help and support children to keep safe. Managers respond to and investigate complaints from children and others. Outcome are provided, and this means that the views of children, and others, are respected and listened to.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond well to episodes of children going missing and they follow agreed plans. They work well with other specialist services to ensure that they collectively consider risk and how best to manage it. Children have reduced the frequency of going missing since living at the home. Staff regularly advise and guide children about the impact of risk- taking behaviours. Children also undertake online learning that supplements their knowledge and understanding of keeping safe.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff are trained in the home’s preferred method of behaviour management. Staff rarely use physical intervention and prefer to manage behaviour using a wide variety of de-escalation techniques and conversations. Staff regularly reward children for making good choices, attending education, positive behaviour and achievements. On the rare occasion a child is given a negative consequence, it is linked directly to the behaviour or cause and is restorative. If a child breaks an item they purchase a replacement item or contribute to a new one.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager of the home is also the responsible individual. The stable, longstanding staff team has been in place for several years and this has had a positive impact on the children and the team. Staff are clear about their roles and the needs of each child in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff all access regular and effective supervision and have annual appraisals. Staff have access to a wide variety of training that is relevant to their roles. All staff have achieved Inspection report children’s home: SC059221 6 the required qualification and those within their induction are well supported to develop and progress their skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has some effective systems for monitoring the quality of care provided by the staff team. The care provided to children is regularly reviewed by an independent visitor who applies a robust additional layer of scrutiny and oversight to the home. The manager’s own regular reviews of the home have identified areas to improve and develop. These areas are explored in the home’s development and action plan. The manager has clarity and understanding of the home’s strengths and weakness and areas that she wishes to develop and improve further. She has been well supported and supervised by an independent consultant, who has supported and challenged her to develop the home and her leadership skills. The manager and staff have acted on, and addressed, the previous requirements and recommendations made during the last inspection of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff form positive working relationships with other professionals. They regularly meet with others to review children’s care, needs and plans to consider the most appropriate way to support children to progress. Leaders and managers welcome comments and feedback from others, review practice and implement change to improve the individual care provided.

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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: SC059221 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Causeway Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 118B Oxford Road, Reading RG1 7NQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela MacDonald

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Inspector

Amanda Maxwell, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC059221 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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