My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 1 My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd Registered provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is operated by a private provider. It can accommodate up to six individuals in self-contained units where the accommodation is for the sole use of one person, and up to 34 individuals in 10 shared or group living homes that are limited to accommodating looked after children or care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, 42 individuals were being accommodated, of which 25 were children aged 16 or 17. The provider operates across the Yorkshire region of England.

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provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since the organisation was registered in October 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection began on 23 September 2024 when we announced the inspection. The inspectors were on site from 25 to 27 September 2024.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

Children enjoy living in their accommodation. For many children, this is the first time they feel safe and have hope for their future.

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Summary of findings

The staff ensure that children’s safety is a priority. Staff are trained to identify risks that could affect children. Where risks to children occur, staff act quickly to help keep children safe. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 2 Leaders and managers are positive role models. Their approach centres around promoting trust and respect for everyone. Staff follow this vision, and children experience a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children like living here. They build trusting relationships with staff who listen to children and take time to understand the extreme difficulties that some children experienced before they came here. One child said: ‘All the staff are great. I can talk to them, if I feel sad, they make me feel happy.’ Another said: ‘It feels safe here and it feels like home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children aspire to build a new future for themselves. For many of the children, this is the first time they have opportunities to achieve their goals. The support from staff helps children to grow in confidence and they gain a sense of value and respect. One child commented on their experience here: ‘Staff welcomed me with open arms and got to know me as a person. It was one of the best days of my life meeting them and being accepted.’ Another said: ‘I really enjoy living here, it’s my own space but I know I always have support whenever I need it.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s health is a priority. As soon as they arrive, staff support them to access healthcare services, including specialist community services such as sexual health clinics and tuberculosis services. Access to these health services ensures the children’s health improves. When children need extra emotional support, staff link them in with mental health services and community groups to support their well- being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from opportunities to access education. One child said: ‘Staff have helped me get into college and onto the courses that I need to either go to university or get a skilled job.’ The staff work closely with college professionals to make sure that they address any barriers to learning. One professional said about the staff: `They are absolutely fantastic. They help children get into college, they sit in all meetings, and they look at all the aspects of their lives. They promote their educational journey, they really do.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff ensure that the child’s voice is at the centre of their support planning. For children who speak English as an additional language, they use a range of ways to ensure communication is effective. The different ways they communicate with children include support from staff who can speak various languages, the use of interpreters and the use of translation applications. This helps to ensure that children are involved in decisions about their support needs now and in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children often arrive at this supported accommodation service isolated and alone. Staff ensure that they provide a wide range of opportunities for children to start to build a new life and develop suitable and supportive friendships. Children are encouraged to be a ‘buddy’ for new children to help them to settle in. Staff help children to enjoy a range of new activities, such as art therapy and trips to the Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 3 seaside. One child said: ‘I came here and I knew nothing. I had no family in the UK and they supported me a lot to make my life easier. It was everything to settle in the community, to get a school, to find a job, to attend the doctor’s.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are exceptionally well supported to move on from this service when they are ready. Staff make all the efforts they can to make sure that children have the skills they need to start to make a future. Children often continue to keep in touch with the service when they leave.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children report feeling safe living here. From the point that children are admitted, staff promote clear boundaries and a culture of respect for everyone. Staff help children to form positive relationships with each other. When minor disagreements between children happen, staff are quick to help children resolve their differences positively.

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How well children are helped and protected

Significant incidents are extremely rare. When a serious event happens, the manager and the staff act straightaway to help to keep children safe. The action they take includes sharing information with other agencies, such as the police and social care professionals and agencies. On one occasion, following a serious incident, the child’s risk assessment was not updated. The lack of information could lead to inconsistent approaches to managing risks to children’s safety. This was a recording issue that did not affect the child’s safety. Further, Ofsted is not always notified of significant events. This hinders the regulator’s oversight of the provider’s actions to safeguard the children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children identify key staff they can talk to about their concerns. Those spoken with said that they know how to complain if they needed to. They said that they feel that staff listen to them and help them to resolve any problems. In an emergency, children know how to contact staff. They are confident to visit the staff or to ring them anytime, knowing that staff will respond. One child said: ‘Whenever you need something, they answer the phone straight away. Anytime.’

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff help children to recognise risks so that they can keep themselves safe, both in their homes and in the community. As children become more independent, they are supported to try new experiences with reducing support. When these experiences do not go as planned, staff talk to children and help them to learn from what went wrong and to encourage them to try again.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff receive training around how to keep children safe. This training helps them to recognise risks that children could face, such as human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The staff know how to follow procedures to report concerns to keep the children safe.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff undergo a range of checks before they start work here. These checks help leaders and managers to assure themselves that the staff are safe to support the Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 4 children. New staff are monitored through a probation period and any concerns with their practice are addressed during this time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The nominated individual and the registered service manager have a wealth of skills and experience. They are dedicated individuals who continually strive to provide children with high-quality support to help them gain skills to make a new life. The nominated individual and the registered service manager are both strong leaders who lead the team by example, creating a positive ethos and culture across the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff said that they feel very well supported by managers. They receive regular supervision which helps them to reflect on their practice. In addition, group supervision sessions provide staff with the additional space to explore issues relevant to children’s needs. Learning is taken from these sessions which improves staff knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers ensure that children live in quality accommodation that is homely and well maintained. They know the benefits and the challenges of the different communities where children live; however, the locality assessments are not regularly updated to reflect changing community issues that could affect children's safety and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers communicate very well with other professionals. They share information where needed to make sure that children have access to all the services and support that they need. Many professionals provided feedback for this inspection. All feedback was extremely positive. One professional commented: ‘I have a brilliant experience; they are very supportive of children, and they communicate well with me.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are strong advocates for the children. They accompany children to appointments and advocate on their behalf. Leaders and managers offer professional challenge where needed to make sure that children receive the right support. One professional commented: `They are good advocates for young people and they check I'm doing my job.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The nominated individual and the registered service manager know the strengths of the service and the areas for development. They listen to children’s views as a key part of service planning. Managers have ‘live’ targeted action plans and they complete regular reviews of the service to ensure that they continue to improve support for children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 5

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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, The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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 location of the premises used as supported accommodation is suitable for the category or categories of supported accommodation provided, by—

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Requirement Due date

carrying out a location assessment of each of the premises used as supported accommodation at least once in each calendar year. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(a)(ii)) 30 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); 30 November Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 6 there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on the young person’s individual needs, circumstances and level of autonomy, when identifying a particular risk or following a particular course of action. In particular, staff should ensure that children’s risk assessment documents are up to date and address any known vulnerabilities, and that they detail what action staff should take to address the risk. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 21)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Olympus House, Howley Park, 2 Pullen Way, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS27 0BZ

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Lisa Chamberlain

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Inspectors

Jamie Richardson, Social Care Inspector (Lead) Tara Lovatt, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Place (Yorkshire) Ltd 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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