Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children's home: 1231812 1 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company operates this home. The home is registered to provide care for up to four children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2023.

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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: 25 October 2023

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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: 1231812 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/10/2023 Full Good 14/03/2023 Full Good 17/01/2022 Full Good 10/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1231812 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home, two of whom had moved in since the last inspection. Good-quality planning took place to ensure that the home was the right one for them, and this included consultations with the children who were living there. Both children came to live at the home at short notice, however, before they moved in staff made efforts to introduce themselves and give children information about the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live in a welcoming and homely environment. It is filled with high-quality furniture and rooms are personalised to the children’s tastes. The environment helps increase feelings of comfort and security for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build positive and trusting relationships with staff who are committed to providing them with high-quality support and care in all areas of their lives. Staff have helped one child improve their independence skills and they are now ready to move to semi- independent living arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the importance of education. Three children are attending education provisions and one child has tutoring in the home. Staff have been advocating for the child who is not in a formal provision and challenging the relevant agencies to ensure that a school is found for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The organisation’s therapeutic team supports the staff team. Children have individualised plans to address their therapeutic needs. One child is making progress with their emotional health needs, and their risk of self-harm has reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide for children’s health and well-being needs. Children are registered with the appropriate health services and supported to attend appointments. One child is prescribed medication that they do not like to take due to the side effects. Staff are supporting them to discuss this with health professionals and advocating their wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s equality and diversity needs are well supported by staff. Children are also helped to learn about and understand other cultures and religions, which they enjoy doing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children maintaining relationships with family and friends and support this in line with their wishes. One child is helped to see their friends, who are important to them, which has helped them settle in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carry out individual work with children to further support their needs. However, the quality of records of this is inconsistent, with some containing minimal information about Inspection report for children's home: 1231812 4 the session and the children’s input and understanding. This makes it hard to monitor the effectiveness of this work.

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

Children said that they feel safe. Staff have a good understanding of their vulnerabilities and risks, which are well assessed so that children can be appropriately supported in the home and community. Children’s risk assessments are comprehensive and updated regularly. They include detailed protocols and strategies on how to manage risks and what therapeutic approaches to use to reduce them.

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

There have been some incidents of children going missing from the home. Staff follow agreed protocols and ensure that they are in contact with the children to ensure that they return home safely. The children are given opportunities to discuss the incidents so that their wishes and feelings are heard.

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

When children make allegations relating to staff in the home, managers take their concerns seriously. Managers take steps to ensure the safety of the children and work in partnership with children’s social workers and the local authority designated officer to ensure concerns are appropriately investigated.

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

Medication is safely stored and administered. There have been three recording errors since the last inspection, which had no impact on the children. These were promptly identified and resolved by the manager and action taken to reduce the likelihood of them reoccurring.

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

Door alarms are used on two children’s bedrooms to help manage some risks. Their use has not been regularly reviewed in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Reasons for the use of door alarms have also not been made clear to children and they have not been able to have input into reviews of their use.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is committed and enthusiastic about children receiving the best possible care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about working in the home and they feel well supported by the manager and senior management team. Staff are open and honest when worries and concerns arise and know that these will be dealt with fairly and swiftly. They have regular supervisions which give them opportunities to reflect and learn.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are a particular strength of the home. Individual staff deliver presentations about an area of need or development for the home. These are of a high standard and help staff consider where care provided to children can be improved. There is also an employee of the month award which helps staff feel valued and appreciated. Inspection report for children's home: 1231812 5 Staff and managers passionately advocate on behalf of their children, in line with their wishes. One child did not agree with their long-term care plan and the manager ensured they had an independent advocate and challenged their local authority. This resulted in the child’s care plan being changed in line with their wishes and feelings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems are effective. The manager also ensures that they get individual feedback from the children each month in children’s meetings, including if they feel safe, well cared for and if they have any worries or concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is up to date and supports them to meet individual children’s needs. Staff are provided with specialised training when there is a need, for example, training to support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. One staff member said that this really helped them with understanding the experiences of some of the children in the home and how best to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff have established strong connections with partner agencies. One designated safeguarding lead from a child’s school said the home has gone above and beyond in caring and supporting the child and that this has helped them remain focused in school. They said they have a good working relationship with staff and that communication between them was excellent. Inspection report for children's home: 1231812 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, The 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 registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the need for the use of door alarms to manage risks is kept under review to ensure their use is proportionate and that children are helped to understand why they are in place. 13 January 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, records of direct work with children should be clear to demonstrate the benefit of this work. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children's home: 1231812 7

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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: 1231812 8

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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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Inspectors

Hayley Booth, Social Care Inspector Kate Savage, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1231812 9 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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