Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 1 SC047978 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns and operates this home. The home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The manager was registered in August 2018 and has obtained the required qualification.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/07/2018 Full Outstanding 20/06/2017 Full Good 02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving 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

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(1), (2)(a)(viii)) 12/02/2020

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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

that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(1), (2)(d)) 12/02/2020

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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. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)) 12/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year.

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant 12/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 4 person. (Regulation 46(2))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide good-quality care, because they understand the impact on young people of trauma, multiple changes in placement and a disrupted education. Staff quickly develop strong bonds with young people. Young people feel that they can trust staff. This helps young people to settle in the home and access the help and support that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people have experienced considerable disruption to their education because of changes in placement and difficulties in coping with the emotional demands of a full- time education programme. One young person continues to have no education provision in place. Other young people have reduced timetables. The manager and staff are working diligently with education agencies to improve this situation. Managers and staff understand the urgency with which this situation needs to be addressed so that young people can access their full education entitlement and can benefit from the structure and routine of regular school attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive good support to improve their emotional and mental health. The manager and staff have developed effective working relationships with the local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Young people see CAMHS practitioners regularly, and there is a coordinated response to the individual needs of young people. This helps young people to become more aware of the triggers to harmful behaviour and start to develop safer patterns of behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the importance of young people maintaining their relationships with family and those whom they are close to. The staff support contact arrangements well. Importantly, staff also understand the emotional impact that seeing family members can have on young people. Staff provide young people with the emotional support that they need to make family visits enjoyable and enriching.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s rights are respected by the manager and staff. Staff encourage young people to share their views and ideas during regular meetings. Young people know how to complain if they are unhappy. They have a wide range of independent professionals whom they can turn to for additional support. This means that the voice of the young person is heard, respected and valued.

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

Young people say that they feel safe. They are kept safe by a vigilant team of staff who understand each young person’s vulnerabilities and risks. The manager and staff maintain up-to-date, accurate risk assessments and behaviour management plans. This means that staff understand what actions to take to safeguard young people.

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

When young people go missing or attempt to harm themselves and others, staff act quickly and effectively to minimise potential harm. Staff work well with partner agencies such as the local authority, police and CAMHS to keep young people safe. After each Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 6 incident, staff spend time with young people to help them to develop better coping strategies.

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

Staff help young people to become more aware of the underlying reasons for harmful behaviour. This enables young people to develop strategies to manage powerful feelings and emotions. The manager and staff understand that, for some young people, this takes time. As a result, they persevere through some very challenging behaviour, demonstrating considerable emotional resilience.

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

Although staff are generally very vigilant and closely monitor the safety of children, one young person’s room had been damaged and a hazard to safety had not been promptly addressed.

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

On one occasion, the manager did not respond well to a complaint made by a young person. The manager did not undertake any internal investigation or speak directly to the young person about the serious concerns that she raised in the complaint. The manager wrote to the young person and suggested mediation. This was an insufficient response to this complaint. The response did not place this young person’s feelings and views first.

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

When conducting the annual review of the suitability of the location of the home, the manager did not consult relevant partner agencies. The views of agencies are of crucial importance in determining any risks to young people posed by the area in which they live.

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

The manager reviews all incidents in the home to assure herself that the actions of staff are proportionate and in line with procedures. This review could be further strengthened by ensuring that incident records clearly set out the justification for any restrictive measures taken by staff.

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

The home is led by an experienced and qualified manager. She sets high expectations of the staff and young people. This helps to ensure that care standards are high and that children can achieve to the best of their ability. The manager is well respected by staff and has developed very good relationships with young people. She is a visible manager who has developed a very good understanding of each young person’s care plan.

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

Staff receive good-quality professional supervision. Staff feel supported by managers and are confident to raise any issues or problems. As a result, staff are highly motivated and committed.

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

Staff undertake a range of training that equips them with the knowledge and skills to provide good, safe care. Staff training and development could be further enhanced by staff undertaking specific training in mental health and extending their understanding of self-harmful behaviours. Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 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: SC047978 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Flat 17, Leeland Mansions, Leeland Road, London W13 9HE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector

Phillip Morris, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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