Children's Home run by Restorative Social Care Services Ltd in Calderdale

Inspection report for children's home: 1277079 1 Registered provider: Restorative Social Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties, and learning disabilities. The registered manager is suitably qualified.

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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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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 outstanding

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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 October 2018

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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: 1277079 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1277079 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points as a result of living at the home. This has also been noticed by other professionals, such as the children’s social worker and the virtual school coordinator, who said that this is because of the trust that the children have in staff. Children have positive relationships with staff and spend quality time with them during activities. This helps the children to form secure attachments with the adults around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are aware that their placement is long term. They leave with a photo album with photos of them having fun with staff during activities. This will help to remind the children of the positive experiences that they had during their stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated well and is homely. The children have a sense of belonging living at the home as there are photos displayed of them with staff. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and decorated to their choice. However, the inspector saw in one child’s bedroom that the window frame was not clean. This does not give the right message to the child and detracts from what is otherwise a nice environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend their routine health appointments and are registered with local healthcare practices. Children eat a healthy diet and are supported to keep fit, which supports a healthy lifestyle. Staff support the children’s emotional well-being. They encourage children to talk about their thoughts and feelings. If needed, the registered manager has access to the therapeutic team to support the children’s mental health. This ensures that the children are getting the appropriate care they need to support their mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager advocates well on children’s behalf and will voice their feelings in meetings. Multi-agency meetings are held for children who struggle with education. This transparent and open communication between professionals helps to identify support that better suits the child’s current needs. This re-enforces to the child that all professionals in their life do listen to what they are saying.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to remain in contact with their family. One parent said, ‘Staff are nice to me when I see them and are nice to [child’s name]. I can’t complain about them.’ The registered manager and staff took the children’s family and social worker out for a Christmas meal. This re-enforces to the children that all adults around them have positive relationships.

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

Staff spoken to during the inspection are aware of children’s risks and know what strategies to follow to reduce the likelihood of harm to the children. This means that children are kept increasingly safe. Staff carry out direct work with children around Inspection report for children's home: 1277079 4 their presenting risks. For one child, their risks have reduced and they are now able to keep themselves safe online. Nevertheless, some risks and strategies to reduce them are documented in different plans. This does not allow staff to actively monitor and assess the risk.

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

Children are supported to take age-appropriate risks, such as having unsupervised time with friends in the community. Children are aware of what time they need to be home because staff communicate this openly and clearly.

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

Missing-from-home incidents are rare and receive a multi-agency response. Staff spoken to are aware of the missing-from-home protocol and apply the procedures when children are reported missing. Staff have one-to-one sessions with the children following a missing incident to check on their welfare. This reinforces to the children that staff care about them.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used in the home and are well documented. This is because staff use de-escalation strategies to good effect. However, when it has been used, staff and the child benefit from thorough debriefs with the registered manager. This gives all people involved the chance to reflect on the incident and to identify new strategies to use to help the child.

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

There are no known concerns with health and safety in the home. All checks are up to date and are overseen by management through internal audits. This ensures that the children are living in a safe home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The experienced registered manager keeps up to date with childhood research through attending therapy training sessions. This knowledge is then cascaded to the staff team. This ensures that staff have the understanding of how important a therapeutic approach is to the current children living in the home. The manager is highly respected by staff and other professionals, who all talk of her commitment and passion for her job. She creates a culture where there are high aspirations for the children to do well in life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has highly effective working relationships with other professionals from health, education and social care. She will professionally challenge others to get what the children deserve, such as extra educational support for children and additional family time. This promotes support for the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager recognises the importance of developing a skilled staff team to deliver the best possible care to children. She provides opportunities for reflective discussions in team meetings and staff supervisions. She has sourced training that is relevant to the needs of the children. Training includes sexual health, knife crime and much more. This means that children are provided with consistent care from a skilled and knowledgeable staff team. Inspection report for children's home: 1277079 5 The registered manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. Meticulous monitoring systems that are in place highlight any shortfalls. This enables the registered manager to act on these without delay. Leaders and managers have development plans in place for the home, such as a new kitchen to be fitted and a slight renovation to the garden. This means that the home is forever evolving so

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is innovative and creative with her ideas. She has devised a document that includes buzzwords. The document benefits staff’s development in reporting and recording, as it provides staff with guidance on how to write accurately and descriptively. Inspection report for children's home: 1277079 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely and domestic environments. In particular, ensure the inside of the window frames are clean. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.90)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, ensure that all known risks to the children are documented in one place so that the information is easily accessible for staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.50)

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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: 1277079 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Restorative Social Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Victoria Street, Greetland, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX4 8DF

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Inspector

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1277079 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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Inspector

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