Children's home run by Young Foundations Limited in Wirral

Inspection report children’s home: SC068410 1 SC068410 Registered provider: Young Foundations 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 home is owned by a private company. It is registered for six young people. The home provides care for young people aged 11 to 18 who have mental health and learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and has extensive knowledge appropriate for the role.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 15 January 2019

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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: SC068410 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/01/2019 Full Outstanding 20/02/2018 Full Outstanding 07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/07/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC068410 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare; In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(d)(f)) 30/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that— children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the impact of new children on those already living at the home is fully considered. 30/03/2020

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the Inspection report children’s home: SC068410 4 children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that issues raised in residents’ meetings are followed up with children and the outcome recorded.

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Recommendations

 It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from staff who have a clear understanding of their individual needs. Staff, supported by a dedicated in-house clinical team, develop individualised care plans for children. Staff work closely with parents, social workers, and education and health professionals to obtain the best possible care for children. As a result, children are making good progress in many areas of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience planned moves into the home, which helps them to settle quickly. However, two recent admissions, arriving six days apart, have resulted in some destabilisation in the home. Their arrival has unsettled the children already resident and led to one child moving on earlier than initially planned.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a bespoke education curriculum tailored to their individual needs, and they are responding well to this. All are supported to sit national examinations, and one child achieved seven GCSEs last summer. As a result, children are more engaged in education and are making progress in their learning. This has led to some children successfully transitioning to local schools, so that they can maximise their educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to enjoy a range of activities, both in the home and out in the wider community, from charity fundraising for local homeless services to participation in local sports teams. Children’s participation in a variety of activities improves their self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is exceptionally well maintained. Children benefit from a range of excellent facilities, including a sensory garden and newly installed sensory bathrooms. These provide a calming environment that helps support children to manage their emotions better. Children enjoy spending time with their pet rabbits and caring for the hens that roam the grounds. Having pets contributes to the homely atmosphere. Inspection report children’s home: SC068410 5 The manager and staff know the importance to children of maintaining family relationships. They support children to spend positive and safe time with their family and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to express their views on all aspects of the home through regular meetings with staff. However, the results of these are not evident in the records kept in the home. This undermines the value of children’s contributions. One child has recently developed the children’s guide to reflect her own experience of living in the home. It provides comprehensive information on life at the home from a child’s perspective. This excellent work will benefit other children who come to live at the home.

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

Staff understand children’s behaviour and the risks that they may encounter. This is because risk assessments are clear and reflect children’s current risks.

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

Effective inter-agency working with the clinical team, placing authority, health providers and schools all help to strengthen children’s safety. The home holds fortnightly multi- disciplinary team meetings. This approach means that any risks to children are identified quickly and support is put in place promptly.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted, and children have reward systems in place to reinforce positive behaviours. Staff recognise the potential causes of challenging behaviour and help children to understand these too. This enables children to reflect on their emotions, feelings and behaviours. Staff are trained in physical restraint but only use this as a last resort.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff respond promptly, in keeping with agreed protocols. Close working with partners, such as the police, helps to ensure that children are located as quickly as possible and return safe and well.

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

When children have raised concerns about staff behaviour, the manager has taken swift and decisive action. The manager contacts all relevant agencies and takes the actions needed to keep children safe. Prompt action helps children to feel listened to and promotes their welfare.

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

Safe recruitment practice ensures that everybody employed to work in the home is safe to work with children.

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

In recent months, a number of experienced staff have taken maternity leave and others have left. Although the manager has ensured continuity of care by using consistent agency staff, the loss of stability and experience has had a significant impact on staffing capacity. The manager has failed to recognise the significance of this when planning the recent admissions of two children or consider the impact of this on children already Inspection report children’s home: SC068410 6 resident. This has meant that some children have become unsettled and staff’s capacity to support them has been limited.

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

Staff receive regular supervision and annual performance appraisal, and they report that this supports their practice. However, not all staff receive a written record of their supervision. This does not promote good practice and reflection.

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

Managers are committed to helping children make good progress in all areas of their development. Staff are complimentary about their managers and the support they receive from them.

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

Most staff are qualified to a level 3 diploma in residential childcare or hold equivalent qualifications. Those who are unqualified are in the regulatory period to obtain their qualification.

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

Staff benefit from bespoke specialist training to inform and improve their practice. The clinical team delivers training in team meetings to equip staff with the necessary knowledge to provide good-quality, individualised care. This has included training to address children’s presenting behaviour linked to autistic spectrum disorder, self-harm, anxiety and personality disorders.

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

The manager and staff work well with parents and other professionals to help ensure the best possible all-round support for the children in their care. They advocate well on behalf of children and actively challenge when the responses from other services are not effective.

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

The manager is keen to drive forward improvements in the home. Action has been taken to meet the two recommendations resulting from the last inspection of the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC068410 7

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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: SC068410 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 Grosvenor Street, Chester CH1 2DD

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Inspector

Anne Daly, Ofsted inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC068410 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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