Children's home run by Timeout Children’s Homes Limited in Calderdale

Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 1 Registered provider: Timeout Childrens Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is managed and run by a private provider. It provides a specialist residential therapeutic service for up to two children who may experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since November 2017.

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2019 Full Outstanding 17/10/2018 Full Outstanding 02/08/2017 Full Good 25/01/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress as a result of living at this home. They are supported by an effective staff team that provides good-quality care. Children say that they feel well cared for and happy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children enjoy strong and trusting relationships. Children benefit from consistent boundaries and a staff team that understands their needs. This enables children to feel at home. One child told an inspector, ‘I have very good relationships with everyone here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in relation to their health, education, and emotional, social and psychological well-being. The strength of the service is the working relationships staff have with education providers and the clinical team. This helps children to make progress as staff and other professionals have a shared understanding of their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children regularly attend school and make steady progress. Children have developed social skills, routines, and have gained some functional skills qualifications. They also take part in vocational learning in areas such as music and motor mechanics. These subjects are relevant to their personal interests. This helps to create future aspirations and gives children a sense of achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a wide variety of activities. Staff plan activities based on what the children want to do, as well as ensuring that their personal interests are supported. For example, a trip to a recent comic-con convention enabled children to be in an environment with people who have similar interests. This helps children to develop their sense of identity and build positive memories. One child told an inspector, ‘They go above and beyond by planning nice activities, like trampolining and go-karting.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff ensure that the children’s wishes and feelings are acted on. Staff are creative in how they capture the children’s voice. They explore their thoughts about their day-to-day care needs, the design of the home, or more personal matters, such as taking medication. This means that children influence the care and support they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped by staff to cope with the difficult emotions that personal relationships can bring. They are also enabled to have friendships with the children who live in the provider’s other homes. The opportunity to develop friendships with other children helps to create a sense of community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Memory books capture fun times and important events in the children’s life at the home. This helps to create a positive story of the child’s experience as they grow up. Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 4 The home is tastefully decorated and provides children with a comfortable living space. However, bedrooms are not clean beyond the responsibility that is delegated to the children to keep their rooms tidy. This is recognisable by the level of dust and grime that has settled. This does not enhance the living experience of the children.

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

The children at the home say they feel safe. Placing local authorities agree that children’s safety is a high priority at this home.

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

There have been no recent missing-from-home episodes. Children are not at risk of exploitation and are provided with a safe environment to live in. Their emotional health needs are understood and well supported by staff, which reduces the risk of children being in unsafe situations. Children are better protected because of living at this home.

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

Staff use the secure base model as a framework for therapeutic caregiving. This results in trusted relationships between the children and staff. One child said to an inspector, ‘I feel safe and listened to.’

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

The staff support the children to develop and make progress. The manager is proactive in sharing valuable information and resources with the team in respect of children’s individual needs. Any concerning behaviour that is identified is addressed swiftly. Staff respond in ways that enable reflective thinking, which helps children to understand the potential consequences of their actions.

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

The children’s risk assessments are updated regularly. However, staff are not always following the agreed action plan in respect of social media safety. This does not provide protection for children in line with their risk assessment. This could result in children being at an increased risk of harm through the inappropriate use of the internet and/or social media.

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

A fault with one of the home’s fire exit doors has not been repaired, which poses a fire evacuation hazard. In addition, the manager does not have a fire evacuation plan in place, which could lead to inconsistencies in the evacuation of the building and an increased risk of harm to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a wealth of experience and is well established in her role. She is actively involved in the running of the home and knows the progress that the children make. Leaders and managers are ambitious for the children and want them to be safe, happy and thrive while living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to developing the skills of the team. All staff are child focused, which is characterised by how they talk about the children. The quality of the records that staff complete also reflects their child-focused practice. Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 5 Staff receive regular supervision and appraisal. Also, specialist consultation is in place for the manager and staff from the provider’s own clinical team. This helps to ensure that they receive the support they need to understand the emotional health needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor regularly attends the home and talks with the children about their experience of being cared for. The visitor evaluates the safety and welfare of the children on each occasion. However, the written reports do not always provide enough information to enable the regulator to understand how the evaluation has been reached. This limits the regulator’s ability to scrutinise the quality of care and determine whether the children are safeguarded effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager does not have a copy of the children’s local authority care plans, to ensure that the home’s care plan is in line with the local authority plan. This could limit the progress that the children make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers, education colleagues and other relevant professionals have provided highly positive feedback about the level of care provided at this home. One social worker said to an inspector, ‘[Name of child]’s voice is listened to and I’m always impressed with the care and commitment to meet his needs.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that the children's bedrooms are clean so that the children's environment enhances their experience of living at the home. 28 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that all fire exits from the building operate correctly so that a safe exit from the building is possible in the event of a fire. In addition, the manager must ensure that there is a fire evacuation plan for children and staff to follow. 28 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 7 The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that there are up-to-date care plans available for each child. 28 July 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, the registered person should ensure that each child’s risk assessment has a clear action plan for staff to follow which is relatable to the assessed risk. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 14.2)  The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the independent visitor provides clear context to any incident that has been scrutinised, to enable the regulator to have a better understanding

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Recommendations

of the independent visitor’s evaluation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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: 1233981 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Timeout Childrens Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Timeout Childrens Homes Limited, Unit 2, Mill Fold, Ripponden, Sowerby Bridge HX6 4DH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Dominic Macauley

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Inspectors

Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Emma Ridley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1233981 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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