Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC066428 1 SC066428 Registered provider: Roc Northwest 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

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

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in post who has been registered since March 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC066428 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/06/2018 Full Good 19/09/2017 Full Outstanding 07/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC066428 3

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Recommendations

 The children’s home must produce a children’s guide. The children’s guide must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. 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 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)  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

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Recommendations

information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should make best use of internal monitoring processes to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a home where they are safe and well cared for. The warm and trusting relationships they have developed with staff support their emotional well-being and sense of worth. One young person described staff as her second family and said, ‘I have made such big changes and it’s all thanks to them because they have hope in me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people have made considerable progress. They have grown in confidence and are engaging in education. Young people are developing aspirations and positive friendships, which are strongly supported by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health and well-being are closely monitored and consistently promoted. The manager worked hard and advocated strongly to ensure that a young person experiencing significant health problems received a diagnosis and appropriate treatment. A social worker said that the young person got quicker access to specialist care as a result of the manager’s determined efforts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have high aspirations for young people and strongly encourage Inspection report children’s home: SC066428 4 young people to engage in education. Young people attend school regularly and are making good progress. There is highly effective communication with schools to ensure that each young person receives support that meets their individual needs. An education professional said, ‘The manager has been particularly effective at communicating with us and we have had frequent telephone discussions and meetings to address issues whenever they have arisen.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to develop positive working relationships with birth families, and young people benefit from seeing staff and families working well together. Contact is well supported so that young people are able to spend time with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are provided with regular opportunities to enjoy a range of fun and fulfilling activities. They are encouraged to develop and maintain positive friendships and enjoy spending time with their friends. The opportunity to socialise helps young people to develop their confidence and self-esteem.

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

There is clear evidence that young people are considerably safer due to the care and support they receive. Young people’s assessments demonstrate decreasing risks in areas such as sexual exploitation and substance misuse, from the point of their admission.

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

One young person spoke openly about her experiences prior to moving to the home. She explained that she went missing frequently and became involved in high-risk behaviours. She said, ‘I am so thankful that they have helped me escape that life. I honestly don’t know how bad the ending would have been.’

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

There are individualised protocols in place which provide staff with guidance about the action they must take to safeguard any young person who goes missing. However, young people rarely go missing from this home, including those who have been admitted with a history of doing so. Young people themselves recognise the progress they have made in this area. One young person said, ‘I have been in lots of homes. This is the best by far. It’s the only one I haven’t run from.’

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

Risk assessments are generally well detailed. However, in some examples they do not fully reflect new information. In addition, multi-agency input is not always fully reflected in risk management plans. A recommendation has been raised to support improvement in this area.

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

The manager and staff have a clear understanding of their responsibility to keep young people safe from harm. However, they are also aware of the need to support young people’s independence through positive risk-taking. Young people are helped to learn about making safe choices and are given appropriate opportunities to do so. Inspection report children’s home: SC066428 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in post, who has been registered with Ofsted since March 2019. The manager demonstrates a highly child-centred approach and communicates a strong passion for achieving the best outcomes for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works very well with external professionals involved in young people’s care. Feedback from education, health and social care professionals is highly positive. They report effective communication, positive joint working and express satisfaction in the care and support provided to young people. One professional said, ‘From my observations, staff strongly promote the well-being of all the young people in their care and work extremely hard to meet their needs.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A particular theme from discussions with young people is that they feel listened to and supported to express their views. The manager has demonstrated his ability to advocate strongly and has challenged external services on behalf of young people, on a number of occasions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Following a change in management, the home experienced some staff turnover earlier in the year. This has now settled and young people now benefit from a consistent staff team. Staff express confidence in the leadership of the home. They are highly motivated and confirm good levels of training and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths of the home and the areas that would benefit from development. Some aspects of internal monitoring could be strengthened to help ensure that shortfalls in areas such as record-keeping, or the environment, are identified promptly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All significant incidents are reported to the appropriate authorities and managed effectively. The manager keeps very clear chronologies which provide good detail about the action he has taken. There is good evidence that the manager ensures that any learning from adverse incidents is identified. This means that young people benefit from a constantly improving service.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC066428 6 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: SC066428 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC066428 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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