Children's Home run by Compass Children‟s Homes Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for five children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager position is currently vacant, as the previous manager cancelled her registration on 1 November 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 November 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/07/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 04/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome any such barriers. (Regulation 8(1), (2)(a)(iii)) 31/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(1), (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff report any allegation of abuse immediately to a senior manager within the home and that any allegation is addressed in line with the home’s child protection policy. 31/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that–

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 31/12/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 4 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(f)) The care planning standard is that children–

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. 31/12/2019

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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)) 31/12/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 5

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improvement to be good

Young people’s progress at the home has been variable. Since the last inspection, nine young people have been discharged. Some have made a positive transition into semi- independence or returned to their birth family. However, for five young people either the home or the local authority gave notice on their placement. For them, the matching of their needs was weak and the young people had a detrimental influence upon each other. For example, incidents of being missing from home and damage to the home significantly increased. One young person, reflecting on his time at the home, said: ‘It has been very disruptive. There have been so many kids that have come and gone.’

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improvement to be good

All young people in placement are offered education via tuition at the home. To supplement this limited formal learning, staff offer a varied programme of educational activities. Although staff encourage their learning, young people do not fully engage with this programme, which limits their progress in this area.

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improvement to be good

Young people enjoy and value a range of individualised leisure activities that the staff offer. These activities provide opportunities to have fun and develop their relationships with staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff spend time with young people, listening to them and offering advice. This work includes, for some young people, successful progress towards developing independence and learning life skills, for example travelling on public transport and budgeting skills. One young person gave a presentation to the staff on the savings that could be achieved in the weekly home’s budget.

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improvement to be good

Over time, young people begin to trust and develop relationships with the staff. As a result, some young people’s previously exhibited behaviour decreases. For example, one social worker commented: ‘She would [previously] ring and text, constantly in crisis, and that is not happening anymore.’

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improvement to be good

Some young people in the home are offered in-house therapeutic input, and staff have been creative in encouraging them to attend following their initial refusal to engage.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there has been a high number of incidents of being missing from home and incidents requiring physical intervention. This is reflective of the influence that some young people were having upon each other. Following the discharge of these young people, these incidents have declined.

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improvement to be good

Not all allegations that young people have made about staff conduct have been referred to the manager or appropriately investigated. The outcomes of some complaints by Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 6 young people are unclear and incomplete in their enquiries. This reduces any potential learning from these incidents.

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improvement to be good

When young people have been missing from home, staff are active in searching for them and ensuring that the procedures and protocols are followed. Staff understand young people’s vulnerabilities and the risks that some of their behaviours pose to their welfare and safety.

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improvement to be good

Young people say that they feel safe at the home and that staff spend time talking to them about managing their feelings and relationships with others. Plans to help to protect young people are adequately reviewed and updated by the staff and followed in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes in staffing at the home. The previous manager, registered in August 2018, cancelled her registration in November 2019. In total, eight members of staff have left and nine new members of staff have joined the home. The current acting manager is applying for the post of manager and intends to submit her application for registration to Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The management team is aware of the presenting shortfalls in appropriately managing admissions to the home and has introduced new matching processes for future referrals. Other improvements include updating young people’s impact risk assessments. However, the benefit of these developments is not yet apparent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have access to a wide range of training, and they are further supported in their roles by newly introduced peer supervision and individual supervision programmes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are systems in place for the review of care offered to young people and to identify the changes that are necessary. However, these do not currently include evaluation and analysis of the educational timetable that is offered by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff do not accurately record the actual educational activities that young people engage in and, in some records, this data was inaccurate. This means that educational staff and placing authorities are not fully aware of the programme provided to young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 7

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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 difference 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: 1232658 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mountfields House, Epinal Way, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3GE

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Inspectors

Pauline Yates, social care inspector Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1232658 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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