Children's Home run by CASC (Barrow) Limited in Cumbria

Inspection report children's home: SC436826 1 SC436826 Registered provider: CASC (Barrow) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately-owned children’s home is registered for up to four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A qualified and experienced registered manager is in post who registered with Ofsted in August 2017.

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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: 22 January 2019

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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: SC436826 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/01/2019 Full Good 16/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/05/2017 Full Good 26/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC436826 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress. Progression is evidenced through reports completed by young people’s key workers on a monthly basis. Staff understand what progress looks like for each young person and can identify how they have progressed since coming to live at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s care is individualised. Their personal hobbies and interests are promoted. For example, one young person likes to go for runs at night time which helps him to clear his head. Another young person is interested in make-up and has been bought a special mirror. The third young person has tried a wide variety of activities including climbing, going to the gym and a marksman shooting range.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is provided for the young people at the provider’s local school. One young person has made sustained progression in attendance and achievement. Staff understand the importance of supporting young people’s education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff also support young people to develop their independence skills. One young person can now use public transport, do his own laundry and shopping and is engaging in and enjoying work experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health and well-being is prioritised. Staff are good advocates for those who require additional support to ensure that their health needs are met. There are plans in place to respond appropriately to young people who self-harm. These identify the most helpful response when the young person shows her cuts and scars. This means that young people get a supportive and calm response when they need it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive relationships exist between staff and young people. This allows young people to feel cared for and valued. They can freely express their individuality and know that they will be responded to in a way that they find encouraging and supportive.

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

Young people said that they felt safe and that staff supported them to be safe. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s risks and staff are aware of how to respond to and manage risks. Positive relationships between staff and young people mean that young people respond well to staff efforts to calm and de-escalate incidents. As a result, physical intervention is rarely necessary to keep young people safe.

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

In respect of behaviour management, the home adopts a restorative approach. Staff do not rely on the use of sanctions to penalise poor behaviour. On some occasions, young people are required to make reparation for damages caused. This is a natural consequence of their actions. Inspection report children's home: SC436826 4 A proactive approach is adopted to planning risk management. Preventative work is evident where young people are educated about risk-taking and its consequences. The home has fostered a positive working relationship with the local police. The police supply the home with intelligence about known hotspots for crime and anti- social behaviour.

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

Young people have been educated about bullying by being part of a national anti- bullying day. This helps them to understand the impact that their behaviour can have on other people.

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

Admission planning has a strong focus on risk and risk management. This ensures that staff are well prepared to address young people’s risks and that potential ways of managing these have been identified prior to placement.

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

One young person has made significant progress in reducing his drug misuse through the time and support that has been invested in him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed well by a qualified and experienced manager. The manager is invested in the young people and staff and has high aspirations for both. She pays particular attention to staff morale and motivation by recognising and rewarding positive practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable and experienced. The home does not use agency staff. This gives young people the opportunity to experience continuity of care. In turn, this allows young people to develop trusting, secure relationships with adults who consistently meet their needs. There is a good gender balance amongst the staff team which provides positive male and female role models for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported and supervised in line with the provider’s stated frequency. New staff receive more regular supervision during their induction period. This supports the development of good practice with strong managerial oversight. Regular staff meetings are held, which promotes cohesive team work. Staff spend time in team meetings identifying good practice and disseminating this to other team members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the service is effective. The manager has put systems in place to improve the standard and efficiency of monitoring. This results in her having a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weakness. Reports submitted to Ofsted under regulation 45 show that there are clear, realistic and achievable development plans in place. External monitoring visits take place at the required frequency. However, there has been some delay in submitting these reports to the regulator. This hinders monitoring of the service. A requirement is made reflecting this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good links have been developed with external agencies. This positive co-operation promotes proactive planning around young people’s range of needs and ensures a multi-agency response to any issues or concerns that arise. Inspection report children's home: SC436826 5

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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 registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to— HMCI. (Regulation 44(1) and (7)(a)) Specifically, ensuring that a copy of the report reaches Ofsted within the required timescale. 17/04/2020

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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: SC436826 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: CASC (Barrow) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 125 Ramsden Square, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria LA14 1XA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Hilary Southward

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC436826 7 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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