This inspection took place on 3, 7 and 8 February 2017 and was announced. We gave the registered provider 24 hours’ notice to ensure someone would be available at the service.

The service is registered with the CQC to provide personal care to up to 25 children and young people in their homes. In order to give parents a short break. The service also takes children and young people aged 0-18 years who require personal care out in the community to take part in activities of their choice.

Reach Out Care Support Network Limited provides different types of services to families, some of those families have children and young people with complex needs; these include a home support service, a sitting and sleep over service, an outreach service and a short break service.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We last inspected the service in July 2014 and rated the service as ‘Outstanding.’ At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Outstanding’ and met all the fundamental standards we inspected against.

During our inspection we found the organisation was very much child and family-centred, inclusive and underpinned by a genuine desire to offer as high a quality service as possible.

Children and young people who used the service their family members and staff were a pivotal part of the development of the service and were regularly consulted about the quality of the service.

The service had been awarded the investing in children status for the high level and quality of the engagement they have with their children, young people and their families.

Children and young people were supported by enough staff to meet their needs safely and in a child centred way.

Accidents and incidents were appropriately recorded and personalised risk assessments were in place for people who used the service and staff.

We found that safe recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work. This included obtaining and verifying references from previous employers to show staff employed were safe to work with children and young people.

Relatives of the children and young people we spoke with told us they felt their children were safe with the service and were aware of procedures to follow if they observed any concerns.

Staff were suitably trained and training was arranged for any due refresher training. Staff received regular supervisions and appraisals and opportunities for further personal development.

Care records showed that people’s needs were assessed before they started using the service, they were supported to transition to the service at their own pace and care plans were written in a child and family centred way and were appropriate in a format suitable for children.

Staff supported people who used the service with their social needs. Parents and families told us that all staff were very caring in their interactions with their children. Parents told us that their children and young people were treated with dignity and respect and felt very comfortable with staff members and had built trust and relationships with them.

Children and young people who used the service and their family members were aware of how to make a complaint if they needed too and complaints were managed appropriately. Children were encouraged to use alternative methods to raise concerns through drawings.

The service had fundraised to provide onsite facilities for staff to access with the children and young people they supported to enable them to take part in learning and fun activities.

We found the registered provider had met the requirements of

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Reach Out Care Support Network Limited provides different types of services to families, some of those families have children and young people with complex needs; these include a home support service, a sitting and sleep over service, an outreach service and a short break service.

The service is registered with the CQC to provide personal care to children and young people in their homes. In order to give parents a short break Reach Out Care also takes children and young people aged 0-18 years who require personal care out in the community to do activities. Parent’s comments on the personal care service they have received in their own home and in the community have been included in this report.

This inspection was unannounced. At our last inspection in January 2014 we found the service was meeting all the regulatory requirements in the areas we looked at.

This service had a Registered Manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

Everything we saw and heard indicated that the organisation was very much child and family-centred, inclusive and underpinned by a genuine desire to offer as high a quality service as possible.

We saw examples of a continuous drive for improvement in the face to face work carried out with children and young people, their families and carers.

We found consistent evidence that all the staff were caring in how they assisted and spoke with parents and children using the service, and that they respected the dignity, views privacy and choices of people and their children.

We found the provider met the requirements of Article 12 of the UN Convention on Children’s Rights and included children and young people’s views in their feedback requests. They had also been awarded the Investing in Children Award for having a dialogue with children and young people and making changes as a result of that dialogue. Investing in Children is an organisation concerned with children’s rights.

The provider had raised additional funds to develop alternative activities for children and young people to enable them to get out more and meet their goals identified in a recently adopted assessment tool. We found every child and young person had a personalised care plan and risk assessment in place. Staff were aware of risks and worked on a multi-agency basis to minimise those risks.

The provider had invested in the development of the management team to ensure the service was consistently well led.

We found regular quality monitoring of the service had been undertaken and issues had been promptly and appropriately addressed.

We spoke with five families who had used the service, we also spoke with eight members of staff and the manager and looked at the care records of five people. People who use the service spoke positively about the care they received, one person said “I think it’s brilliant.”

We looked at the arrangements in place for people consenting to the care they received. We found where people were able to give consent to care staff working in the service sought permission prior to delivering any care. Where people were not able to give consent the provider followed the correct legal process.

We reviewed care records and saw comprehensive risk assessments in place which documented a person's care needs including the way people communicated and the support they required. We also found the service engages with other agencies and health professionals to ensure people’s needs are met effectively and safely. Family members described the consistency of care as 'good'.

Staff were well supported to carry out their roles. We found staff received training in areas relevant to their work. Staff told us they were well supported and records we looked at showed staff received regular supervision.

The provider had received no complaints but had in place a comprehensive complaints policy with procedures.

You can see our judgements on the front page of this report.

We talked with family members and carers of children who used the service over the telephone. People said they felt involved in all aspects of the care and support provided for the children. One person told us "They (the care staff) always give me feedback on what they've been doing (with the child) when they come back."

People told us they were happy with everything and they and their children were well looked after. One person said "They (the staff) make sure his (their son's) needs are being met."

People said the staff always came when they were expected. One person said "They (the staff) are never late, always on time." They also told us the same staff always attended to provide care and support. They added if this wasn't possible, then only staff that their children were familiar with would attend. This meant the children received continuity of care.

People said they were happy with the staff employed by the agency and the care and support they provided. One person said "We have no problem at all with them (the staff), they do us really proud" and another person said "They (the staff) are brilliant with him (their son), they manage him really well." Everybody we spoke with told us they felt their chidren were safe with the care staff employed by the service.

People told us they were happy with the service and knew how to contact one of the managers if they had any concerns. Some people said they had completed a questionnaire about the service they received and others said the care staff regularly asked them if everything was alright. People also said they were asked if they were happy with the service as part of the regular review of the care package for their child.