Children's Home run by Time-Out Children’s Homes Limited in Calderdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC069293 1 SC069293 Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes 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 children’s home is run by a private company. The home specialises in treatment programmes for children and young people who may have severe emotional and/or behavioural difficulties as a result of attachment disruptions in early childhood. The staff team places great emphasis on developing trusting relationships. The manager was registered in November 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 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

Date of last inspection: 18 December 2018

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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: SC069293 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/12/2018 Full Outstanding 02/05/2017 Full Outstanding 19/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/06/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC069293 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, the 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

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home— paragraph (1) does not apply; and the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25(2)) In particular, ensure that children, young people and staff who are new to the home are made fully aware of the fire safety procedures and that they take part in a routine drill as soon as possible after their arrival. 27/03/2020

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 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; and have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)) In particular, ensure that risk assessments are clear and explicit, and that staff adhere to them. Ensure that strategies to manage behaviour are understood and consistently acted on by staff and that staff have the necessary safeguarding training. 27/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC069293 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people are making good progress from their starting points. They are now in full-time education and access many social and community activities. The staff encourage the children and young people to complete homework and to play board games. These activities enable children and young people to learn to interact with adults and other children, as well as placing a clear value on education and developing their social interactions. The children and young people’s health needs are prioritised, and they attend routine appointments. The staff encourage children and young people to have healthy lifestyles and take regular exercise, such as swimming or going for a walk. Therapeutic support is available and is accessed by children and young people when they feel able to do so. The home’s therapist supports the staff team with strategies to manage behaviour. When children and young people move into the home, they start a journey book. They

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

contribute to these lovely books which are theirs to take when they move on. The activities, progress, achievements and milestones are captured to create their histories. The children and young people have positive relationships with the staff team. Children go on holidays with staff and access a range of fun activities. This is a very positive feature of this home. The children and young people are treated with respect and are fully involved in their care and planning. They have individual plans based on their needs for the day. Family time is facilitated so that children and young people remain in touch with their families. The staff support the children and young people to develop independence skills and help them to manage transitions. One young person has recently successfully returned to her family. Staff seek the views of the children and young people using key-work sessions and meetings. This ensures that their needs, wishes and feelings are heard, and that they are

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

consulted and their views acted on. Children and young people are involved in the recruitment of staff which supports them in developing their self-esteem and self-confidence. Children and young people have their bedrooms personalised. One young person had chosen the wallpaper for her bedroom and staff have plans to support her with choosing new furniture for her room in the future. The staff team continues to support one young person with their identity and to be able to express themselves in different environments. This has supported the young person to have increased self-esteem and self-confidence as they are accepted for who they are in their home.

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

Children and young people have made good progress in learning to keep themselves safe. The children and young people are given clear boundaries to help keep them safe Inspection report children’s home: SC069293 5 and they are supported through key-work sessions to understand the routines, structures, boundaries and expectations of the home. The manager and the staff team have a good understanding of the children and young people’s needs and have systems in place to help safeguard them. However, there are some occasions when children and young people become unsettled or their inappropriate behaviour escalates. The behaviour management plans that are in place are not always fully adhered to by some staff. As a result, children and young people have struggled to manage their own behaviour. On one occasion, this meant that the police were called to assist staff to keep a child safe. This, in turn, has a negative effect on the children and

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

young people in this home. The staff team works in partnership with other agencies to support children and young people to remain safe in all their environments and respond to any behaviour incidents effectively. For example, they worked effectively with one young person’s social worker to reduce missing from home episodes. They ensured the progression of an assessment with the young person’s friends, enabling her to have positive relationships with her peers in the local community. This is a really positive feature of the home. Risk assessments are updated regularly with oversight from the manager. There has been an increase in physical interventions, which has impacted on the stability of the home. However, the risks assessments are not explicit, therefore leaving the staff team unclear as to how to fully safeguard the children and young people. For example, it is not clear what items can and cannot be in the children and young people’s rooms.

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

Furthermore, the decorations downstairs could be easily used to self-harm. The manager and the staff have access to clinical support from a psychologist, which helps to inform the risk assessment and safety plans to help safeguard the children and young people. Focused and effective key-work sessions are completed with the children and young people to help them understand risks and develop strategies to reduce risky behaviours. The home has effective safer recruitment policies and procedure in place. When children and young people have gone missing, the staff respond in line with the missing from care policy. Children and young people can have free time, which means that they are able to maintain friendships and have age-appropriate time out. This is well managed and children and young people know and understand the boundaries in place. On two occasions, the door has been insecure, and a child has been able to leave the

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

home. At the time of the incidents, steps were implemented to reduce this from reoccurring. Key-work sessions took place with the child and strategies were introduced to deflect behaviour that triggered these incidents. There have been no recent repetitions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leaders and registered manager are ambitious for the children and young people and are very child focused in their approach. The manager supports the staff team to be reflective and to ensure that approaches to the children and young people are in line with their needs and current behaviours. The home’s registered manager and staff team Inspection report children’s home: SC069293 6 work very effectively with partners and this supports young people’s progress and experiences. The staff team receives regular effective supervisions which are reflective and focused on children and young people. Staff also receive in-depth debriefs which enable them to explore how their actions have affected a situation and what they may do different next time. The manager gives appropriate challenge and feedback to help staff to understand the impact that they have in situations. The staff team has had some changes over the inspection period. New staff have had a

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

focused induction, which includes mandatory training, high supervision and observations. Much of the training is online, although the learning is validated during focused team meetings. However, there is a small number of staff who have not had specific training to effectively support the individual safeguarding needs of the young people. The manager has good oversight and systems in place to track the progress and development of the children and young people. These systems enable the manager to support her staff in becoming more attuned to the needs of the children and young people. The systems allow her to challenge and advocate for the children and young people to ensure that they can have access to the support and services that they need. The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths of the home. She is aware of the areas for development and has an improvement development plan. The

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

plan is completed by consulting with all stakeholders to ensure that it provides the consistency of care that the children and young people receive and ensures that it meets their needs. The recommendations have been met from the last inspection, and systems are in place to support the manager to assess the quality of the care in the home. However, an area for improvement which has not been identified through these systems is that the manager cannot be assured that all new staff and children and young people have been present when a fire drill has taken place. A plan to address this was put in place during the inspection.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC069293 7 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: SC069293 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Ripponden Mill, Mill Fold, Ripponden Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire HX6 4DH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Dominic Macauley

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Inspectors

Noel Cooper, social care inspector Rachel Holden, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC069293 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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