Children's home run by Footsteps a Path to Change 08 Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 1 Registered provider: Footsteps A Path To Change 08 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

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered in September 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 requires improvement to be 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

This is the home’s first inspection after registration in September 2019. Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 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 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 staff— 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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Risk assessments should identify all known or emerging risks and include clear strategies for the staff to follow. The staff should understand their responsibilities in their day-to-day practice to ensure that known risks for young people are minimised. 13/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23(1)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, any amendments to records of administration should clearly identify errors and indicate the author of the amendment. The staff should follow procedures for recording new medication according to the home’s policies. 13/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if— 13/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 4 the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24(1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The need to use any form of monitoring of surveillance should be clearly risk assessed to justify its use to safeguard young people.

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Recommendations

 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 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, the fire evacuation procedure should be explained to visitors at the home.  Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph

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Recommendations

15.1) Specifically, risks and strategies to mitigate them should be clear. The review should be used as part of the assessment of young people’s needs during pre- admission planning.  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 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) In particular, the staff should avoid the use of slang or jargon in records. Information should be recorded so that care planning is clear and correlates across documents. The staff should ensure that all relevant information is included, so that young people are aware of what action has been taken to help

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Recommendations

and support them during any incidents. Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff build positive relationships with young people living at the home. They are proactive and act as strong advocates to ensure that young people’s voices are heard. This means that young people have been able to meet and spend time with family members, which has reduced their anxieties. The team strives to work in partnership with social workers and families of young people who are voluntarily accommodated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health is improving. One young person has attended dental appointments after refusing to do so previously, and staff support young people to attend appointments for specific health needs. Young people are eating more healthily and reducing their sugar consumption. Individual members of staff draw on their knowledge and experience of previous roles to encourage young people to live healthier lifestyles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people engage well with the provider’s therapist to start to explore difficult experiences and feelings. Handovers between the therapist and the staff team ensure that young people’s emotional needs are understood and supported well. The staff request referrals to specialist services, including child and adolescent mental health services, for assessments to support young people’s well-being and identify whether medication is appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager ensures that suitable interim arrangements are in place when there are delays to finding appropriate education placements. Young people attend and engage meaningfully when placements are identified. The staff support young people in education away from the home and communicate well with teachers and tutors. A young person has visited a college, regarding a prospective placement, as part of planning for post-16 education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff request independent advocates and ensure that young people’s views are shared at statutory reviews. The manager proactively challenges placing authorities when there are shortfalls in services to support young people’s needs. The manager uses escalation processes to ensure that updated relevant plans are provided. Care planning reflects key areas of support for young people, but the home’s plans do not consistently cross-reference the main objectives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a range of activities such as go-karting and going to the gym. During the inspection, they were enjoying baking together at the home. One young person has enjoyed an overnight trip to Wales, as a step towards a request for an overseas holiday. Young people make suggestions, and their wishes and feelings about the home are explored through young people’s meetings and individual consultations. Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 6

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improvement to be good

The manager completes a detailed pre-placement assessment to understand the needs of young people moving to the home. This includes discussions with the provider’s therapist about compatibility with young people already living there. However, consideration of the potential impact on young people already at the home, and how any risks would be managed, is somewhat limited. The review of the home’s location is not used fully as part of the pre-admission planning and does not outline how potential risks will be addressed.

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improvement to be good

Individualised risk management plans are regularly reviewed. However, this has, at times, led to inconsistences and lack of clarity, such as in the level of supervision a young person required. One young person had been smoking in a bedroom. Strategies to reduce the risk reoccurring were not consistently recorded across relevant sections of the risk assessment. Furthermore, no additional strategies were recorded after the young person used a lighter to try to ignite threads on clothing and furnishings. This means that the staff do not have enough guidance on how to manage known or emerging risks. The home’s fire risk assessment was not updated to reflect these increased risks. The inspector was not advised of the fire evacuation procedure on arrival at the home.

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improvement to be good

Alarms are routinely activated on young people’s bedroom doors and external doors of the home. However, no risk assessments are in place to justify their use to safeguard young people. This level of monitoring does not consider young people’s right to privacy.

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improvement to be good

One young person had a known risk for taking cars without consent. He accessed a car’s remote key fob when a member of staff failed to store it securely. The young person later took the car, putting themselves and others at risk, and went missing from the home. Appropriate action was taken to reduce the risk of further occurrences, following an investigation. The manager appropriately questioned why an independent return home interview was not completed following this missing episode. The social worker completed the interview, as the category of the police log did not trigger the referral to the independent service.

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improvement to be good

Records of incidents do not always detail the actions that the staff take to de-escalate young people’s behaviours before seeking support from the police. This means that young people would not understand what the staff did to support them if they were to read their records in the future.

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improvement to be good

The staff use incentives to help young people make positive choices. Young people choose specific items that they want to work towards, which promotes positive engagement and, for example, improved self-care. For one young person, this was successful in reducing episodes of going missing, which was a significant risk.

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improvement to be good

Negative consequences and restorative interviews help young people to understand why some behaviours are not acceptable. Young people reflect honestly on their behaviours Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 7 and accept that they need to take responsibility for their actions. Direct work is used to reinforce young people’s understanding. Physical intervention has not been required to manage young people’s behaviour.

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improvement to be good

No young people require prescribed medication. However, records for pain relief medication show that new stock had been added to an existing document in error. Although a separate record was completed, which identifies the correct batch number, the original document was not appropriately amended to clarify the mistake.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is currently working towards a suitable qualification in leadership and management. She receives regular support from the provider’s head of care and responsible individual in her professional development within her current role. The manager demonstrates her ability to address identified shortfalls and was taking steps to do so during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

With the support of a deputy, the manager is leading and developing a team of well- motivated and enthusiastic staff. Recruitment procedures are robust to ensure that only suitable individuals work in the home, and an effective induction programme is in place for new team members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has encouraged a learning culture within the home. The staff are enrolled on a suitable residential childcare qualification, if they have not yet obtained one, on successful completion of a probationary period. There is a planned training programme to ensure ongoing professional development, which includes the individual needs of young people. The therapist provides specific training on the therapeutic approach used, as well as advice and guidance on the best way to support young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular individual supervision and team meetings, which focus on young people’s needs and progress, provide opportunities for staff to reflect on practice. The manager uses supervision to monitor performance and support individuals to be solution-focused and understand their responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Appropriate oversight helps the manager to identify any shortfalls in practice. She has provided additional training in recording where this has been necessary, to ensure that the staff understand the importance of clarity and full information. However, there are occasions when slang and jargon are used, which may hinder young people’s understanding of their experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is forming relationships with external professionals, such as the specialist nurse for children looked after, the police and education professionals. Feedback from professionals highlighted the team’s positive understanding of young people’s needs, relationships built with families and good communication. Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 8 Monthly monitoring systems are in place to help the manager to understand the strengths and areas for development of the home. There is effective use of independent external monitoring to support this understanding and to drive forward improvement.

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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: 2545082 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Footsteps A Path To Change 08 Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Landmark House, Station Road, Cheadle Hulme SK8 7BS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Charlotte Davies

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Inspector

Karen Willson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2545082 10 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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