Children's Home run by Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 1 SC394478 Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager position has been vacant since April 2019.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/04/2018 Full Good 06/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/06/2017 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 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

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 01/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37(1), (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to the records relating to the admission and discharge of young people. 01/03/2020

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Recommendations

 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 needs of each child. Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (Regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 4

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Recommendations

comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (Regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraphs 9.59 and 9.60)  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  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

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Recommendations

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) This is with particular reference to handwritten records being legible and signatures being accompanied by a typed or printed name.  The registered person must have systems in place so that staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children in their care. A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs 13.2 and 13.3).

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Recommendations

This is with particular reference to the frequency of supervision. Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 5

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improvement to be good

The overall experience and progress of young people have been limited by the number of short-term placements which have ended in an unplanned manner. The home has been unable to keep a number of young people safe in the community.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes to the staffing team. As a result, young people have not been able to build long-term, trusting relationships with the adults caring for them.

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improvement to be good

Young people are not always informed of their own or other people’s admissions to or discharges from the home. This means that young people are not always experiencing child-centred practice that promotes positive transitions and provides a positive contribution to their life story.

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improvement to be good

Young people’s progress in education is inconsistent. Neither of the young people currently in placement are attending formal education. One is not attending school or engaging with any alternative learning. As a result, he is not experiencing educational opportunities which will contribute towards his success in future training and employment. A second young person is being provided with a creative timetable of educational activities by staff, pending the identification of a school placement. This timetable has been designed to build on his existing interests and has been effective in engaging the young person in a way which supports his reintroduction to a school environment.

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improvement to be good

Young people are supported to develop and maintain their physical and emotional health. Young people are registered with local primary health services. Staff promote young people’s attendance at appointments and have a good understanding of young people’s health needs.

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improvement to be good

The significance of young people’s time with family and friends is recognised by staff. Where it is safe and appropriate to do so, the relationships between young people and the people important to them are promoted. Where these relationships are not providing young people with safe and healthy experiences, staff work with the placing authority to manage the risks, while respecting young people’s identity and sense of belonging.

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

Plans for young people’s care are underpinned by a good understanding of the potential or actual risks that young people may face. Assessments are regularly reviewed and used to manage and reduce risks. These risk management plans have not always been effective in keeping young people safe. As a result, some young people have had to leave the placement in order to seek a safer environment. Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 6 When young people go missing from care, staff work with the placing authority and the police to find them and return them to the placement at the earliest opportunity. Staff actively search for young people and make efforts to keep in contact with them by social media and phone. As a result, young people are encouraged to understand that staff care about them and want them to return home safely. Not all young people are being provided with independent return-home interviews by their local authorities. This lack of

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

service provision has not been escalated sufficiently with these placing authorities.

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

Where young people have been restrained, there is, on the whole, a good written record of events. The descriptions of the nature of the physical intervention and the staff members involved are detailed. As a result, the manager is supported in his evaluation of each incident. Some records of the build up to incidents of restraint lack detail. It is not clear from the records how well young people have been informed of their right to an independent person to speak to, post-incident. Incidents of restraints are evaluated by the manager or responsible individual. It is not always clear who has signed a record, as the signatures are not accompanied by a printed name. As a result, some records lack accountability.

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

Allegations made by young people are thoroughly investigated. Managers work with the placing authority and designated officer to ensure that young people are protected and that staff receive appropriate support. As a result, young people and staff live and work in an environment which promotes safe care.

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

Young people receive a good level of support to regulate their emotions and reduce harmful behaviours. Staff have good insight into the triggers of challenging behaviours in young people. Young people experience sensitive care from staff at points of crisis. As a result, young people are supported to manage difficult feelings and develop alterative strategies to address their emotional distress.

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

The capacity for good leadership and management of the home has been adversely affected by a lack of stability. The registered manager position has been vacant since April 2019. Since this time, two managers have been recruited, but both have left the organisation before registering with Ofsted. A third manager has now been recruited. He has not yet commenced employment. His application for registration with Ofsted is in progress.

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

More recently, the registered manager of the second home within the organisation has been managing both the homes. The manager and staff told the inspector that this arrangement has not provided sufficient management and leadership capacity. This has resulted in additional pressures on all members of the staff team, including the manager. The imminent arrival of a permanent manager provides the home with the opportunity to begin to rebuild an effective management team.

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

There has been a high turnover of staff in the whole team. Nine new members of staff have been recruited since the last inspection. Staff are not receiving regular supervision. Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 7 Staff new to the home are not being provided with supervision which supports their induction to the home and monitors the quality of their practice. The lack of regular supervision for all staff means that they are not being provided with any formal, one-to- one opportunity to reflect on their practice and on their ability to meet the needs of young people.

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

A significant number of written records were not available to the inspector. Case records and records of restraint, ‘missing from home’ and admissions and discharges have been placed in storage. The data requested by the inspector at the start of inspection was not provided in a timely manner and was not complete. As a result, the breadth of information available for scrutiny during the inspection was greatly reduced.

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

Reviews of the quality of care and the statement of purpose have been undertaken regularly. These provide an accurate assessment of the scope of the care provided by the home and the areas for development. The statement of purpose has not been sent to Ofsted, as required. This has not impacted on the quality of care experienced by young people.

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

Team meetings take place regularly. There is evidence of attendance by the organisation’s clinical psychologist at some team meetings, although the records of her contribution to discussions are brief. Staff report that team meetings provide them with a structured and supportive environment in which they can discuss young people and the wider functioning of the home.

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

The home provides young people with a welcoming and homely environment to live in. Young people are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms, and they are provided with the resources to do so. At the request of young people, one room has been redecorated and designated ‘the escape room’. This gives young people an opportunity to be on their own without having to go to their bedrooms. The size and design of the home provide a good quality of accommodation for young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 8

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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 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.

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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: SC394478 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Heliport, Liverpool Road, Eccles, Manchester, Greater Manchester M30 7RU

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC394478 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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