Children's Home run by Teen-Works Care Limited in Sefton

Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 1 SC423460 Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Limited

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

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since December 2010. She also manages another home for the company.

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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

Date of last inspection: 4 September 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2018 Full Outstanding 19/07/2017 Full Good 15/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 3

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Recommendations

 Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about the experience of the restraint as soon as is reasonably practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the incident. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no more than 5 days after the incident of restraint (Regulation 35(3)(c)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that is helpful to them (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). In particular, this refers to the young people’s healthcare plans

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are flourishing because of the exceptional care and support that they receive. This is because the young people’s experiences of living here are making a significant difference to their life chances. A social worker, who has worked with a young person for many years, said that this is the most settled that they have ever seen them. This is because the young person is making strong attachments with the staff that help them to feel safe and to trust others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people receive the help that they need to recover from trauma and harmful experiences and to move forward in their lives. A parent said that because of the support from staff their child has made ‘amazing’ progress and that they are a different child, who now has goals in life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A key strength of the service is the support provided to young people in relation to their emotional health and well-being. Staff work tirelessly to build positive relationships with young people. As a result, young people are confident to talk to the staff about anything. A young person said that they were having some issues at their new school and that the staff helped them to resolve this. Because of this assistance, the young person is now much more settled in school and is progressing well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Professionals commented on the compassionate and nurturing support young people receive and the positive impact this has had on their lives. Staff are responsive to the young people’s emotional and mental health needs and make sure that they receive the Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 4 support that they need. This is helping the young people to successfully manage past traumatic events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have an excellent understanding of the diverse needs of each young person. This is supported well by insightful and bespoke care planning, which identifies the day-to-day care provided. Open, honest discussions with young people are productive and enable them to consider how to keep themselves safe and to make plans. A young person said that they love living here as it is the best home they have had but, importantly, they can ‘just be a kid’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have high but reasonable aspirations for each young person. They help young people to explore how they can gain the right qualifications to achieve their goals for future employment. All young people are in full-time education and are making good and sustained progress. Staff are concerned about one school placement and would like the young person to move schools. However, they are not proceeding with this at this time, until other issues are resolved, and are continuing to work with the school to support the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff effectively support young people’s education. This includes helping young people with project work, such as making a broomstick for a school competition. This collaborative working significantly enhances young people’s confidence and self-esteem and demonstrates that learning can be fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are making significant progress with regards to their physical health. They are attending the gym and choosing to engage in more physical activities. Healthcare plans are detailed. However, in one instance, there is limited information about how staff are supporting a young person’s dietary needs. This is a recording issue and does not have a negative impact on the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A key strength of the service is the staff’s commitment to working in partnership with parents. Consequently, one young person is rebuilding their relationship with their family. Young people enjoy the opportunities to see their families, and this is managed sensitively by staff. Staff listen to young people’s wishes and feelings. As a result, they are rearranging some visits so that young people can spend more good-quality time with their parents. Parents are very complimentary about the staff and the support that they receive.

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

Safeguarding practice at the home is highly effective and promotes the welfare and safety of the young people. Staff are trained in safeguarding and have a good understanding of child sexual exploitation, county lines and radicalisation. This means that they have the skills and knowledge to observe and identify any potential concerns.

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

Contextualised safeguarding is at the heart of everything that the staff do. They continually reflect on and analyse situations to consider any environmental factors and extenuating circumstances that have had an impact on the young person. This enables Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 5 staff to think creatively to reduce these issues and revise the support that they provide.

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

Risk management is highly effective and minimises risks to young people inside and outside the home. Recently, there was an increase in episodes of missing from care for one young person. Highly effective multi-agency working with professionals and parents ensured that the young person was located quickly and returned home safely.

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

Young people are increasingly able to manage their emotions and moderate their behaviour. Behaviour management and support are highly effective. This has led to a marked reduction in incidents in the home. Young people said that it is all right to make mistakes, because staff help them to learn from them and to move on.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been three physical interventions, which is a significant decrease. On one occasion, the young person’s comments were not recorded. This was an oversight and is currently being addressed by the registered manager.

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

Young people live in a warm, nurturing family home. They are proud of their bedrooms and the way in which they have decorated them. Young people are keen to show visitors around their home and tell them about the art that they have created.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is led and managed by a committed and inspirational manager. Her enthusiasm is infectious and provides the firm foundation for the excellent care and support each young person receives. The registered manager oversees two homes for the company. She is supported by her deputy and senior care staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has excellent oversight of the home and is very aware of the strengths and areas for development, such as ensuring that all record entries are recorded to the same high standard. Young people are actively involved in creating and reviewing their plans, which gives them a strong sense of belonging and of inclusivity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Development plans are detailed, organic documents that are continually evolving to meet the diverse and complex needs of the young people living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The external scrutiny by an independent person and comprehensive reviews of the quality of care help the manager to continue to make improvements that benefit young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager supports and encourages the staff to develop expertise through good- quality training relevant to the needs of the young people. Staff make the most of their training opportunities, such as the training on the nurturing attachment framework and adverse childhood experiences. Staff use their learning to improve the effectiveness of how they support young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Effective staffing arrangements ensure that there are enough suitable, experienced and qualified staff available to meet the young people’s needs. Staff work together Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 6 cohesively, and the day-to-day care of young people provides them with high levels of support and supervision. Consequently, young people make excellent progress across all areas of their development.

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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: SC423460 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Teen-Works Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lonsdale and Marsh Ltd, Cotton House, Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9TX

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Inspector

Chris Scully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC423460 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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