Children's Home run by Meadows Care Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 1 SC460593 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a company and provides therapeutic care and accommodation for young people on a short-, medium- and long-term basis. The home also offers 28- day assessments. It is the aim of the home to help the young people stabilise and provide them with a safe, secure environment to develop and progress. The young people are supported by motivated staff and therapists to achieve positive outcomes. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2018. She holds her level 3 diploma in social care and is due to complete her level 5 diploma in leadership and management in December 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 23 to 24 September 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/06/2018 Full Good 14/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/05/2017 Full Good 06/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff make substantial efforts to know and understand the needs of the young people extremely well and adapt plans to the individual young person’s needs. The young people have made significant progress in all aspects of their lives as a result of the attentive staff team and consistent, high-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff actively involve the young people in making decisions about the home and their care plans. Their involvement has resulted in very personalised care and a welcoming home. The young people feel relaxed and consider the staff their family because of the high levels of engagement and the very strong relationships that the staff have with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff team has worked closely with the young people, and their schools and colleges, to support the young people to re-engage with education. This close network has been very effective. Staff commit their time in the home to ensuring that homework and tasks set by school are completed. The young people have made exceptional progress from their starting points. They have achieved high levels of attendance, qualifications and awards, which have increased their confidence and have provided them with a strong base to continue to develop.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people’s health needs are quickly identified, and action is taken by the staff team to work with other professionals when needed. This timely response has significantly improved the development of one young person. The young person is now more independent in respect of taking care of her own health and she is able to ask for help when needed. This is a very positive achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff are able to identify and source specialist help, and they undertake specific and individualised work with the young people when they need additional support. These additional resources include drug and alcohol workers, therapists and workers who understand various forms of exploitation. The staff have built and maintained links and proactively secured targeted resources for themselves to ensure that positive work continues with the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young people are the focus of everything the staff team does. Support plans are innovative and individualised, and the team members are creative in their way of working and supporting the young people. For example, the team has used the large garden space to build the confidence and involvement of the young people, including having sunflower growing competitions and growing their own vegetables. The young people are more settled, want to be involved and have a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The therapeutic involvement supports the team through consultation, training and attendance at team meetings. The training enables staff to have a clear understanding of the therapeutic model that underpins all aspects of the young people’s care. The staff work with the therapist to apply their knowledge and implement new strategies with a Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 4 firm foundation in research. The therapist said: ‘The team is really creative around the staff’s own ideas rather than having to rely on the therapist to give them strategies.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people’s progress is well documented and is celebrated. The young people are encouraged to be involved in recognising their own achievements and how they want to celebrate them. The young people’s progress is recorded in numerous ways, including my life at [Name of home], positive pages, scrapbooks and my life and me books. The young people are encouraged to add to their records and staff take pride in completing these to show the young people the progress they have made. The effort provided by staff in ensuring that the young people recognise the positive progress they have made builds their confidence and enables them to have pride in themselves.

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

Serious incidents and episodes of going missing from home have significantly reduced as a result of the work undertaken by the staff team. The staff have worked with other professionals to enhance their own knowledge in relation to areas of risk. The staff have applied the knowledge to educate the young people on risks, giving the young people the skills to keep themselves safe.

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

When incidents happen, these are addressed quickly, and work is done with the young people in a personalised way. One young person has worked with staff to develop her own questionnaire which is used following any incident to help her to recognise her own actions more easily. As a result, young people are able to discuss their actions with staff and are provided with a safe space to continue to learn and develop.

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

Restorative practice with the young people is central to helping them recognise their own behaviour. The young people have worked with staff to pick appropriate sanctions and consequences when needed. Young people are able to learn from their actions and sanctions and, as a result, consequences are minimal.

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

Risks are robustly identified and appropriately assessed for the individual young person’s age and stage of development. Young people are supported to identify their own risks and how to manage these. When restrictions are put in place, these are necessary and with the young person’s involvement. The young people are willing to accept the restrictions as they understand them and accept that staff treat them the same as a good parent would to keep them safe.

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

The staff focus on positive behaviour. The young people all have individual goals in place. These goals, which the young people have chosen themselves, improve areas of their lives and develop their life skills. The goals are realistic and achievable, and the young people consistently complete them, which demonstrates the progress they are making.

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

Staff know the young people extremely well and are able to respond quickly to the young people’s emotions and presenting behaviours to prevent and de-escalate incidents effectively. The young people do not need physical intervention to keep them safe as Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 5 they have learned to self-regulate because of the nurturing staff team. The young people have trust in the staff to give them the support that they need, when they need it.

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

Child protection concerns are immediately escalated, and the young people are supported extremely effectively throughout any investigation. The support given to them has resulted in one young person feeling safe to be able to make a disclosure. The disclosure has enabled the young person to access further support as well as helping her to recognise that she had a right for her voice to be heard.

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

The team has extensive knowledge of different aspects of risk, including sexual and criminal exploitation, the effects of county lines and contextual safeguarding. The staff frequently refresh their knowledge and apply it to the care that they provide. The staff work with the young people in a way which appears natural and effortless. This approach is consistent and ensures that the young people know they are safe and that they build on their own knowledge and skills to prepare them for adult life when staff will no longer be available to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is highly ambitious for the young people’s outcomes and has high expectations of the staff team. She is driven by her commitment to improve the lives of the young people and the current young people view the staff team as their family. The nurturing, warm and safe environment creates a positive environment for all young people to thrive, including those who are working towards returning to their families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team works consistently with the young people and is adaptable to new ideas. Recent changes to the team have been managed effectively to reduce the effect on the young people and to maintain the consistency of the way the team works. This has resulted in a smooth transition and continuous progress for the young people. The staff team has been recognised by the company for its consistent, high-quality care of the young people. The staff have celebrated their achievements, most recently an evening out organised by the provider.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager works hard to develop positive relationships with the relevant agencies to meet the children’s needs in a timely way. The manager and staff are able to access support quickly and easily and they are confident in doing so. Young people are supported more effectively because of the positive relationships with other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has clear oversight of the home and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the work that the staff are doing. She is passionate at identifying and improving any weaknesses and implements action plans to improve practice. The team is also made aware of its strengths and weaknesses as she shares these with the staff and asks for their involvement to continuously improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Supervisions and debriefs are reflective and detailed. They allow the staff to explore their own feelings. Their overall well-being benefits from the support they receive from the manager. Evaluation of events, training and development needs affect practice and Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 6 future plans to continue to provide a high standard of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is innovative in encouraging the team members to develop their skills and to keep them up to date. All staff are expected to be proactive at being aware of new research and to share their learning in team meetings. The focus of the learning varies and includes building on their understanding of the young people as well as wider social issues, such as understanding methods for taking drugs or identifying misuse of alcohol. The staff advance their own learning and development that culminates in a strong team which can collectively use the knowledge and understanding to consistently support the young people to a very high standard. The manager is proactive in using research and sharing her knowledge with the team in a way that is understandable and that the staff can then apply to their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has successfully created a warm and inviting environment where the needs of the young people and the staff are consistently met. The manager has created a culture in which creativity, innovation and development are encouraged and promoted to achieve the best possible outcomes for the young people.

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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 home (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Debra Boldy: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC460593 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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