Children's home run by Independent Living Services (North West) Limited in St. Helens

Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 1 SC431192 Registered provider: Independent Living Services (North West) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is a four-bedroomed mixed-gender home for children aged up to 18 years on admission who have difficulty living within a family environment or have suffered significant trauma through neglect or abuse. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2014.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Date of last inspection: 6 November 2018

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/11/2018 Full Good 03/05/2017 Full Outstanding 15/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 3

p.2

outstanding

The children’s home provides extremely effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for all children. Consequently, taking into account children’s starting points, all are making exceptional progress in areas of their health, education and emotional well-being.

p.3

outstanding

Children are cared for by a consistent, committed and well-trained staff team. The home is presented to an exceptionally high standard, and the atmosphere is very relaxed. During the inspection, children were observed laughing with staff and talking about the day’s events. One child said, ‘This is my home and it’s outstanding. I have always been encouraged by the staff to follow my dreams.’

p.3

outstanding

Transitions into and out of the home are exceptionally well planned. Transition plans carefully consider each child’s needs and the impact on the other children already living in the home. The registered manager provides opportunities for new children to visit the home in advance of moving in, whenever possible. This enables children to have a look around the home and meet staff and other children. Staff do their best to make children feel welcome and help them to personalise their rooms to a high standard. All children living in the home were proud of their bedrooms and talked about the changes that they have been supported to make since moving into the home. For example, one child had a new book corner designed in her bedroom with age-appropriate books and furnishings, and another child had just been involved in decorating her room and had been out with staff to purchase new bedding and furnishings.

p.3

outstanding

Consultation with children is well thought through in all aspects of their care. Staff undertake regular and effective one-to-one key-working sessions with children. These are very detailed and address a range of topics relevant to the individual child, including their overall progress and experiences.

p.3

outstanding

Education outcomes for all children since their starting point have improved. Staff actively support children with their education and work very closely with education providers so that every child has the best opportunity to achieve their education potential. Children who have not been in education, sometimes for long periods of time, are supported by staff to return to education as soon as they move into the home. This is on a gradual basis, when appropriate, but with a clear plan that is regularly reviewed to ensure that there are no delays in children accessing full-time education packages. This supports children’s learning and development.

p.3

outstanding

Appropriately trained and experienced staff have a very clear understanding of children’s health needs. Healthy diets and attendance at routine health appointments promote good physical health. Emotional health is promoted exceptionally well in this home. This is down to excellent joint working with specialist therapeutic services, such as child and adolescent mental health services. Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 4 This ensures that children have direct access in a timely way to services that promote their well-being.

p.3

outstanding

Staff continually prepare and support children to develop their independence skills. Children participate in general household tasks, such as cleaning their bedrooms, laundry tasks, food preparation and shopping. Children learn the skills and develop the confidence they will need to assist them into adulthood.

p.4

outstanding

Family contact is a significant focus for staff working in the home. Staff ensure that the contact plans that they have in place are in accordance with the placing authority care plan. Staff ensure that children are able to see their family and friends and will facilitate and support contact, even if this is at a distance from the home. This ensures that children maintain contact with important people in their lives.

p.4

outstanding

Safeguarding children is a clear priority in the home. The registered manager has built a strong safeguarding culture in the home where children are listened to, respected and involved in both the development of the home and decisions about the home.

p.4

outstanding

Children spoken to all said that they feel safe and are safe living in the home. Staff support children on a daily basis to understand the risks in the community. For example, staff have daily discussions about the latest news articles or current concerns in society, such as criminal exploitation. This has developed children’s knowledge and helped them to understand what they need to do if they do not feel safe. Children were clear that they would ‘ring the staff’ or ‘talk to them [staff]’ and, ‘They [staff] are always available to help.’

p.4

outstanding

Staff have a detailed knowledge of their roles and responsibilities in protecting children, and this is routinely on the agenda in team meetings and staff supervision. Managers and staff have maintained effective relationships with the local police, social workers, schools and health professionals. This well-established professional network means that children receive high levels of support, reflecting their needs and vulnerabilities.

p.4

outstanding

Staff have received training in a range of multi-disciplinary child protection courses appropriate to their roles. They use this knowledge well, to assess the risks posed to individual children, and create strategies to minimise them. Key workers devise, monitor and review careful risk management plans that enhance the safety and well- being of children. These typically include measures that encourage children to identify risks themselves and to manage them safely. However, some risk assessments that were updated have not always been signed and dated to indicate who the author of the changes was and when the changes were made. This has not had a direct impact on children’s safety, as staff demonstrated an in-depth and up- to-date knowledge of children’s individual risks, and their interventions are Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 5 consistent and effective. This was clearly a recording matter and, when brought to

p.4

outstanding

the attention of the manager, was immediately rectified.

p.5

outstanding

Incidents of missing from care have reduced for all children. When incidents occur, all staff are fully aware of what action is required. Staff go to great lengths to locate children and facilitate their safe return. Staff keep relevant people informed and work together well with families and professionals. When children return, they have the opportunity to talk to someone independent of the home about what happened when they were away. This information is used by staff to ensure that the current risk management strategies are appropriate and that children are kept safe.

p.5

outstanding

The staff team has a detailed understanding of children’s individual circumstances and behavioural needs. Proactive and imaginative approaches are used to manage behaviour. All behaviour management plans are consistently reviewed and updated. There is clear involvement by all children who are encouraged to express their views, wishes and feelings. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative and help children to understand the impact that their behaviour has on them and others. An environment of high praise and warmth consistently promotes good behaviour. Negative behaviour is addressed through good, consistent care and firm boundaries from the staff group.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is suitably qualified and highly experienced. She is confident, inspirational and ambitious for all children. The registered manager and the responsible individual are a very effective leadership team. They are highly organised, and their knowledge and insight into the complex needs of the children living in the home are excellent. Their knowledge is further enhanced by keeping abreast of the latest research into matters which affect children living in care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager leads by example. Her enthusiasm and commitment to making a difference to children’s lives cascade down to the staff team. A very stable and consistent team of staff feels highly valued. Staff love working in the home, and morale is high.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular, effective supervision and oversight of their practice. They are accountable in their work with children. Staff receive regular training and development. In addition, the manager carefully applies new areas of research to improve practices in the home. This continues to promote a culture of learning and development. This is crucial to improving care and outcomes for children. Furthermore, staff effectively use both handover and team meetings to promote a consistent approach to working on a daily basis with all children. Staff ensure that all information about children’s daily routines, activities and plans, including any significant changes, is discussed in detail with all care staff so they are able to respond constructively. Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 6 Staff maintain excellent-quality records, which capture each child’s journey through care. They include the views of children and their families. They share information

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

appropriately with relevant stakeholders. This ensures that all parties have an understanding of the children’s lives, their experiences and plans for the future. The highly effective partnership working that the home promotes underpins the excellent progress that children are making.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Monitoring and quality assurance systems are further improving children’s outcomes and safety, as well as sustaining a high standard of care in the home . The registered manager collects the views of children in regular individual meetings with them. They see her as central to their lives and spoke warmly of her and the efforts she makes on their behalf. Because staff focus on individual need in a highly skilled and consistent way, the development of the home continues when those living in the home change.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The monthly report produced by the independent visitor needs to be further scrutinised by the management team. The report provides conflicting information about whether children have or have not been spoken to and it lacks evaluation. The registered manager has a plan in place to address the shortfalls identified and ensure that these are helpful in monitoring practice in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 7

p.6

Recommendations

 All children’s homes’ case records must be kept up to date, signed, and dated by the author of the entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

p.7

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: SC431192 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Independent Living Services (North West) Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lakeside, Prescot Road, St. Helens, Lancashire WA10 3TP

p.8

Inspectors

Michelle Edge, Social Care Inspector Jessica Forshaw, Social Care Inspector Marina Tully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC431192 9 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9