Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC064735 1 SC064735 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of several children’s homes operated by the local authority. The home provides accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager has been in post since 2019 and registered in January 2020.

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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: Good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC064735 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/07/2018 Full Good 17/01/2018 Full Good 21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC064735 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 that staff

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Requirement Due date

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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)) 29/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if a child is involved in or subject to or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; or

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(c)) 29/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 29/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC064735 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy living in a spacious, detached property. The recent redecoration of the home, with colours, soft furnishings and pictures chosen by the children, makes the shared spaces homelier. The children are happy and making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from the care that they receive from a nurturing and consistent staff team. This provides the children with the opportunity to engage with individual staff team members whom they feel they have a specific bond with. All the staff team members are good role models for the children. A child said, ‘I would describe this home as calm and peaceful.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children can see the good progress that they make, giving them the confidence to strive for more. Good care planning incorporates all aspects of the children’s individual and diverse needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s emotional health and well-being improve significantly as they respond to the nurturing and consistent care that they receive. The children learn to like themselves, which empowers them to engage in more productive social relationships than they had in the past.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s physical health improves as they reduce their substance misuse and engage in a healthier lifestyle. A healthy diet is planned and promoted. A child on the edge of criminal exploitation is receiving sessions about appropriate relationships and keeping safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The encouragement from the staff team members for the children to attend their appropriate education provisions supports them to maintain their interest in learning. A social worker said of education in the home, ‘I feel this is an area that the home has excelled in.’ One child has a part-time job in a chip shop, and another has started running in preparation for their army assessment. The children’s future employment and life chances are enhanced because of the support that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The good use of link-worker sessions ensures that the children are able to express their thoughts and feelings with trusted staff team members. The children feel valued, as their opinions are sought in the appointment of new staff members and in the redecoration of the home. The children’s self-esteem and confidence grow as they feel heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents reported positively on the good communication that the staff team members maintain with them. Consistent contact arrangements and the proactive interactions between the staff team and family members enable the children to maintain important familial relationships. A parent said, ‘My son is doing really well. He is now a qualified joiner and passed his theory driving and will be taking his test. He is saving up for a car. If it hadn’t been for [the home], he would probably be in prison.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC064735 5 The manager and staff team members work hard at building and maintaining with partner agencies productive relationships that benefit the children. Close partnership working with all relevant professionals, including those involved in mental health and sexual health services, helps to ensure that the children’s needs are met holistically.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are linked with daily plans to ensure that the children are protected from harm. This has included increasing staff numbers to meet the needs of individual children. Decisions about keeping children safe are questionable. For example, a child is allowed to visit a friend, 40 miles away, whom the police have concerns about because of their criminal activity in the community. The manager is confident that the child knows how to keep safe, and there is intense work on appropriate relationships.

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improvement to be good

Children can display, and have displayed, challenging behaviour towards staff team members. The consistent use of sanctions and restorative practice contribute towards enabling children to learn the consequences of their actions. A social worker said, ‘The staff regularly advocate for the young person and show exemplary support, particularly in recent times during the Christmas period. This has resulted in minimal escalation of potentially challenging behaviours.’

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been three complaints from children. The previous manager investigated the concerns raised, but in one instance the matter did not progress to the designated officer in line with safeguarding procedures. Records of the investigations into the complaint consist of a few lines. This fails to provide a full evaluation of the action taken because of the complaint.

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improvement to be good

The significant reduction in the number of ‘missing’ episodes recently demonstrates how the children have settled into the home. The manager has implemented a system to look for patterns in behaviours and to inform staff to prevent further episodes. The local police officer is welcome in the home, building positive relationships which support the children.

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improvement to be good

Although the impact risk assessments are carried out for children who may be moving into the home. Sometimes the managare is not fully involved in the decision-making process about whether children’s needs can be safely met at the home. This has led to negative impact on other residents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The dedicated and skilled manager knows the children in her care well and provides the staff team members with strong leadership. Her consistently high expectations and guidance empower staff team members to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One requirement and recommendations raised at the last inspection have been met. However, one has been repeated following this inspection. This does not fully Inspection report children’s home: SC064735 6 demonstrate the home’s capacity to improve significantly enough in keeping children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team members have received training in all core subjects, including child sexual exploitation and radicalisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Notifications following serious incidents have not always been made to Ofsted in a timely and appropriate manner. This does not enable the regulator to have an overview of the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s oversight procedures ensure that she has a clear vision of each child’s progress and the steps that are needed to improve matters further for them. She uses the information gathered from staff team members, parents and professionals to further inform care practice and outcomes. This ensures that the children receive consistent care from all involved with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team members receive regular and effective supervision. The local authority has decided to remove the need for an annual performance appraisal. However, this is a regulation, and a requirement has been made to put this in place. The staff team members receive the support that they need to tenaciously support the children, no matter what their behaviours, and to provide genuine care and warmth.

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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: SC064735 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: PO Box 78, County Hall, Fishergate, Preston PR1 8XJ

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Inspector

Elaine Clare, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC064735 8 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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