Children's Home run by Oasis Adolescent Services Ltd in Oldham

Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 1 Registered provider: Oasis Adolescent Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated home provides care for up to three boys with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2017.

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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: 18 January 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: 1258975 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2022 Full Outstanding 24/02/2020 Full Outstanding 14/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/07/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said they are happy living in the home. They have trusting relationships with staff, who are positive role models to them. The children said that if they have a problem, they can talk to staff, and they will always help.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child is currently not in education, employment or training. Staff are encouraging them to apply for employment. However, he refuses to do so. One child is currently on a reduced timetable at school, despite the child voicing his wishes to go to school full time. There is not sufficient challenge to ensure that children’s educational needs are being met. In addition to this, up-to-date education, health and care plans (EHC plans) are out of date, and current personal education plan reports are not available to the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being needs are met. Children have access to health professionals when needed. Specialist external help is sourced when necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is supported in line with children’s plans, ensuring that it meets the individual needs of each child and that they can maintain relationships that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively and with the best possible planning. There is a robust referral process that is used to assess the needs of children who already live in the home and the impact on children who may be new to the home. This ensures that there is a child-centred approach when decisions are made about whether children should live together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence in line with their age and individual needs. This targeted work helps prepare them for adulthood and independent living. However, this work does not always link to the actions raised in children’s pathway plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are encouraged to take part in activities and hobbies that they enjoy. They are also supported to spend time with friends. This means that they have age- appropriate social interactions and can build skills and strategies to form and maintain relationships and gain a sense of their own identity.

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

Each child’s individual risks are detailed in their risk assessments. These are robust documents that are frequently updated and give clear guidance to staff to ensure consistent responses to children’s behaviours. Staff understand these documents and put them into practice. Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 4 There are a low number of occasions when children have gone missing from the home. When children do go missing from care, there are clear and comprehensive plans in place for staff to follow. The manager and staff work collaboratively with external professionals, such as the local police and missing-from-home team, to ensure well-coordinated responses that have meant that children return quickly and safely.

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

Imposed consequences are reasonable and proportionate. However, they are not evaluated for effectiveness. The manager should ensure that all incidents of control and discipline have regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and effective.

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

Staff have completed mandatory training. However, they do not have training to meet the children’s specific individual needs, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and sexualised behaviours.

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

Effective behaviour management and de-escalation strategies mean that staff have not had to intervene to hold children. Staff respond with clear boundaries about what is acceptable and seek to understand the children’s individual needs. They support the children to manage their own behaviours and emotions appropriately.

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

Direct work takes place with children around relevant topics, such as substance misuse, life skills and education. This helps the children to learn how to keep themselves safe. These sessions are proactive but also delivered in response to new risks that arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced manager in post who shows an ambitious vision and has high expectations for what all children can achieve. The staff are positive about the manager and describe a supportive environment. Staff spoken to describe the manager as readily available to provide advice and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are systems in place for effective monitoring of the home. They ensure that the manager has good oversight of the home and is able to identify and address any issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a consistent staff team that provides stability for the children, and this means that the children are always cared for by staff that know them well. Staff are suitably qualified to meet the children’s individual needs. However, most staff members are male. In order to promote a positive gender balance, the registered manager should consider the employment of additional female staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with regular supervision sessions that are supportive and give them the opportunity to reflect on how their practice affects the care for children. Team meetings are well attended and occur monthly. They cover topics that are relevant to the current matters arising in the home. They are used as a development opportunity for the team. Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 5 The manager ensures that the home environment is maintained to a high standard, meets the needs of the child, and feels and looks like a family home. It is a nice place for the children to spend time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In-house plans for children comprehensively identify their individual needs. However, current placing authority care plans and children’s education plans are not always in place. Leaders and staff work proactively and positively with external agencies and professionals. They seek to build effective working relationships to secure positive outcomes for children, but there is a lack of challenge to the placing authority and virtual school when plans are not received within acceptable timescales. Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 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 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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)) 10 April 2023

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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— 10 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 7 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 that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have completed training to meet the children’s individual needs. This specifically relates to ADHD and sexualised behaviour training.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that current placing authority care plans and EHC plans are available. 10 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the effectiveness of consequences is evaluated. 10 April 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should, whenever possible, ensure that staff in day-to-day contact with children include staff from different gender groups. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 10.22, page 54) Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 8

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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: 1258975 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oasis Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 9 Beacon Grove, Oldham OL8 2XH

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Inspector

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1258975 10 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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