Children's Home run by BREAK in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC060743 Inspection date 23/11/2010 Inspector Paul Clark Type of inspection Key

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Date of last inspection 10/03/2010 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 Crispins, 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.

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About this inspection

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 outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and the relevant National Minimum Standards for the service.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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Brief description of the service

The home is part of a registered children's charity which was established in 1968 and which is overseen by a board of trustees. There are five children's homes within the organisation, and two Family Assessment Units all situated in the same region. The charity also provides respite care services for disabled children. The home provides long-term accommodation for four children and young people, of either gender. They can stay at the home until they reach 18 years of age.

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Brief description of the service

The home is a six-bedroom, three-storey house. There is a medium sized garden at the rear of the building. It is set in a small seaside town and is only a few miles from a busy holiday centre with all its additional attractions and amenities. The house is indistinguishable from others in the area.

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Brief description of the service

The Registered Manager has currently been seconded to a senior position within the organisation and the deputy manager is acting into this role.

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Summary

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

This unannounced key inspection found that a good level of care is provided for the children accommodated. The staff are well trained and managed and are sufficient in number. Children enjoy a wide range of leisure activities and resources and the premises are light and airy and reasonably well furnished and decorated. The home must improve the detail of its fire drill recording; ensure that placing authorities are reminded of their duty in regard to the provision of personal education and pathway plans; make minor improvements to the décor in the bathroom and ensure that a minimum of 80% of care staff have the National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in caring for children and young people.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the registered person was asked to ensure the record of fire drills includes the time of day when the drill was carried out. The recommendation has not been acted upon and therefore has been reinstated in this report.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The registered person was also asked to revise the anti-bullying policy and appoint a member of staff as the responsible officer to implement it. A 'Bullying Report' now records incidents and details the action taken in response to bullying, with a member of staff being responsible for this area.

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Helping children to be healthy

There are good systems in place to promote the health and well-being of children. Children are consulted and involved in the setting of the menu plan on a weekly basis. The menu plan indicates that a varied and nutritious diet is provided often including meals from international cuisines. Children are also involved in food preparation with the support of staff. Staff are trained in food hygiene as part of their induction programme. The provision of a healthy diet helps children understand its relevance to their physical development and their inclusion in food preparation helps them to develop independent living skills.

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Helping children to be healthy

A record is kept of the health history of every child placed. All children are registered with a local General Practitioner (GP), where there is a choice of a male or female GP. All children are registered with a dentist and an optician and routine check ups are carried out.

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Helping children to be healthy

All staff are trained in first aid as part of their induction training and this training is updated every three years. There is a well stocked first aid box in the home. There is an accident record book in place. There are suitable arrangements in place for the safe storage of medication and staff are trained in the recording and administration of medication. The provision of a well trained staff group in the area of first aid and medication administration helps to keep children safe. The home will ask placing authorities to refer children to the local child and adolescent mental health services team if they have any concerns about a young person.

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Helping children to be healthy

The home has a clearly written policy on smoking. Children and staff are not allowed to smoke on the premises. Children have been referred to smoking cessation clinics. The children's guide gives the contact details of agencies that will support young people with drug or alcohol problems.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has good systems in place to ensure that children living in the home are kept safe. There is a copy of the Local Safeguarding Children's Board policy in place which all staff must read. All staff undertake training on this policy. There are corporate policies in place on dealing with complaints, bullying, the use of sanctions and restraints and action to be taken in the event of a child going missing. Clear policies and their effective implementation through staff acquaintance with the policies help to keep the children living in the home safe.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are informed by discussion with their key worker about how and to whom they may make complaints, including being given the contact details of Ofsted. There is an individual record book kept for each young person which records any complaint they have made and the actions taken in response. These indicate that appropriate actions have been taken in response to complaints received from young people. The home has revised its policy on dealing with bullying since the last inspection and it is now more detailed and effectively monitored. There are clear guidelines in place for staff on the issuing of sanctions which must be recorded in a dedicated record book. Any incidents of physical restraint are also recorded in a dedicated record book. All staff receive training in the application of physical restraint. There is clear instruction and guidance given to staff on action to be taken in the event of a child

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

going missing. The home will construct an individual risk assessment for a young person who may frequently be absent without authority.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has notified Ofsted of any significant incidents occurring in the home as described in Schedule 5. The home has constructed individual behaviour management systems in consultation with young people. Children are rewarded for good behaviour as well as receiving sanctions for inappropriate behaviour. Giving children clear behaviour management information helps them to understand why actions are taken by staff in response to poor behaviour and helps to bring about therapeutic change in behaviour.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

All staff working at the home have been effectively recruited and vetted. No visitor to the home is given unsupervised access to young people.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The organisation employs a health and safety officer who conducts regular inspection visits on the physical safety of the home. An environmental health officer of the local authority conducted a check of the kitchen arrangements in July 2009 and found them to be in a satisfactory condition. Recommendations made in the officer’s report have been applied. The home conducts routine measures and checks on fire safety. Regular monitoring inspections of the living environment helps to ensure that children are kept safe. The home has not implemented the recommendation made at the previous inspection, that the record of fire drills includes the time of day when the drill was carried out. This recommendation has been reinstated in this report.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

There are systems in place to promote children's educational and social achievements.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The home operates a key worker system whereby a member of the care staff will have responsibility for gaining a thorough knowledge of a particular young person. This will include a clear knowledge of that young person's care plan and of their family contact arrangements. The key worker will prepare a young person for their looked after children review and will attend the review. A co-key worker will replicate this knowledge and will deputise for the key worker in the event of their absence. Young people have regular one-to-one sessions with their key worker. This provision gives young people a central source of information and enquiry to which they may directly refer. A member of the care staff team is identified as the learning support worker and will coordinate children's educational progress in liaison with placing authorities. Some of the children who are excluded from, or who are not attending school do not have

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

personal education plans or pathway plans in place. The home regularly and repeatedly inform the placing authority social workers when these are not in place by email and telephone messages but do not have a clearly formatted system for these notifications. Young people have lap tops which are suitably safeguarded and which they can use for on-line educational activities. There is some educational literature in the home and study facilities in each child's bedroom.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The young people enjoy a range of social and leisure activities based on their own particular interests. These include horse riding, army cadets and ice skating. The home has two leased vehicles which are used to transport young people to social and leisure events and for more formal meetings. Staff driving these vehicles adhere to clear directions relating to their driving status and the safety of young people in the vehicles.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The home took a number of young people and staff for a holiday in Spain during the summer which the young people really enjoyed. Giving young people living away from home the opportunity to experience social activities and holidays gives them a sense of enjoyment and of being valued.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There are systems in place to assess children's needs and to make effective plans about how these needs will be met. Children and their families are involved in this assessment and planning as much as possible. Each child has a clearly written care plan which is reviewed at the appropriate frequency. Parents are always invited to attend review meetings unless this is otherwise deemed inappropriate. The home coordinates the care plan and review in conjunction with the placing authority social worker and keeps children and their families informed and involved at all stages of the process. The reviews assess the ongoing appropriateness of the placement.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Contact arrangements are clearly spelt out in care plan reviews and the home supports this contact by assisting with transport arrangements and where necessary will supervise contact. All children have their own mobile phones and there is also pay phone that is sited in a position that affords privacy and which they can use free of charge during the evenings. Calls to social workers and families can be made on the office phone also free of charge.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Involving children and their families in the care process helps to avoid a child's isolation in care and helps them maintain the link to their birth family. There is a children's guide which gives young people a wealth of information about living in the home and key workers go through the guide with young people early in their placement. The organisation employs two transitional support workers who will help prepare young people for leaving care. Children's house meetings are held every fortnight where they may raise any queries about life in the home and contribute to planning leisure activities, holidays and discuss any other issues that may arise. Additionally, weekly food choice meetings take place where children can express their food preferences. They may also raise any concerns at any time with their key workers. Consulting children about their placements gives them a sense of ownership about the home that they are living in.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Good relationships between care staff and children were observed which appear to be based on mutual respect.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Arrangements are in place to prepare young people for leaving school and for living independently. Young people may gain work experience by working in one of the charities other establishments. The home has links with the Connexions service and, as previously stated, there are two transitional support workers employed by the organisation who will support young people in preparing for independent living and in undertaking a self assessment of their own needs. One of the young people aged over 16 years of age does not have a pathway plan in place.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The home itself is generally well decorated and furnished and at the time of the inspection was clean and well ordered. The bathroom ceiling and the area around the wash basin requires some attention to the décor. The garden is well tended and provides a reasonable play area for young people. There are a large range of resources and leisure facilities available to the young people within the home which include television and DVD and a Wi-Fi player. One lounge has been converted into a play room with a table tennis table and table football.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Children are given age related pocket money and there are payments made for birthday and festival presents. There is a system in place for recording cash transaction and the monies held on behalf of children. Children are encouraged to open bank accounts. Children are given a clothing allowance and are involved in clothing choices with the support of staff. The home provides toilet and sanitary requisites and keeps stocks of these if children run out. Involving children in their clothing choices and in managing their monies provides them with a level of independence and helps to prevent a feeling of institutional living.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is good. This is evidenced by the implementation of clear policies on Equal Opportunities and Anti-Racism; all staff attend a training course on Acknowledging Diversity; staff challenging sexist and racist behaviour and language and through the provision of a range of international cuisines. Promoting equality and diversity gives young people a sense of citizenship and social responsibility.

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Organisation

There are a range of information documents available which inform children, families and social workers about the home. The organisation has a website which provides stakeholders with details of its aims and principles. A clearly written Statement of Purpose also contains this and further information about the service. The children's guide is currently being revised to ensure that children have a full range of information about the home and that this will be presented in a user friendly format. Key workers will go through the guide with young people at an early stage of their placement to fully explain it to them.

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Organisation

There are a sufficient number of experienced and suitably trained care staff on duty by day and by night to care for, and to meet the needs of the number of children accommodated. Care staff receive monthly one-to-one supervision and there are monthly team meetings. There is a comprehensive induction programme for newly appointed staff which includes undertaking training in areas of the necessary core skills. The organisation has its own staff training and development section which provides this training. All newly appointed staff undertake the Children's Workforce Development Council course for workers in children's residential care. Less than 80% of the care staff have the National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in caring for children and young people; several of the unqualified staff are registered as candidates and are currently undertaking this award. It is the stated intention of the management that future care staff will undertake the Social Pedagogy award. The

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Organisation

organisation has a service agreement with an independent counselling service which staff can access free of charge and in confidence. A well trained and supported care staff team provide children with good quality care.

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Organisation

The Registered Manager of the home is suitably qualified. They are currently seconded into a senior position within the agency and their duties are being covered by the deputy manager of the home. Ofsted have been informed of this temporary arrangement. Monthly Regulation 33 monitoring visits are conducted by an independent professional appointed by the organisation and written reports are sent to the home identifying actions to be implemented. The organisation conducts an annual review of the quality of care in a Business Continuity Plan. Ongoing monitoring and review of the service helps to ensure that young people's care is being continually improved.

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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):

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Recommendations

 ensure that at least four fire drills, including the evacuation of staff and children from the building and fire drills held at night take place and that the record of fire drills includes the time of day (NMS 26.8)  ensure that the bathroom is maintained in a good state of decorative repair (NMS 24.3)  ensure that a minimum 80% of all care staff have completed their National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in caring for children and young people, or equivalent (NMS 29.5)  ensure that each child's file contains a copy of their personal education plan or pathway plan and that there are systems in place to notify placing authorities in writing if they have not made such plans. (NMS 14.2)

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