Children's home run by ROC Northwest Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 1 Registered provider: ROC Northwest Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated and run by a private organisation. The home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who may experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A new manager has been appointed to the home and an application for registration has been received by Ofsted.

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 requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 12 February 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/06/2018 Full Good 29/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 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

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on–

p.3

Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour;

p.3

Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

p.3

Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

p.3

Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

p.3

Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

p.3

Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c), (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(ix)(xi)) 21/02/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

p.3

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– 21/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 4 promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

p.4

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.4

Requirement Due date

ensure that the staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.4

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

p.4

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(b), (2)(a)(c)(e)(f)) 20: Restraint and deprivation of liberty

p.4

Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing–

p.4

Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child).

p.4

Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate.

p.4

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 20(1)(a)(b), (2)) 21/02/2020

p.4

Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

p.4

Recommendations

 The home should be located in an area that supports children’s safety, well-being and personal development. The location of the home should support its aims, objectives and ethos, as described in the Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulation’s including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.23) Specifically, managers should assess the continued risk of the home being located on a main road without footpaths. Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 5  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the need of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

p.4

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) In particular, this refers to attention deficit disorder training. Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 6

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement planning is good. Young people’s individual needs are clearly identified and targets are set in order to address them. They are looked after by a stable team of staff who provide creative and consistent care.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are successfully helped and supported to reengage in education. Staff ensure that young people receive consistent and effective support, and this enables young people to thrive in the school environment.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Contact with families is valued and supported in this home. Staff work hard to develop and sustain relationships with families and to manage any conflict in a constructive manner. As a result, young people now have regular quality time with families.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Recreational activities are a strong feature of the care of young people living in this home. They are encouraged and supported to join community groups and make friends within the local area. One young person is a member of the local angling club and takes part in regular competitions. Another young person is a member of the local boxing club. The home ensures that young people are provided with the equipment necessary to take part in activities and fully to support their growing aspirations in their chosen hobby.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consultation with young people is good. Young people review their plans and regularly comment upon the care that they receive. Regular young people’s meetings take place, and the records of these meetings highlight the level of young people’s engagement. Young people are also encouraged and supported to chair their own looked after review meetings. This enables young people to feel in control of their lives and the decisions being made about their care. A young person said, ‘Staff have helped me so much. I was a very different person before. Things are going really well for me now.’ Furthermore, young people have access to an independent advocate and are provided with helpline numbers, should they wish to discuss any concerns independently of the home.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people comment positively about the staff who care for them. A young person said: ‘I have two key workers; one is fun and takes me out camping and fishing, and the other one helps me with my problems. I used to be really angry, but I don’t feel like that anymore.’ Young people are provided with additional emotional support and regularly access counselling through Healthy Young Minds and the child and adolescent mental health services.

p.6

improvement to be good

The behaviour management measures require improvement. The majority of sanctions to address challenging and disruptive behaviour are not reflective of the behaviours being presented. There is a lack of restorative justice. This means that some young people are not given the opportunity to learn from their behaviours and to make positive Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 7 change. Likewise, the sanctions are inconsistent. This leads to young people becoming frustrated and their behaviours escalating.

p.6

improvement to be good

The strategies to challenge and/or deescalate behaviours are ineffective and, at times, result in the behaviour intensifying. The staff lack the skills to manage some challenging behaviours through positive relationships, resulting in regular use of physical intervention. Furthermore, the records of the analysis of physical intervention are misleading. This is because they do not represent accurately the level of intervention taking place in the home. Behaviour management and restraint practice is not consistently reviewed to ensure that behaviours are managed positively and consistently and that staff have the appropriate skills, confidence and relationships to carry out plans effectively.

p.7

improvement to be good

The home experienced a period of disruption during the summer months, and this resulted in the increase in young people absenting themselves from the home. During this time, staff took appropriate action to secure their swift and safe return to the home. There have not been any further absences since August 2019.

p.7

improvement to be good

Young people have access to the complaints procedure and confirmed that they understand how to make a complaint. The records of complaint detail the action taken to investigate any concern raised. Young people receive a formal response from the manager, and they reported that they are happy with the action taken.

p.7

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

The registered manager resigned from the home in July 2019. A new manager has been appointed to the home and has made an application to Ofsted for registration. This is the manager’s first appointment as the manager of a children’s home.

p.7

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

The home experienced a period of disruption in the summer months. This led to an escalation in negative and challenging behaviours and saw the departure of the registered manager and six residential care staff. The organisation has been proactive in recruiting to these positions and has successfully appointed to all vacancies.

p.7

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

Three young people have been discharged from the home. Two young people remained in placement and were joined by a third young person in November 2019.

p.7

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

The manager’s review of the quality of care provided in the home requires improvement. The manager fails to recognise some patterns and trends emerging around behaviour management and the use of restraint. Although staff have received the required training in basic behaviour management, they have not received specific training on matters such as attention deficit disorder. Consequently, the staff have not yet developed the knowledge and skills necessary to help some young people to regulate their heightened emotions.

p.7

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

Inconsistent practice is not routinely addressed by the organisation and/or manager, particularly during the home’s period of disruption and crisis. This resulted in some Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 8 young people becoming agitated by the differing rules and views between some staff. This means, at times, that the staff are crisis-managing young people because of inconsistent organisational and managerial leadership.

p.7

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

The home is located on a main road surrounded by moorland. There are no footpaths in front of the home. Locked front gates are in place to prevent young people from running into the road. However, young people can exit the home using the backdoor and have direct access to this road. While staff make every effort to ensure that young people do not enter the road, particularly during a period of heightened behaviour, the risk remains high for all young people accommodated in the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 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 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.

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: 1256134 10

p.9

Children’s home details

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

p.10

Inspector

Maria McGranaghan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1256134 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

Inspector

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 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

Inspector

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

p.11

Inspector

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

p.11