Children's Home run by Friends Therapeutic Community Trust in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC025733 1 SC025733 Registered provider: Friends Therapeutic Community Trust

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A charitable community trust runs this home, which provides a therapeutic programme of care for up to 17 young people. The home caters for a specific range of needs, as detailed in the statement of purpose. The facilities include a registered on-site school and vocational workshops to support accredited work-based learning courses. The community is jointly registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The manager of the home registered with Ofsted in November 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 14 to 15 November 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: 5 February 2019

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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: SC025733 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2019 Full Good 04/10/2017 Full Outstanding 23/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/09/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC025733 3

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that all areas of the building are homely and welcoming.  Please see regulation 23. Care must be taken to ensure that prescribed medicines are only administered to the individual for whom they are prescribed. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. Records must be kept of the administration of all medication, which includes occasions when prescribed medication is refused. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15) In particular, ensure that records relating to medication errors are clear and detail what action has been taken to understand how the error may have occurred and

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Recommendations

what has been done to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual young people in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the young person must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, ensure that records relating to safeguarding and significant incidents are consistently clear and will be of use to anyone, including the young people, who accesses these in the future.  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should

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Recommendations

include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) In particular, give full consideration to the risks posed by the nearby roads. Inspection report children’s home: SC025733 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a good home. The young people receive support from staff who care for and understand them and get on well with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people make progress because of the support that they receive. Young people recognise the progress that they have made. One young person said, ‘It’s good. I am responsible. I get it now. I didn’t before. I was chaos.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Families and professionals reinforce these messages of progress. A social worker said, ‘He is safer as a result of being here. He is having to address his offending behaviour. He is getting better strategies, and that is big progress.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff seek young people’s views, as a matter of course, on issues that affect them. Twice-daily community meetings are a valuable resource. The young people said that staff listen to them and that they feel that the staff care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The approach to transition is strong. Dedicated staff maintain contact with young people for up to 18 months after they move on. The same staff link with other professionals to ensure a comprehensive approach to preparing young people for their transition. This approach includes helping young people to budget and learn to cook. This work also goes further, with carefully arranged week-long independence trips.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have pride in the home. They are keen to improve practice, and have recently developed young people’s achievement files, which provide good evidence of activities that young people have been involved in. These files have the potential to develop into positive keepsakes for the young people and provide good evidence of the progress that they have made and the positive experiences that they have had.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people can personalise their rooms and many have done this to good effect. However, some areas of the building remain tired and require attention, which continues to affect the warmth and homeliness of the environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Arrangements for the handling of medication are overseen by a dedicated member of staff. Staff are trained, and regular audits take place. However, when errors occur, records do not outline what action has been taken and when.

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

Safeguarding is effective. Young people feel safe and they can talk to staff if they have worries or concerns. The young people participate in the twice-daily community meetings, during which they feel safe enough to raise issues and talk though incidents.

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

An external advocate visits the home each month and is known to the young people. This provides an additional person with whom the young people can raise concerns. In Inspection report children’s home: SC025733 5 addition, senior managers are known to the young people.

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

There are very few occasions when young people go missing. When this does occur, it is taken seriously, and the staff actively look for the young people.

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

There have been very few physical interventions since the last inspection. Management monitoring of these incidents has improved. Fortnightly management meetings now take place and include reviewing and monitoring of incident records.

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

When concerns about staff conduct arise, the managers liaise appropriately with safeguarding professionals.

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

Bullying is rare at this home. However, when bullying does occur the records are not as clear as they should be. The records of safeguarding incidents need to improve. The records in their current form offer little to no value to any young person who may wish to access them in the future. The records are difficult to navigate, and some hand- written entries are difficult to read.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced social worker who has worked in the home for 10 years now manages the home. She is respected by colleagues and professionals alike. The change of registered manager has been smooth and well managed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is well informed and insightful about the needs of the young people and the difference that the home makes to them. These factors have contributed to a staff team that is dedicated and reflective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high expectations both in terms of the staff and the young people. She is proactive in challenging other professionals when they do not provide the level or quality of service that the young people deserve. For example, the manager and staff helped a young person to make a complaint, and when this was not successful they submitted their own. This led to a change in the service that the young person received.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access supervisions and support and a range of training opportunities. They said that they are well led and supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is self-aware and has a realistic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Managers have addressed the requirements raised at the last inspection. However, two of the four recommendations have not been fully addressed and will be restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals spoke of a warm, engaging staff team that supports the young people. They said that communication is good. A social worker said, about their child, ‘Since he has been there, he has been much calmer, more grounded, more sensible and grown up. He has a lovely relationship with his key worker and feels safe with her.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC025733 6 Managers have not ensured that the risks posed by unlit, pathless, national speed limit roads have been sufficiently explored. The location risk assessment, although updated since the last inspection, does not sufficiently consider these risks. There has been limited consideration of what to do if a child goes missing during periods of darkness, and therefore predictable risks are not mitigated.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC025733 7 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: SC025733 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Friends Therapeutic Community Trust

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Brock-Hollinshead

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Inspector

Ashley Hinson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC025733 9 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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