Children's Home run by PIC Children’s Services in Sefton

SC040785 Unique reference number 26 August 2010 Inspection date Michelle Moss Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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25 February 2010 Date of last inspection .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children's Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Cripins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcome for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and relevant National Minimum Standards for the establishment.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is strong Good: this aspect of the provision is sound Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is not good enough Inadequate: 3 of 8 Inspection Report: SC040785

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Brief description of the service

The home is an end terraced property that is situated approximately half a mile from the local shopping centre. The organisation also manages nine other small children's homes within an adjacent local authority. The area is well served with junior and high school placements and a good range of leisure facilities are available locally within the town centre. Public transport, train and bus connection links are also close by. The staffing arrangements ensure that a one-to-one staffing ratio is maintained for all parts of the waking day, with one member of the staff team sleeping within the home each night on a rota basis.

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Summary

This was unannounced key inspection in which all key standards were assessed. The home is meeting the vast majority of the national minimum standards. The care staff are comfortable within their role and form a quality relationship with young people. Support is tailored to meet individual needs and is delivered in a manner that enables young people to build confidence, acquire life skills and receive support and guidance. There are still some remerging shortfalls that link back to the previous inspection relating to recording and improving electronic communication for young people. Also, there are a couple of new shortfalls that relate to the quality of recording. However, the daily care practice of working with other agencies to safeguard young people is excellent and outweighs these shortfalls. The overall quality rating is good. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The home has made some progress in how sanctions are recorded, by ensuring the time is clearly logged. Also, the manager uses a sanction recording sheet to capture comments about the appropriateness of action taken by staff. However, this is not within the dedicated bound and numbered book. Young people continue not to have access to facilities that enable them to receive and send electronic mail. This continues to limit them from having the opportunities to communicate with friends and families by methods such as email.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Young people have opportunities to discuss personal health related matters such as alcohol, smoking and sexual health, with staff or through the home's well established links with various health related agencies and professionals. Young people are able to lead on addressing health needs including seeking the appropriate advice and treatment independently of the staff. Any specific health need is clearly recorded in a health plan and then used by staff to ensure young people's well-being is promoted. Young people are able to self administer their own prescribed medication, after the staff have assessed their level of understanding to undertake this responsibility. The additional responsibility enables young people to acquire greater control over managing their own health.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff work alongside young people to help them increase their knowledge of basic nutrition and to receive a balanced diet. This includes young people being actively encouraged to be involved in purchasing food and preparing meals. 4 of 8 Inspection Report: SC040785

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Staff are suitably trained and understand their responsibilities for the protection of young people under their care. Joint working between the home and different agencies ensures effective safeguards are maintained to attempt to protect young people from harm. The staff show a real appreciation over the serious implications of young people going missing from care and their misuse of drugs and alcohol. The staff team try hard to work with young people to get them to understand the dangers and encourage them to stay safe. There is a commitment by staff to tackle any type of bullying through initiatives and strategies that improve behaviour and increase awareness.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The staff listen to and respond appropriately to the concerns raised by young people. This helps young people to be confident to trust the staff to talk about concerns including how to raise a complaint. The staff show a respect for the privacy of the young people and for maintaining appropriate levels of confidentiality.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

To help manage young people's behaviour, the staff team work closely with young people to help them self manage their behaviour. This includes offering verbal reassurance to assist and support young people during stressful occurrences. Sanctions are sometimes imposed as an attempt to encourage young people to reduce risk taking, such as going missing from care. All the sanctions imposed are recorded, although they are not comprehensive enough to ensure they meet national minimum standards. For example, the bound book is not page numbered and does not always hold a section where the manager can add their comments. Also, young people do not have a column where they can record their views and feelings about any imposed sanction. This limits young people being able to practice their rights by expressing their views and opinions.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There are systems in place to monitor, record and prevent risks to young people's health and safety. These include electrical and gas safety and all aspects of fire prevention. In addition, the home undertakes risk assessments that are aimed at reducing risks without compromising young people's rights to undertake every day activities. However, these are not comprehensive and sometimes have limited details over who is at risk and the level of action needed to reduce or eliminate the risk where possible.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There are procedures in place to ensure the vetting of staff and monitoring of visitors is thorough in order to safeguard young people. This extends to staff checking visitors’ identification on arrival.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Young people are valued as individuals and are respected by staff. There is a reasonable system in place to aid young people to express their views about their care, through monthly meetings. However, this does not extend to young people being able to add their own comments where they can express personal views and opinions independently, rather than the staff reflecting on discussions.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Young people's needs are clearly recorded in their placement plan and are put into practice by staff effectively. There are excellent examples of staff providing advice and support to young 5 of 8 Inspection Report: SC040785 people on a wide range of issues, including staying safe, healthy lifestyles and relationships. Where more specialist advice and guidance is needed to assist young people's physical and emotional well-being, staff are familiar with where these resources can be accessed.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The staff see education as an important part of a young person's development. They play an active role in encouraging school or college attendance and ensure young people have access to advice on making decisions on future learning and career choices.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Young people have placement plans that provide a wealth of information which are then utilised by staff to help recognise individual needs. The integration of diversity issues into the plan is good. The format of the placement plan is made up from a number of documents such as, a care plan, looked after children's reports, educational plans, risk assessments and a health plan, all of which helps to provide staff with a good insight into young people's needs. However, the young person’s own participation in their plan is less secure and limits them having the opportunity to express their views on the contents.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

In most cases admissions are planned. Similarly, when young people are leaving the home, this is usually planned unless there are exceptional circumstances where the safety of the young person or others cannot be achieved. Where possible, staff will play a key role to ensure arrangements are secured for any successful transition and recognise the importance of young people's feelings over any decisions.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Young people have good opportunity to sustain positive relationships with family, friends and the community through visits and telephone contact. However, young people do not have access to facilities in the home that enable them to contact family and friends through facilities such as email.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The provision is good. The location of the home is convenient to schools, leisure facilities, transport and other community facilities that are important for encouraging personal growth, development and opportunities.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The home provides young people with the opportunity to prepare for leaving care, including learning to cook, develop life skills and learning about budgeting. This support gives young people additional skills, values and attitudes that will help them stay safe and more prepared for adult life.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Young people have access to an attractive and well presented guide that helps them learn about the home, including what they can expect. It also offers young people the opportunity to complete specific sections that help provide staff with essential information which is then incorporated into planning their care. The Statement of Purpose is also a clear document and helps intended readers to gain a good insight into what the home offers young people. 6 of 8 Inspection Report: SC040785 Young people are supported by a competent staff team who have a good range of experience and qualifications to reflect their roles and responsibilities. The number of staff on duty is sufficient to meet the needs of young people including supporting them in their activities, any visits or appointments. Young people report that staff are approachable and supportive. Staff are respectful of young people and maintain a good working relationship in which young people

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Organisation

can receive support and guidance they need. The staff team are offered various training opportunities, which they then utilise to help support and care for young people.

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Organisation

The Registered Manager leads on monitoring the quality of care to ensure young people's needs are met. This includes reviewing all care related documents, supervising staff and ensuring health and safety is in order. In addition, the organisation also arranges for a visitor to attend the service once a month and to reassess how well the home is operating to meet the needs of young people.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is good. Young people are treated fairly and are able to make choices over daily life, including their further education and activities. The staff team respect young people's identity and the importance of their heritage. Young people are consulted and their opinions respected by staff. However, young people's participation in their care plan is limited and restricts them formally expressing they feelings about matters that directly affect them.

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Organisation

Young people's individual files are confidentially stored and arranged in a manner that make them readily useable by staff and yet accessible to young people. The level of detail recorded helps to ensure young people's identity is respected including religious and cultural needs. Nevertheless, the home is not always capturing details of parents' religious persuasion or adding this information to the plan to ensure parental beliefs are equally respected.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, The Childrens Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider must comply with the given timescales.

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Due date Action Standard

30 October 2010 offer young people facilities for receiving and sending electronic mail (Regulation 15.4b) 30 September 2010 ensure all information set under schedule 3 is made inclusive of young people's case records, in particular the religious persuasion of a child's parents. (Regulation 28.1 schedule 3)

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • offer young people the opportunities to contribute to their placement plan (NMS 2.5) 7 of 8 Inspection Report: SC040785 • ensure that all sanctions are recorded in a dedicated, bound and numbered book, including the Registered Manger's comments for monitoring purposes and opportunities for young people to record their views (NMS 22.9,11,14) • ensure risk assessments fully identify the hazard and then set out the action to be taken to reduce risks to an acceptable level. (NMS 26.2) 8 of 8 Inspection Report: SC040785

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