Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 1 SC416464 Registered provider: Meadows Care 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 is one of several children’s homes operated by a private company. The home is registered to provide care and 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

If required, children and young people can access the organisation’s school and therapy department.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 February 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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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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: SC416464 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2018 Full Good 07/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/05/2017 Full Good 16/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 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

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(c)) 18/03/2020

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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) Specifically, ensure that all staff are trained in the use of physical restraint, and that, in the interim, staff who are not trained are provided with written guidance in respect of what action they should take if the threshold for physically restraining a child is met.  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13) Specifically, ensure that Ofsted is updated when a matter that has been formally notified to it is concluded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The two children currently living at the home are settled and see this house as their home. They share strong reciprocal relationships with staff, whom they trust and talk affectionately about. When asked what the best thing is about living at this home, both children said it is their staff team. One child said, ‘I don’t have any problems and would not change anything. The best thing about this home is the team. They really care and have helped me in lots of ways.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 4 Three children have left the home since the last inspection. For two of these, their transition back to living with family members was exceedingly well planned. Staff worked closely and effectively with all parties. This provided the right levels of support for the children and their family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has served notice on one child. This was after making every effort to affect change in the child’s behaviour and sustain the placement. The child’s social worker said, ‘Staff went above and beyond in every way. Despite the challenges that [Name] presented, they were reluctant to give notice and clearly wanted it to work. They tried everything. I cannot fault them and thank them enough for how hard they tried. Their support was unconditional.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning and practice are highly influenced by the therapeutic input provided by the organisation’s therapy team. Therapists provide one-to-one support for children and work with staff to develop bespoke packages of support that are fully integrated into the child’s daily routine. This is helping children to better understand and come to terms with past traumatic experiences. As a result, children become more resilient, overcome the complexities in their lives and make good, sometimes exceptional progress when they choose to engage in life in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of each child’s needs, and well-written care plans outline how these needs will be met. Plans are regularly reviewed, updated and consistently implemented by staff. Care practice is further enhanced by strong links with families, social workers and a range of different agencies who contribute to children’s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Participation and engagement in education are variable. There is good evidence of staff working closely with education professionals to develop bespoke packages of support for each child. Despite this, some children who have left the home had low attendance and showed very little by way of academic progress. Conversely, one of the children living at the home currently is doing exceptionally well in his post-16 provision, while the other is being supported to apply for apprenticeships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are fundamental to the running of the home. Both children believe that staff are interested in what they have to say and that all staff do their best to meet any reasonable requests. Children spoke about how staff help them to express their views and wishes in meetings and how staff will advocate for them if required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children follow an independence programme that is designed to prepare them for leaving the home and adult life. They are routinely involved in basic tasks such as budgeting, shopping, cooking, washing and keeping the home tidy. Staff recognise the anxiety that preparation for independence has on some children and are sensitive when helping them to prepare for moving on. One child said, ‘Staff are talking to me about leaving when I am 18, but they do this carefully because it stresses me out. If I could, I would stay here for ever.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 5

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

Children said that they feel safe. Care practice is underpinned by a range of effective safeguarding policies and procedures that are understood and implemented by staff. This ensures that emerging concerns, such as allegations, are managed effectively and in the best interest of the child. This includes the referral to and involvement of external agencies.

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

Procedures are in place to ensure that the relevant people are kept informed when significant incidents occur. The manager maintains effective communication that enables external parties to take the necessary action in response to the incident. This includes keeping Ofsted informed. However, on one occasion, the manager has failed to update Ofsted when a matter involving the police was concluded. This has not presented any risk to children but potentially inhibits Ofsted’s regulatory duties.

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

Staff are trained in safeguarding and take their responsibilities in this respect seriously. They have a good understanding of each child’s risk and vulnerabilities and implement effective risk management strategies that help children to keep safe.

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

Staff take an educational approach to helping children to understand and manage risk. This has been effective in enabling most children to achieve a good balance between keeping themselves safe and taking age-appropriate risks. Consequently, incidents of concern are extremely rare.

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

There are clear responses when children go missing from home. Staff will make every effort to locate the child before reporting the child’s absence to the police. When concerns escalate, strategy meetings are held, and multi-agency responses are agreed and implemented, for example, using social media to seek reassurance from the child that they are safe.

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

Children benefit from clear and consistently applied boundaries and expectations. Responses to each child’s behaviour are regularly discussed and reviewed for effectiveness. Therapists play a major role in helping staff to develop individual strategies. These strategies consider children’s past experiences and current needs. Consequently, responses to poor behaviour are trauma-informed. A therapist said, ‘Staff understand [Name’s] history and are good role models for him in terms of teaching empathy. This is a quality that [Name] is increasingly showing, for example, reflecting on how his behaviour impacts on others and apologising. This is a massive improvement and is all because of the nurturing approach taken by the staff.’

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

All but one member of staff are trained in the use of physical restraint. Staff make good use of positive relationships and de-escalation techniques to help children to manage their anxieties and frustrations. The use of restraint is rare but, on the occasions when restraint has been used, it has been low level, proportionate and for the minimum time necessary. Post-incident discussions, that are restorative in nature, are held following any incident of restraint. This enables the child to reflect and repair important relationships. Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is run by an experienced, now qualified registered manager. The manager is aspirational and has been effective in creating a strong child-focused ethos and approach. He has high expectations of his staff team, the members of which demonstrate high levels of dedication to the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children are benefiting from the care of a stable and well-established staff team. Staff bring a wide range of experiences and skills, and the large majority are qualified. Staff said that they are well supported by the manager who promotes and supports their professional development. They receive regular and purposeful supervision and have access to a broad range of mandatory and needs-led training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff take responsibility for their own learning. Several members of staff have undertaken research and delivered training for other staff on topics such as contextual safeguarding, knife crime and county lines.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has a comprehensive understanding of what the home does well and what needs to be done to further improve the quality of care. He maintains good oversight, using a range of effective systems for monitoring children’s progress, staff practice and the general performance of the home. Decisive action is taken to address any identified shortfalls, demonstrating a strong commitment to a child-focused improvement agenda. This is evident in the action that the manager has taken to successfully address the requirement and the four recommendations from the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Internal monitoring is further strengthened through regular scrutiny by an independent visitor who visits the home monthly. The visitor assesses how effectively children’s safety and well-being are promoted, and consistently reflects a high standard of care in the report that she prepares for the manager and the responsible individual. However, it is rare that the independent person gathers the views of third-party stakeholders as part of this process.

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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: SC416464 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: SC416464 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Ltd, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspectors

Paul Scott, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC416464 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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