Children's Home run by Island Choices Ltd in Isle of Wight

Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 1 SC399866 Registered provider: Island Choices 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 one of two operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children. The home was last inspected in October 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 4 August 2009.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 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 outstanding

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2018 Full Good 05/10/2017 Full Good 02/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 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 children’s views, wishes and feeling standard is that children receive care from staff who— take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff— help the child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c)(2)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, provide further ways for the children to be involved in decision-making about their lives. 23/12/2019

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Recommendations

 Any home using CCTV or other monitoring equipment should have a written policy describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home in accordance with regulation 24. Homes must gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the existing policy is reviewed to include current legislation and guidance. Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people who live at this home experience a family-style atmosphere and receive very good care. They experience warmth and attentiveness from the staff who are proud of providing good levels of sensitive, family-like care and nurture. The home’s consistently calm atmosphere has a positive impact on the young people. For example, the level of challenging behaviour is low, the number of missing incidents has significantly decreased and very low numbers of incidents occur.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has previously focused on providing care for older teenagers and has achieved successful outcomes of moving them to semi-independent accommodation. Leaders have now decided to focus on taking younger teenagers, so that they can provide long-term, permanent placements, working towards young people having successful moves into adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people soon begin to build positive relationships with the staff team. They learn to trust the staff and know they will get a consistent response to any incident or questions they may have. They say that the staff support them through both the good and the difficult times. The young people feel comfortable in the home and this can be seen when they interact with the staff team. Young people are greeted by caring staff every time they return to the home, such as after school or after meeting family or friends, and they happily spend time talking about their day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are well informed about, and understand, the life events that the young people have experienced and reassure them that staff are there to guide, support and keep them safe. The staff are competent in assessing how young people’s experiences have an impact on their ability to maintain, for example, relationships and education placements. The staff team members know each young person’s vulnerabilities and risk areas. They know the triggers for unsafe behaviours and put in place strategies that are consistently followed by every member of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people’s views are taken seriously. There are many ways they can contribute to the running of the home and they are supported to voice their wishes and feelings. However, some young people feel that they would like to be more involved in decisions made about their lives. The manager is taking this forward and discussing it with the young people’s social workers as well as looking at in-house practices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people are supported to maintain important family and friend links. The staff promote healthy friendships, both in the home and in the local community, and guide young people away from unhealthy relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff work with a range of education professionals to identify the best provision for each young person. For some, this is successfully remaining in the school they attended before coming to this home, and for others it is about accessing a college or having a bespoke education timetable promoting life-skills and independence. Individual interests Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 5 are supported, for example taking a young person to a university science exhibition, supporting another to volunteer in a charity-run cafe and food bank and learning to drive.

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

The young people feel at ease when talking to the staff if they are worried or upset. The staff take time to listen and act on anything the young people say. The skills used by the staff to encourage a young person to speak about his day at school resulted in the young person talking about a bullying incident. The staff took immediate action. They liaised with the school, and within 24 hours both the young person and the deputy manager attended a meeting at the school where an agreed action plan was put in place. This joint working, and the young person’s trust in the staff, resulted in the young person returning to school the next day confident in knowing that adults will listen and act.

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

The home’s safeguarding policies and procedures now include details of action for the staff to take if the concern or allegation is about the registered manager or responsible individual. Changes have also been added to the home’s complaints and whistleblowing policy. All complaints are managed well, with recorded outcomes. Very low numbers of complaints are received. However, a few have been received from a neighbour. The registered manager and her deputy respond swiftly to any concern raised and this has resulted in improved relationships.

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

The staff provide excellent levels of guidance and support if young people wish to make a complaint. This may be about something in the home or about decisions made by external professionals involved in their lives. The staff will also gain independent advocacy for the young people if needed.

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

The home has external closed-circuit television in operation. The current policy needs to be reviewed to ensure that it meets the changes in legislation, as the current policy does not include all areas required.

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

The close working relationships with external agencies, such as the police, health professionals and drug and alcohol teams add to the effective management of risks. By developing trusting and nurturing relationships, staff can identify new risks and manage potential and actual risks in a timely way. Risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing and drug use, have decreased significantly. Effective planning, and joint decision-making with social workers regarding agreed return times, result in a very low number of incidents of missing from home. This agreement is supported by key discussions with the young people about risks in the community and keeping safe, while balancing it with age-appropriate behaviour, independence skills and individual awareness of risks.

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

The young people are protected by careful recruitment procedures. Police checks are also carried out on external adults who have unsupervised contact with the young people, such as a driving instructor. Regular checks ensure that the physical environment of the home is safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She is the registered manager for two homes, located close to each other. She manages this dual role well and is highly visible in both homes and has developed, over time, systems that allow her to have a detailed oversight of practices. Records show her effective monitoring and evaluation of all incidents and practices. She is supported by a highly committed deputy manager and a staff team whose members enjoy their work and who make a difference to the young people on a daily basis.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager leads by example, models good practice and has a genuine warmth. She aspires for the young people to develop and achieve their full potential, and many exceed the expectations of them. She knows the young people very well and understands their needs and their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team responds well to the strong leadership and management of the home. The staff receive high levels of support, which results in the staff team being able to focus on achieving the best outcomes for the young people. They receive regular supervision and undertake a wide range of mandatory and additional training. New training, to meet the changing and new needs of the young people, is continually being researched and delivered. The staff team fully invests in the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Partnership working with external agencies and professionals is embedded in practice. The registered manager and deputy manager are proactive in challenging responses from other services to ensure that decisions are made in the young people’s best interests. There is highly positive feedback from professionals about the effectiveness of partnership relationships. The registered manager has recently instigated a meeting with a manager of one of the very few other children’s homes located nearby. This enabled her to exchange ideas and for managers to learn from each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Internal and external monitoring of the home is thorough and drives continuous improvement. The registered manager and responsible individual have a clear focus on areas for development and for building on the home’s strengths. Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 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 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: SC399866 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 67 Argyll Street, Ryde PO33 3BY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Stanbridge

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Inspector

Liz Driver, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC399866 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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