Children's Home run by My Choice Children’s Homes Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 1 SC359832 Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children who may have a range of needs, such as mental health issues, learning difficulties, self-harm and minor physical difficulties. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 8 September 2017.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 December 2019

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 11 December 2018

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2018 Full Good 18/07/2017 Full Good 23/01/2017 Full Good 30/08/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

Details of any medicines kept for the child in the home, including details of— any medicines which the child is permitted to self-administer; the administration of any medicine to the child. (Regulation 36 Schedule 3 (25)(b)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that when a member of staff administers medication they complete the medication administration sheet immediately after the medication is given. 01/02/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that changes to a child’s risk assessments are updated in light of new information. 01/02/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the premises used for the purposes 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)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that weekly fire safety checks and refrigerator and freezer temperature checks are undertaken and recorded at appropriate intervals. The records must also document any action taken if the above- named checks show that there is a fault. 01/02/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 01/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 4 undertake appropriate continuing professional development; have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(c)) The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; (Regulation 33(4)(a)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are suitably trained in the use of ligature cutters. 01/02/2020

p.3

Recommendations

 The design of the home should, where appropriate, enable children to develop independence skills within the supportive environment of the home, including through encouraging independent use of kitchen and laundry areas. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.25) In particular, the registered person should ensure that any outside areas used by staff and children after dark are adequately lit.  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

p.4

Recommendations

17, paragraph 3.9) In particular, the registered person should ensure that their plans to develop the smaller lounge into a more useable homely space are actioned.  As set out in regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the name of the member of staff who verifies a reference is included in the recruitment record. The registered person should also ensure that the verification record includes what the member of staff asks and the referee’s responses.  The relevant plan may include a strategy for a particular type of care, treatment or intervention (for example, therapy relating to neglect or abuse). The care staff

p.4

Recommendations

will need to understand the purpose of any such care and the way in which the past experiences of abuse or neglect may manifest itself in the day to day life of the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.15) In particular, the registered person should ensure that all staff understand the therapeutic theories underpinning the care children receive and understand how the theories are adopted in practice. Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 5

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel welcomed and accepted, which helps them to settle quickly and to develop a sense of belonging in the home. The relationships that staff build and maintain with children are the foundation for the children’s personal growth. The children proudly talk about the changes that they have managed to make and how staff’s support has helped them achieve this.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff prepare well for a child moving into the home. Appropriate assessments are carried out, which take account of the child’s strengths and needs. Managers consult with the children who already live here, as well as the child who is moving in. These actions help the staff to be prepared to support all children with this important change, and help children to be involved in the decisions about who lives here.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational progress is promoted well. Staff successfully help children to re- engage with their education if they have not been in education for some time. One parent said that her child, who had been out of school for some time, now attends college. This was difficult before because of the child’s level of anxiety. Staff engage well with other professionals to ensure that education places are found before or shortly after a child moves into the home. This demonstrates to children that staff value and prioritise their education.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support children’s health and well-being appropriately. Children get the healthcare that they need when they need it. They can access a range of therapeutic support services that benefit their individual needs. The therapeutic ethos of the home assists children to feel wanted, valued and respected. For one child, this has led to a reduction in the number of incidents of self-harm. Staff consider that the therapeutic ethos supports them to have a consistent and appropriate response to how this child’s past has affected their current needs and behaviour.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Healthy eating is promoted well, and children are encouraged to suggest and try new foods. Meals are freshly cooked, and children are involved in the preparation of meals wherever possible. Fresh fruit is always available, and, at the request of one child, more interesting and tropical fruit is now provided. Children are given comfort foods, such as soup, when they are feeling unwell; this adds to the nurturing and homely feel of the care staff give.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff adeptly support children to develop interests in ways that help children to feel respected and valued. For instance, one child has started horse riding, something they have wanted to do for some time but not been able to. Another child who loves animals brought her own pets with her. Staff’s expectations of the child’s responsibilities for the pets’ care were made clear and agreed, and the child has worked within these expectations successfully. At the time of the inspection, the location of the pets’ winter accommodation was some distance from the main building and access to this area was poorly lit. During the winter, this could result in accidents occurring. Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 6 There is good support for children to keep in touch with their families. Staff understand the importance of a child’s identity and work closely with the children, their families and professionals to get this right. They ensure that places and times are suitable, and staff

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

call one child part way through their family visit to ensure that the child is coping. Such a check provides a suitable safety net for the child, which has assisted them to have a positive time with their family.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff create a homely environment. This has recently been improved by portioning a wall in a large open-plan lounge, which has created a warm and cosy living area for children to relax in. However, the second lounge area has little identity; it is locked on occasion and is not warm and inviting. This a missed opportunity to ensure that all areas of the home are equally inviting and supportive for children. There have been some ideas about how to develop this room, but these have yet to be formalised.

p.6

improvement to be good

Health and safety matters are not all adequately managed. While no concerns to the environment were noted on the days of inspection, fire safety checks had not been consistently recorded every week. Weekly checks and actions taken to remedy high readings of refrigerator and freezer temperatures were also not clearly recorded. Details of how staff are trained in the use of ligature cutters were not readily available. Leaders and managers made an immediate plan to ensure that records are clearer, and they have put ligature training in place for staff who did not have this.

p.6

improvement to be good

On the second day of inspection, one medication administration record from the day before had not been completed. Details of what medication was administered were logged in the staff handover book. The lack of appropriate recording leaves the potential for staff to administer two doses of medication to a child instead of one. This matter was dealt with during the inspection. Managers also confirmed that they will review staff medication administration practice to ensure that this recording error is not general custom and practice.

p.6

improvement to be good

However, staff’s ability to create a warm, inviting and safe environment, balanced with a strong and clear set of boundaries, helps children to be and feel safer while they live here. One child said that they felt safer because ‘the staff do what they say they will, when they say they will do it’. The child said that they had not felt this at other places where they have lived.

p.6

improvement to be good

There are good systems to support young people to learn how to keep safe online. Staff manage children’s online lives well by supporting them to try different aspects of the internet. This promotes a culture of learning together about the internet, recognising the potential of safeguarding concerns that may arise but also the positive opportunities that the internet provides. For one child, this has increased their ability to understand and respond to people online appropriately, especially about friendship requests. Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 7 Children are supported to behave well. Staff involve children in decisions about what will happen as a result of any difficult behaviour. This has resulted in no restraints occurring for several months and a reduction in the number of times children go missing from the home. If children do go missing, appropriate actions are taken to find them and welcome

p.6

improvement to be good

them home, and work is undertaken with the child to find out how to stop them going missing again.

p.7

improvement to be good

Clear care plans and risk assessments generally help staff to know what is expected of them when supporting a child. However, some risk assessments are not quickly updated to reflect children’s changing needs. This means accurate guidance for how staff are expected to support children is not always available.

p.7

improvement to be good

Recruitment generally follows good practice guidance. The organisation has a two- interview process and records of actions taken in relation to recruitment are well documented. The quality of staff’s reports about the second interview were variable and there was no guidance on what staff should include in this report. This was rectified within two days of the inspection. There is no record of which member of staff verifies references, what the member of staff asks when they verify the reference or the referee’s responses.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a strong vision for the service, which she has translated into a well-written statement of purpose that successfully describes the services provided. There is a clear focus within the statement on the individuality of children’s needs and how the home intends to support each child. For example, the home’s aims to ‘support children to step onto a path which leads them to achieving their potential’ and to ‘look after the young person, not after the perceived problem or behaviour’ are demonstrated in practice.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Improvements to the service are continually sought by the registered manager and supported by the organisation. The manager has recently introduced a new system for reviewing children’s progress. This is child-led and generates a helpful visual representation of a child’s progress, which can be reviewed over time. Early indications are that this system supports meaningful conversations between staff and children which celebrate children’s strengths and achievements.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers are positive about their working relationships with staff. They say that the staff keep them well informed about the child they support, and that they are confident about how the staff deal with safeguarding concerns.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff frequently attend training which assists them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities. A well-organised system of support helps the staff complete relevant qualifications within good timescales. However, some staff were not able to clearly say how the home’s underpinning therapeutic theories are being used in practice to support children’s needs. There is therefore no clear evidence of how the therapeutic ethos is fully understood across the staff team. Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 8 The manager said that several changes to the staff team during the year have adversely impacted on senior staff’s abilities to monitor some aspects of the service appropriately. These changes had especially affected their monitoring of health and safety checks. At this inspection, some recent improvements were found, but long-term evidence of sustained improvement was not available.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff are positive about the level of support and guidance that senior staff give them. For staff who have been appointed recently, there are records of good-quality supervision meetings. For example, the induction record for one member of staff was exceptionally clear about the evidence that supported the manager’s decision to approve their probationary period. When questions arise about the quality of staff practice, the managers deal with these concerns appropriately.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Longer-serving staff’s goals, achievements and areas for development are discussed in supervision. However, these staff, including the registered manager, have not had an annual appraisal. There is therefore no record of how the organisation assesses each member of staff’s performance annually, and consequently there are no detailed development plans for their coming year’s work. Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 9

p.8

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.

p.9

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: SC359832 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 3a, Mill Green Business Estate, Mill Green Road, Haywards Heath RH16 1XQ

p.10

Inspectors

Ruth Coler, social care inspector Vevene Muhammad, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC359832 11 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.

p.10

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11