Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Wolverhampton

Unique reference number SC390576 Inspection date 29/09/2010 Inspector David Morgan Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 10/05/2010 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 was registered in April 2009 and is a four-bedded home for children and/or young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is a detached property in a suburban area and is indistinguishable from its neighbours. There are good transport links to all parts of the West Midlands. Each young person has their own bedroom and there is ample communal space, including a secure garden at the rear. Of the three young people currently living at the home, one contributed directly to this inspection.

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Summary

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

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Summary

The home continues to operate at a high standard. There is close attention to care practices and young people benefit from good management of their individual needs. The property is particularly well presented, comfortable and furnished to an excellent domestic standard. This unannounced interim inspection only considers previous recommendations and safety issues. Last time five recommendations were made and these have now been addressed.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The last inspection made no actions and five recommendations. The manager now keeps sufficient evidence of the recruitment process of new staff. This shows that thorough processes are in place in this area to protect young people. The placement plan documents are now used more frequently, which means that agreed targets for young people are given a higher priority by staff. In order to assess how any new young person is likely to impact on the existing group, and vice versa, an appropriate risk assessment is now completed. This helps to avoid mismatching of young people in the home. Staff undertake appropriate qualifications and training. However, because of a low level of staff turnover, the overall level of qualifications and therefore competence of the team remains lower than required. Training on specific issues, however, such as working with families, are now addressed by the manager.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

In the event of any perceived breach of their rights, such as the right to reasonable levels of privacy, young people feel able to lodge formal as well as informal complaints; they have confidence that their concerns will be addressed well. A similar standard of attention is given to any complaints by third parties, such as neighbours. Records show that complaints are few but are addressed within reasonable timescales, which is important to complainants. Some complaints by third parties reflect behavioural difficulties presented by young people. However, there are good systems in place to encourage and reward appropriate behaviour and physical interventions are rarely necessary.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home provides young people with high levels of physical safety and security. This includes close attention to fire safety although night-time drills are not undertaken with sufficient urgency or reflection. This means staff and young people do not learn as much as possible about addressing such emergencies. On the other hand, all the young people have completed cycling proficiency tests, which is a valuable way of increasing their safety when they are off-site.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Thorough recruitment procedures are used for new staff, which is an essential part of keeping young people safe. Safeguarding generally is monitored thoroughly and there is close liaison with social workers and the police. Staff are helped to develop their skills and learn from their experiences, which helps to maintain good welfare standards. Incidents caused by bullying and being absent without authority, for example, are kept to a minimum, which is to the credit of all concerned and a major benefit to young people.

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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 any deficiency identified from fire drills is noted and action taken to remedy the deficiency. (NMS 26.8)

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