Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC477939 1 SC477939 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 February 2019.

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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 13 January 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 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: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC477939 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/05/2019 Full Good 17/04/2018 Full Good 27/06/2017 Full Good 14/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC477939 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences through living at the home, and they are well supported and nurtured by staff. This environment enables children to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given routines, boundaries and structure that help them to overcome previous difficulties they have encountered. For example, one child is now committed to their chosen career and is working hard to achieve this. An independent reviewing officer commented: ‘It’s like someone has waved a magic wand.’ Over time, another child has experienced significantly fewer incidents of emotional crisis that lead to hospitalisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer continuous positive regard and support children to explore their identities. Children are treated with respect and their views and preferences are listened to by the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to respect and understand each other’s differences. As a result, children have been able to positively resolve conflict or disagreements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff fully support children’s time spent with family and friends. As a result, one child has developed positive family relationships and spends a greater amount of time with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop personal interests and leisure pursuits. They are regularly consulted about their care and staff promote their engagement in the home. Staff spend time with children, offering advice and support. One child described their experience of being at the home as: ‘Everything is just chilled now.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff continuously encourage children to attend and succeed in education. However, despite the efforts of staff, one child’s attendance is sporadic and not yet consistent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can access the home’s therapist should they wish to. The therapist regularly reviews the progress that children make with staff and the manager. She provides advice and resources to the staff to support their work.

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

Staff understand and know the children well. This understanding informs the actions of staff in helping children to make safer choices.

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

Staff work well with other agencies to develop safety plans and assessments of risk. These assessments offer staff clear guidance on how they should respond if they are concerned about a child’s safety or welfare. Inspection report for children’s home: SC477939 4 Since living at the home, one child has experienced a significant reduction in incidents of going missing from home, drugs misuse and police involvement. Another child has been supported to better manage and express their negative emotions.

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

Physical restraint is used infrequently by the staff. They are successful at de- escalating situations and responding to children’s emotions effectively.

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

A child spoken to said that they felt safe living at the home and that they trusted the staff. Professionals said that staff work hard at reducing the underlying factors that may lead to a child being vulnerable.

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

Staff are clear about their responsibilities in protecting children from harm. They follow agreed procedures and plans. When incidents of going missing from home occur, they are active in searching for children, try to stay in contact with them and secure their safe return to the home.

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

Staff work well with other agencies to ensure that concerns are shared, and that practice is consistent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in charge of the home. She acts as a good advocate for children. The manager talks with enthusiasm about her role and leads an equally well motivated team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is keen to promote staff skills and knowledge base. She reinforces learning through training, regular quizzes in team meetings and explores scenarios in supervisions. Staff appreciate the focus on their development and recognition of the job they do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, and they consider the manager to be readily available and supportive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has undergone significant changes since September 2020, and there has been a high number of different staff used to cover shifts. The manager is aware of this and considers the current team to be stable. She has positively responded to a child’s request for more male staff to work in the home. As a result, the male/female ratio on the team has become more balanced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the children well. She makes use of suitable monitoring frameworks to ensure that children’s care is reflective of and supports their overall plans and ambitions. Although staff spend time with children, records indicate that there are missed opportunities to better explore with children their views or concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: SC477939 5 Professionals hold the manager and staff in high regard. They consider the team to be open and flexible in their approach to caring for children. One social worker described their approach as being ‘a very needs-led home’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC477939 6

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Statutory requirement

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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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 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 relates to the number of staff used on a casual basis to cover shifts. 30 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are helped to regain confidence to participate in education and that varied means of achieving this are considered. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that staff show curiosity and explore children’s thinking when completing direct work. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)

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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: SC477939 7

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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: SC477939 8 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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