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

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered in December 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 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: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2020 Full Good 06/03/2019 Full Good 12/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 22/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a supportive, caring and nurturing environment. Staff provide children with well-planned, highly individualised care that supports their needs effectively. This has led to the children making good progress since their admission to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs. This enables them to help the children to achieve good levels of emotional stability. The staff understand the triggers in behaviours which can lead to challenging or difficult situations. When these occur, staff respond to these challenges sensitively. This helps to reduce the likelihood of children becoming anxious.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support and encourage children to spend time with their families and friends. Every effort is made to help promote and strengthen family relationships, and this is something that parents clearly value. One parent said, ‘My son can now come home and play with his younger brother. This was something he wasn’t able to do prior to living at the home.’ This clearly demonstrates the positive impact that the service has had on the lives of children and their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to engage in a wide variety of activities with their peers both in the home and in the wider community. They are also encouraged to have their own interests, such as playing football, cycling and attending a boxing club. These activities help the children to have fun, build confidence and develop their social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer considerable support and encouragement to children to learn new skills that will help prepare them for independence. Staff work closely with the children, social workers, parents and teachers to identify and set measurable goals. As a result, the children have made considerable progress and are becoming more confident in their abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in key-work sessions and monthly children’s meetings, and have regular consultations with the manager. These opportunities enable the children to have a say in how the home is run. For example, the children have personalised their bedrooms and recently designed an American theme for their new dining room.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to celebrate their successes. Any small achievement is recognised, and children are routinely praised in children’s meetings and key-work sessions. As a result, the children become more resilient and self-confident.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by the staff to engage in their education plans. Children have good school attendance and staff ensure that children’s educational needs are reviewed and monitored. This helps the children to progress and reach their full potential. Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 4

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

Staff provide children with high levels of support and supervision both in the home and in the community. With this level of supervision and the use of effective procedures, the risk of children going missing or being exposed to exploitation is minimised.

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

The children are better protected because staff understand their needs and vulnerabilities. Individual risk assessments are clearly understood by staff, and these are routinely considered when planning daily routines and activities.

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

The staff are trained in physical interventions and this training is regularly refreshed. The training enables staff to support the children, primarily by using de-escalation strategies. However, the physical intervention training currently provided to staff is not fully accredited. This falls short of best-practice guidance and could lead to outdated practice.

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

More positively, when physical intervention does occur, the recording is effective and clear. The manager ensures that debriefs take place to help the staff to reflect on their practice and explore children’s triggers. This helps to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence.

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

Staff follow a clear policy and procedure on medication storage and administration. The senior staff have training to ensure that they are suitably qualified to administer medication safely. As a result, medication is well audited and safely stored and administered.

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

The children have individual health plans, which are reviewed by the MDT and other professionals to ensure that children’s health needs are addressed.

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

Some children use different methods of communication and staff have a detailed understanding of how children express their needs and feelings. This is effective in reducing children’s frustration, as they feel well understood and responded to by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious for the children and the staff team. Her child-focused practice has helped the children progress and settle at the home. There has been a significant investment within the home and in the grounds. The environment is homely and a pleasant environment for children to live in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with the MDT and other agencies to ensure that the holistic care needs of the children are being met. When needed, she will advocate on behalf of children and challenge professionals to ensure that children’s needs are met. Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 5 The manager has a clear vision of what she wants to achieve for the children and her staff. She encourages staff to engage in opportunities to help improve practice. However, team meetings have not consistently taken place. This is a missed opportunity for staff to engage in reflective discussions about the children and the support they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff have not received regular supervision or an annual appraisal. This is a missed opportunity to review and enhance staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has implemented systems to ensure that staff capture the voice of the child and their experiences during their time at the home. This has been achieved through life-story work and improved recording in case files.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes good use of her auditing and monitoring tools. This enables her to have good oversight of the home, staff practice and children’s progress. Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff are supervised regularly in line with the home’s statement of purpose. 31 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff access ligature training. 31 July 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home’s care. Everyone working at the home must understand their roles and responsibilities. In particular, ensure that staff have regular team meetings to support practice development. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20) Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 7  The registered person should ensure that those commissioning training in restraint for children’s homes staff should be satisfied that the training fits with their approach to restraint or existing restraint system, and is appropriate to the needs of the children the home is set up to care for. They should see evidence that any restraint techniques the training advocates for have been medically assessed to demonstrate their safety for use in a context of caring for children

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Recommendations

who are still developing, physically and emotionally. The registered person should routinely review the effectiveness of any restraint system commissioned. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.58)

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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: 1183911 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Beresford Adams Commercial Ltd, 7 Grosvenor Street, Chester CH1 2DD

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Inspectors

Noel Cooper, Social Care Inspector Debbie Foster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1183911 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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