Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC039683 1 SC039683 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority home that provides care and accommodation for up to six young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post who was registered with Ofsted in August 2007.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 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 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: SC039683 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/07/2018 Full Good 04/07/2017 Full Good 05/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 29/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC039683 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people who live in this home make very good progress. For example, they develop safer behaviours, grow in confidence and experience improved emotional and physical well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy warm and nurturing relationships with staff. They trust staff and feel safe in their care. Many young people remain in contact with the home after they leave, in some cases for several years. A young person who has lived in the home on a long-term basis said of the staff team members, ‘They are the best. I honestly don’t know where I would be without them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take time to understand the things that are important to young people. They work closely with external therapists to gain skills in understanding and supporting young people’s emotional needs. Young people are supported to discover and celebrate their identities. For example, staff recently supported a young person who is a member of the LGBTQ community to attend a Pride event.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are persistent and proactive in their efforts to help young people overcome barriers to education. From their starting points, young people have progressed, and most are achieving good attendance. The manager works closely with external professionals to ensure that all young people have appropriate provision in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy positive experiences. They have regular opportunities to take part in a variety of activities in line with their interests and also enjoy holidays with staff. A young person showed photographs from a recent holiday and explained that this was her first experience of going on an aeroplane.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, two young people were in the process of moving on to independent settings. Their individual transition plans demonstrate that staff have worked closely with them to support them in their steps towards adulthood. One of the young people said that she felt sad to be leaving but that it was the ‘right time’. She confirmed that she felt well prepared and confident, thanks to the support she had received.

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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 they receive. For many young people, risks in areas such as going missing from home or sexual exploitation have dramatically reduced from the point of their admission.

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

Arrangements to protect and safeguard young people are good. Young people feel safe and readily share any concerns or worries with staff. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the risks to each young person’s safety and well-being. However, in some cases, individualised risk management plans could be improved to provide clearer guidance and support consistent practice. Inspection report children’s home: SC039683 4 Young people do not go missing from the home on a frequent basis. This is despite some young people having a history of doing so at the point of their admission. If this situation does occur, staff are proactive in their responses and make considerable efforts to contact and locate the missing young person.

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

Collaborative working with external professionals, such as police and social workers, helps to keep young people safe and protect them from harm. The manager recently completed a piece of valuable mapping work to assist police and child sexual exploitation workers in identifying local areas and individuals of concern.

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

There are clear expectations regarding young people’s behaviour. Individualised behaviour support plans assist staff in managing challenging situations in a positive and consistent manner. This results in very few situations where staff are required to physically intervene.

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

Young people’s behaviours towards each other have been an issue at times. Staff are vigilant and monitor relationships carefully. However, there are concerns that incidents between young people are not recorded in a way that assists managers to identify patterns or trends. In addition, managers, staff and external professionals do not have a clear overview of the frequency or severity of such incidents. 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 post who has been registered with Ofsted since August 2007. 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

The manager works well with external professionals to ensure that young people receive effective care and support. The manager advocates strongly for young people. In circumstances where external services fall short of providing the appropriate support, she is able to challenge them and escalate concerns where necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a process in place which enables the manager to assess the needs of young people being considered for the home, as well as any potential impact they may have on the existing group. These assessments do not always provide clarity in terms of how admission decisions have been reached or evidence that all identified risks have been properly considered. Improvements in this process would help to reduce the risk of inappropriate admissions in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people are invested in the home. They engage well and are involved in day- to-day decisions. Young people were recently involved in the recruitment of a new team member. In addition, there is good evidence that young people are encouraged to express their views and wishes about their own care. Inspection report children’s home: SC039683 5 Staff feel well supported and express satisfaction with the leadership of the home. One staff member said, ‘The team and managers are very supportive. Managers are happy to listen to our opinions and are very open to changes and suggestions.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff benefit from comprehensive training, which includes learning identified in line with young people’s needs. Individual supervision enables managers and staff to discuss areas such as performance and development. Staff also benefit from regular group supervision and team meetings, which support positive challenge and reflective practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Processes for monitoring quality are used effectively in most areas. In particular, the manager maintains a good overview of the outcomes and experiences of young people. However, in a small number of areas, including medication audits, monitoring could be improved to help ensure that any shortfalls are quickly identified and addressed.

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to speak with someone independent of the incident, to 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. Children should be offered the opportunity to access advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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Recommendations

 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)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs19 and 20). The plan should include the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report children’s home: SC039683 6  The registered person should make best use of internal monitoring processes to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC039683 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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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

Marie Cordingley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC039683 8 to 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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