Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 1244287 1 Registered provider: Roc Northwest Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of several owned and managed by a private company. The home provides care and support for up to five young people who can no longer live at home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since July 2019.

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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: 21 November 2018

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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: 1244287 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2018 Full Good 11/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1244287 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people live in a caring and nurturing environment in which they receive care and support that brings stability to their lives. They receive the help that they need to move forward in their lives. Social workers acknowledged that their children or young people are making steady and sustained progress because of the support that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of recording in children and young people’s records and documentation is improving. However, there are issues with their healthcare plans due to a lack of information. Having said that, staff have a very good understanding of each child and young person’s health needs and meet these well on a daily basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s health is improving. They now have the confidence to attend medical appointments, and to get the treatment that they need. Children and young people are more aware of the external factors that impact on their health, such as not getting enough sleep. This is helping to keep them fit and well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are aspirational for children and young people to engage positively with their education. An effective rewards system encourages them to attend school. This is a valuable tool in helping children and young people who have been out of education for some time to re-engage and to do well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are strong advocates for making learning fun. For example, they regularly read stories to, and with, the children and young people to improve their reading skills and enjoyment in reading for pleasure. The effective use of board games helps children and young people to develop a range of skills that are helping them to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are increasing in confidence, self-esteem and independence. They are encouraged to keep their rooms tidy, to help to sort their laundry and to organise the menu for the week ahead.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people feel safe to trust staff and accept their help and support. Staff build warm, consistent and positive relationships with the children and young people. Staff show them that they care about them and know what is important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen carefully to what children and young people have to say and help them to be involved in making decisions about their lives. This includes ensuring that the child or young person’s views are heard and acted on at their review meetings. This is helping to bring about change for the children and young people, for example with regard to the arrangements for them to see their families. Inspection report children’s home: 1244287 4 Staff understand how important it is for the children and young people to see their families and friends. These visits are managed well and help children and young people to see those people who are important to them.

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

The manager and staff have created a safe home environment that protects children and young people from harm.

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

Children and young people feel safe and have a sense of belonging. They know that they can talk to the staff about their worries and that the staff will help them to be safe. Children and young people are now safer from the risks of abuse, exploitation and going missing from home.

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

Staff are trained in safeguarding and understand the risks around child sexual exploitation, county lines, and child criminal exploitation. Consequently, staff have a range of skills and knowledge needed to observe, identify any potential concerns, and act to protect the children and young people.

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

However, on one occasion staff did not act in response to a potential safeguarding concern. This was identified during the inspection and immediate action was taken to address this.

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

The home has recently seen a spike in episodes of a young person being missing from home. These incidents have been managed well to help the young person to return home safely. On two occasions, a press release was issued to help to locate the young person. The home failed to notify Ofsted of this. This was an oversight and did not have a negative impact on the care and support provided.

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

Staff use language ‘that cares’, and is appropriate for the age and stage of development of the child or young person. Staff talk to children and young people about ‘going out to play’ or going to see their friends. This helps to develop a safe, nurturing environment. Staff understand how past experiences can have a negative impact on a child or young person, and work hard to help them to move forward.

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

Children and young people are increasingly able to manage their emotions and moderate their behaviour. A social worker said that use of language such as ‘mad, sad, glad and scared’ has been instrumental in helping their child to express their emotions in a better way, and for staff to understand how they are feeling.

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

Clear, consistent boundaries help children and young people to know what is expected of them. Physical interventions are occasionally used and always as a last resort. The physical interventions record would benefit from clearer recording as to what the ‘emotional release’ is for the child or young person.

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

Children and young people live in a warm and inviting family home. They have personalised their own bedrooms and enjoy spending time with each other in the Inspection report children’s home: 1244287 5 lounge and kitchen. Children and young people chose the colours for the new kitchen and ‘snug’, and as a result they enjoy spending time there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led and managed by a highly committed, qualified and experienced manager. She works in partnership with her deputy manager to ensure that the children, young people and staff are fully supported, and their individual needs are met. Together they are creating an environment that is changing children and young people’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy are building a strong foundation on which the home can develop. They are well aware of the strengths of the home and the areas for development. The quality of record-keeping in the home has improved, for example the quality of the risk assessments. However, they acknowledge that there is an ongoing developmental need to ensure that the records truly tell the story of the child or young person’s time in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the home by the independent person and registered manager is improving. However, the registered manager’s six-monthly reports would benefit from a more critical analysis of what is going well and the areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective staffing arrangements ensure that there are enough suitable, experienced and qualified staff available to meet the children and young people’s needs. Staff work together cohesively, and are provided with support and supervision in carrying out their day-to-day care of children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervisions and appraisals are up-to-date However, the records of supervision discussions contain limited information about the quality of the discussions or plans moving forward.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff are passionate about ensuring that each child and young person receives the right level of care and support. They are not afraid to challenge professionals or to escalate their concerns if they feel this is not happening. This has resulted in positive outcomes for individual children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1244287 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)) 31/03/2020

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for ensuring that each child’s day to day health and well-being needs are met. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3) In particular, ensure that the children and young people’s healthcare plans reflect all of their needs.  A record of supervision should be kept for all staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with the regulation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that is helpful to

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Recommendations

them. The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.3, 14.4, 14.5)  Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) Inspection report children’s home: 1244287 7 occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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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: 1244287 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Roc Northwest Limited

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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

Chris Scully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1244287 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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