Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 1 SC361811 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately operated to provide care for up to three children. The home’s statement of purpose states that it provides support, assessment and therapeutic intervention for children in need of short-, medium- and long-term care packages.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 2 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 16 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/06/2019 Full Good 14/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/06/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they like the staff, who spend time with them. One child said: ‘Staff care about you. It’s not just a job to them.’ Children feel that they are listened to and that their views matter to the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children make individualised progress from their starting points. This includes learning to manage their emotions better and not harm themselves, engage with education after years of non-engagement, and ending their involvement in antisocial behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a wide range of activities. Staff work very hard to maintain children’s initial interest in new leisure pursuits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During a period of national restrictions, one young person continued to reside at the home beyond their 18th birthday. This flexibility ensured that a suitable placement was identified and that the young person had a transition plan that met their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child is being successfully supported to maintain their education, despite the daily long distance involved. The routines that staff establish enable the child to continue their education at a critical point in their schooling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships that are important to children, such as family and friends, are fully supported by the staff. One social worker felt that staff ‘have gone over and above’ to help the child maintain these relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another child has been supported to re-engage in education after many years of non-engagement. However, their attendance is not consistent and current strategies to maintain progress have faltered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children to learn and practise skills they will need in adulthood. Children engage with these plans and are incrementally given greater responsibility in preparing meals, shopping and budgeting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage with the therapeutic support that is offered by the home’s psychologist. This supports both the child and the day-to-day care that staff offer.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child was missing from the home at the time of the inspection. Although staff have been persistent in their support of the child, this has not affected lasting progress or change. Local authority professionals considered that staff have worked hard to establish the child’s commitment to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 4

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff understand children’s vulnerabilities and their role in keeping children safe. Staff follow plans and work well with other agencies to help safeguard children from risks. However, for one child there has been a high number of prolonged incidents of going missing from home and behaviours that pose a risk to their safety and welfare. Staff are diligent in speaking to the child about these risks. However, this input has not been effective and there are missed opportunities to provide timely evaluation of this work.

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improvement to be good

Staff are patient and non-confrontational in their support of children. Good use of de-escalation techniques means that physical intervention is rarely required and, when used, is of a low level nature. Since the last visit, there have not been any allegations or complaints made by children.

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improvement to be good

Staff are sensitive with regard to children’s needs for emotional support and this helps children regulate their emotions better. For example, one child has experienced a reduction in behaviours that cause physical self-harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that they are available to children at key times, such as when they return home from school. One member of staff said: ‘Spending time with [name of child] after school sets the whole mood for the evening.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the children well and has established good working relationships with other agencies. She is active in driving forward children’s plans and is proactive in requesting meetings to review children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and support from the manager, and they are complimentary about her leadership. She is clear in her expectations of staff and addresses any identified shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are suitable monitoring systems in place that ensure that the manager has appropriate oversight of children’s care. When concerns about children’s welfare have increased, she has developed detailed chronologies to assist with this oversight. However, these chronologies do not provide evaluation of the input from staff and, as such, have missed opportunities to identify any changes that could be made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from comfortable and homely surroundings. They are encouraged to personalise their rooms and, as a result, children’s bedrooms are reflective of their choices in decor and ambiance. Overall, the home is well maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since September 2020, there has been a high number of staff who have left or joined the home. In addition, there has been a high number of individual casual staff used at the home to cover shortfalls in the rota. The manager is aware of this Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 5 and is seeking to stabilise any further movement of core staff and reduce the number of casual staff used. Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers.

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children maintaining attendance in education and requesting a review of education, health and care plans. 30 April 2022

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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—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to evaluating the efficacy of plans to keep children safe and the impact of direct work by staff with children. 31 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 7 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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to reducing the number of different casual staff that are used in the home to cover shifts. 30 April 2022

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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 for children’s home: SC361811 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Pauline Yates, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 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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