Children's home run by Young Foundations Limited in Wirral

Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 1 Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A private provider manages this home and the on-site school. The school is registered and inspected separately. The home provides care for young people who have an autism spectrum disorder or who have complex learning difficulties and/or challenging behaviour. This home can accommodate up to 12 young people. The majority of young people attend the on-site school, and they all have an education, health and care (EHC) plan. There is a multi-disciplinary clinical team (MDT) that provides specialist advice and support.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered in April 2019 and is suitably qualified.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/03/2019 Full Good 12/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 22/08/2017 Full Good 27/09/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are cared for by a staff team that provides them with consistent, nurturing and individualised care. Staff make it their priority to build strong, trusting relationships with the children and young people. By building secure relationships, children and young people feel that these are a source of comfort, safety and security, which helps them to learn important life skills.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

School attendance is good. Staff are ambitious in their aspirations for what children and young people can achieve in school. They work closely and effectively with the on-site school to ensure that children and young people fulfil their potential.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff engage with a variety of health professionals and services to ensure that specialist support is in place to meet the children and young people’s physical and emotional needs. The manager and staff at the home are supported by a team of qualified clinicians, who can offer bespoke case consultation and training for individual children and young people. This enables staff to support children and young people in crisis and helps them feel calm and safe.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are confident in expressing their views. Regular meetings capture children and young people’s wishes and feelings. As a result, children and young people have a direct input into how the home is run. Key teams work with the children and young people to gather their views about how staff can best support them. This ensures that children and young people are able to directly influence the quality of care they receive.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained, warm and comfortable. Spacious communal areas and well-equipped gardens provide children and young people with the space to take part in a range of activities that build skills and confidence. However, the use of walkie talkies and obtrusive fire signage detracts from the overall homely atmosphere.

p.3

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

The children and young people are supervised by staff who are attentive and vigilant. Highly effective planning to manage the behaviours of the children and young people helps them become increasingly safe both inside and outside the home. Regular reviews of risk assessments are informed by the views of the on-site multi-disciplinary team. This ensures that children and young people can develop their independence skills in a safe and supported way.

p.3

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

Supervision of the children and young people at the home is good. Staff have taken care to ensure that no child or young person has gone missing from the home. There are no issues relating to drugs, alcohol or smoking in this home. Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 4 Staff have a good understanding of how previous experiences can have an impact on the children and young people’s behaviour. They work closely with social workers and the multi-disciplinary team to produce highly individual plans to meet the needs of the children and young people. Careful monitoring of behaviour and sharing of good practice across key times have contributed to a reduction in the number of times the children and young people have been physically held. As a result, the children and young people have benefited from staff who are able to implement more effective de-escalation techniques.

p.3

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

Recruitment practice in the home is robust. Records of the checks on new staff are closely monitored by the manager, and any gaps in employment are carefully investigated. Any concerns about individual staff are followed up, and risk assessments are in place where minor concerns have been identified. This prevents unsuitable people from working with the children and young people.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is appropriately qualified, skilled and experienced to meet the aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose. She has a strong commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people. She is supported by a dedicated deputy and staff team, who share her ambitious vision to give children and young people the best possible opportunity to achieve their highest potential.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have developed good working relationships with professionals and families. One professional said, ‘I have a really positive relationship with the manager and the staff. We communicate well and work well together.’ In addition, one parent said, ‘I think the staff are amazing. It’s amazing what they do here. He [J] is very happy.’

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Where there are areas for development, the manager has plans in place to address these. However, there is no comprehensive workforce development plan in place. This limits the ability of the manager to ensure that all staff develop the skills and knowledge required to improve the support they offer to children and young people.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there has been an improvement in the way significant events have been reported to Ofsted. Allegations against staff have been reported correctly and investigated thoroughly. Reporting significant incidents increases the ability of external agencies to ensure that children and young people are not being harmed. However, safeguarding is not a standing agenda item in all staff meetings and on supervision records. This reduces the opportunity for staff to report any concerns they have about individual children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 5

p.4

Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce

p.5

Recommendations

related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20) The plan should: ‒ detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the homes Statement of Purpose; ‒ detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); ‒ detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; ‒ detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing

p.5

Recommendations

training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

p.5

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: 1183911 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited

p.6

Children’s home details

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

p.6

Inspector

Mark Proffitt, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 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.

p.6

Inspector

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 www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspector

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

p.7

Inspector

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

p.7