Children's home run by New Start in Sefton

Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 1 SC409738 Registered provider: New Start

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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 several owned and managed by a private company. The home provides care and support for up to four young people who can no longer live at home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since 18 January 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: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/06/2018 Full Good 15/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 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 ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) 29/11/2019

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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) Specifically, review the use of Close circuit television (CCTV) and signage in the home.  Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps that the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

In particular, any requests to intercept a young person’s mail.  All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date. Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. 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 14.3, 14.4 and 14.5) In particular, that records are clear, concise and reflect the needs of each young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a caring and nurturing environment in which they receive care and support that brings stability to their lives. They receive the help that they need to recover from harmful experiences and to move forward in their lives. Social workers acknowledged that their young people are making steady and sustained progress because of the support that they receive. Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 4 Young people’s documentation is not yet recorded effectively. This is because plans, including risk assessments and care plans, contain generic information that is not relevant to the young person. Furthermore, records are not recorded clearly and concisely. The impact of this is minimal because staff have a very good understanding of each young person’s needs, vulnerabilities and risks and take effective action to support them daily.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people feel safe to trust staff and accept their help and support. Staff build warm, consistent and positive relationships with young people. They show young people that they care about them and know what is important to them. Staff listen carefully to what young people have to say and help them to be involved in making the decisions about their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work tirelessly to ensure that young people access education. This is successful because young people are returning to school after extended periods of non-attendance. Other young people are enjoying school and college and are making good progress. This is reflected in their positive school reports.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person may gain part-time employment because of their engagement on project work. An independent reviewing officer (IRO) commented on the staff’s commitment to ensure that the young person attended the project. The IRO said that ‘this was the making’ of the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a wide range of activities and experiences. Staff use young people’s interests to extend their learning opportunities, for example arranging an archaeological dig to encourage young people’s engagement in learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are increasing in confidence, self-esteem and independence. They are encouraged to keep their rooms tidy, help to sort their laundry and organise the menu for the week ahead. Older young people who will be moving into their own homes are gaining confidence in budgeting for household bills and other items.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are adept at using every opportunity to educate and increase young people’s awareness of the world around them. This includes the dangers around knife crime, county lines and using drugs. Consequently, young people can make informed choices and as result some are reducing their use of cannabis and cigarettes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Arrangements for young people to see their family are managed well. Staff build positive relationships with the young people’s families, which helps to keep young people safe. Family and friends are actively encouraged to come to the home and spend time here and share a meal with the young people.

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

The manager and staff have created a safe home environment that protects young people from harm. Young people feel safe and have a sense of belonging. They know that they can talk to staff about their worries and that the staff will help them to be safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 5 Young people are now safer from the risks of abuse, exploitation, and going missing from home.

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

The home has recently been asked to intercept a young person’s mail. Discussions have taken place with the social worker as to why this is needed. However, this has not been written into the placing authority’s plans and does not promote transparency.

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

Episodes of being missing from home are a current concern for one young person. Staff are working effectively in partnership with the social worker, police and the independent visitor to try to reduce this. Professionals working with the young person said that they have ‘nothing but praise for the staff’. They said that the staff are proactive in trying to keep the young person safe, but at this time the draw of being with friends is too much.

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

Young people are increasingly able to manage their emotions and moderate their behaviour. This has seen a marked reduction in incidents within the home. Staff use rewards effectively to help to change young people’s behaviour. Rewards are personalised to each young person, for example for attending education, which has resulted in an increase in school attendance.

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

Young people live in a welcoming, family home. Their bedrooms are personalised and reflect the interests of each young person. One young person is becoming skilled at carpentry and has made several items for the home which are used daily.

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

CCTV is used both externally and internally. The reason for using this internally is not clear and is an invasion of young people’s privacy. Action was taken during the inspection to remove this from some areas of the home. However, this would benefit from further review to ensure that its use remains compliant with the current guidance.

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

There are several signs around the home such as ‘Young People’s Corner’ and ‘Art Corner’. These are not in keeping with a homely environment. One young person commented that this made it ‘feel institutionalised’ and not a home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a confident manager who is passionate about his role. He works in partnership with the deputy manager to ensure that the young people and staff are fully supported, and their individual needs are met. Together, they are creating an environment that is changing young people’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective staffing arrangements ensure that there are enough suitable, experienced and qualified staff available to meet the young people’s needs. Staff work together cohesively, and the day-to-day care of young people provides them with good levels of support and supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is aware that record-keeping has improved but remains an issue in some areas. The home is trialling an electronic recording system, and this is the reason some of the issues have arisen at this inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 6 There has been one recent complaint. This was investigated by an independent manager within the organisation. This appears to have been investigated appropriately. However, the young person has made a comment, during a young people’s meeting, that they do not think it was handled well. This information has not been passed to the manager for further investigation. In general, the recording of complaint investigations and outcomes are poor. This does not provide the complainant with a true reflection of the action taken, information gathered or the outcome.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the home is improving. The manager acts quickly to address any issues that arise, such as discussions regarding the use of CCTV. The registered manager is very aware of the home’s strengths in that they now have a full staff team and no longer require the use of agency staff. This has improved the consistency of care for 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 Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Job Bank, 4 Tunnel Road, Liverpool L7 6QD

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Inspector

Chris Scully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC409738 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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