Amber House

Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 1 SC356604 Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager is in post, who has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 2 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/02/2022 Full Outstanding 10/09/2019 Full Outstanding 15/05/2018 Full Outstanding 16/05/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a house which is well maintained and personalised. Staff create a welcoming home. Children’s photos and sports trophies are displayed in communal areas. This helps children to create memories and invest in the home. In addition, in the lounge, staff display positive written messages for children, which they enjoy reading. This reinforces the therapeutic parenting model used by staff and encourages children to build relationships with staff and recognise their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and two children have left the home. The inspector found that the children’s electronic records do not contain their previous or new addresses. This means that leaders do not maintain a register which details where children live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager considers a child’s suitability before they move into the home. Therefore, children moving into the home are appropriately matched with other children already living there. When children’s developing needs indicate that group living is no longer in their best interests, leaders consider the continuing suitability of the child’s placement. The provider’s psychologist assesses the child, and the manager liaises effectively with the child’s social worker to identify how the child’s ongoing care can best be met. Staff work hard to prepare children for moving on from the home. This helps to alleviate any anxieties the children may have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the home’s model of practice, which helps them to build positive relationships with staff who they trust. Staff provide consistent care and work with the psychology support team to implement parenting strategies. Children have individualised care plans. One child is beginning to learn skills which are helping him to regulate himself better in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff proactively support children to develop their skills and interests. One child plays football for community teams. Staff welcome children’s friends into the home. This encourages children to develop their friendships in a safe way, overseen by staff, as any good parent would.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s education. The manager advocated for one child so that a school placement was identified without delay. Staff celebrated another child’s graduation from school by arranging for her to have her hair and make-up professionally done for the graduation party.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with appropriate health services. They receive additional support via the accident and emergency department, child and adolescent mental health services and other specialist clinics, when required, to address their health needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 4

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

Staff work in partnership with families and relevant agencies to keep children safe. The manager provides staff with clear guidance in well-written risk assessments. As a result of the consistent care children receive, their behaviour is managed well. Children’s levels of risk from alcohol or drug misuse or self-harm have reduced.

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

When children go missing from this home, staff search effectively and work with agencies to share information to reduce risk. Staff have developed relationships with a family that one of the children visits. Their engagement has resulted in more effective planning and communication with the child, which has reduced further missing-from-home episodes.

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

Staff mainly manage children’s behaviour by successfully developing relationships with children and using de-escalation techniques. When staff intervene physically to keep children or others safe, they use holds which are appropriate and proportionate. The manager speaks to the child and staff involved in the hold afterwards. However, the manager does not always date these debriefs. Therefore, it is not clear whether the child or staff have been spoken to within the required time frame for the manager to clarify whether the child wishes to make a complaint or to confirm that staff have recorded the measure used accurately.

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

Each child has access to the internet in their free time. Staff help children to learn how to use the internet safety and provide high levels of supervision when children are playing online to ensure that their safety is maintained.

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

Leaders ensure that appropriate safer recruitment checks are sought for staff joining the home. The manager reviews the progress of staff during their probation period and provides them with induction training that supports them to develop the skills required to work with children living in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has recently been promoted into her role. She provides staff with clear direction and her oversight is evident throughout children’s records. The manager maintains monitoring and review systems, which helps her to track children’s progress and the continuing development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about working at this home. They feel supported by leaders, which helps them to learn and fulfil their roles. One member of staff described additional emotional support provided to staff by the psychologist and a previous manager. She reported that this has helped her to manage the emotional impact of caring for children who display behaviour linked to the trauma they have experienced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. During which, actions from previous supervision sessions are reviewed. This promotes progress for children and the personal development of the member of staff. New members of staff are also reviewed at Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 5 regular intervals during their probation period, and existing staff have all had appraisals within the past year. This ensures that staff receive the support and direction that they need to progress in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training which equips them with the skills required to care for the children. Staff report that they particularly enjoyed the therapeutic parenting face- to-face training. Staff demonstrate how they use this training to provide children with good and consistent care. The manager is proactive in ensuring that staff receive refresher training to help them manage specific behaviour that places a child living in this home at significant risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and most of the staff are working towards or above their required qualifications. Staff have predicted completion dates; however, they are beyond the expected qualification timescales. This means that some care staff will not be qualified by the relevant date. Leaders do not assess and promote qualification training for each staff member as effectively as they could. Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 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

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b)) 31 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 7 retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that case records in respect of regulation 35 are dated and signed by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: SC356604 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Joanna Warburton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC356604 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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