Children's home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC442401 1 SC442401 Registered provider: ROC Northwest Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who may have emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in post who has been registered since September 2016.

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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: 6 February 2019

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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: SC442401 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2019 Full Good 19/01/2018 Full Outstanding 18/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC442401 3

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Recommendations

 When a child needs additional health or well-being support, staff should work with the child’s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological or psychiatric support required, and challenge them through regulation 5 – engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met, if this doesn’t happen. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  Registered persons must ensure that procedures for recording, dealing with and monitoring incidents or allegations of bullying are in place. (See regulation 34(3) on the policy for the prevention of bullying.) (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16) Inspection report children’s home: SC442401 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a supportive and nurturing home and are cared for by a committed team of staff who know them well and understand their needs. This supports their overall well-being and helps them to make positive progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people speak very highly of staff and recognise, themselves, the progress that they have made. One young person said: ‘They [the staff] could not do any more for me. They are like a real family to me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for young people and strongly encourage participation in education and training. As a result, most young people achieve good attendance and are making good progress. One young person has recently started a full-time college course and another is engaging in education, despite having struggled to do so when she lived in previous homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy very positive experiences. Their talents are recognised and nurtured, and they are encouraged to pursue their hobbies and try new experiences. Staff and young people frequently take part in community activities and charity events together. One young person spoke enthusiastically about her recent educational trip to Africa, which she described as ‘an amazing experience’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people moving into the home and those moving on are provided with sensitive and well-planned support. This helps to ensure that their transitions are successful.

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

Young people are demonstrably safer due to the care and support that they receive. Young people’s assessments demonstrate, from the point of their admission, significantly decreasing risks in areas such as going missing from home and sexual exploitation.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks to each young person’s safety and well- being. Clear risk-management guidance helps to ensure that staff work in a safe and consistent manner.

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

Staff carry out regular work with young people on both an individual and a group basis to educate them about personal safety. Young people are helped to learn about making safe choices and are given appropriate opportunities to do so.

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

There is an individualised ‘missing from home’ protocol in place for each young person. This ensures that staff are clear about the action that they must take to safeguard any young person who goes missing. Overall, the incidents of young people going missing are low, despite some young people having a history of doing so in previous placements. Inspection report children’s home: SC442401 5 Staff communicate clear expectations to young people about their behaviour. There is a strong emphasis on rewarding positive behaviour, and the discussions held with young people confirm that they respond positively to this approach.

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

Relationships between young people have been an issue, at times. Staff are vigilant and monitor young people’s interaction carefully. However, the shortfalls in the way that incidents between young people are recorded mean that managers, staff and external professionals do not have a clear overview of their frequency or severity. A recommendation is raised to support improvement in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in place who has been registered with Ofsted since September 2016. The manager demonstrates a strong commitment to improving outcomes for young people and leads a highly motivated team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals are highly complimentary about the care and support that young people receive. A social worker said: ‘They have worked with [name] in a way that has made her feel safe, secure and listened to. This placement is the most stable she has been in since coming into care, and their support with her education has meant that she is now accessing all education available to her.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from a low staff turnover. This means that young people receive their care from a consistent team of staff who know them well. Staff express confidence in the manager and describe good levels of support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A comprehensive training programme helps to ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out their roles well. Managers have recently developed some positive group supervision sessions to assist the staff in reflecting on and developing their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Processes for monitoring quality have recently been improved to provide greater insight into the outcomes and experiences of young people. This has enabled the management team to identify areas for development, such as positive behaviour support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All significant incidents are reported to the appropriate authorities and managed effectively. In discussion, the manager is able to describe where learning from adverse incidents has been identified. However, the records are not always clear in terms of what actions have been taken to prevent any recurrence. Clear action plans which can be reviewed and measured would further help to ensure that young people benefit from a constantly improving service. Inspection report children’s home: SC442401 6

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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: SC442401 7

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC442401 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 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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