Children's Home run by Lifetime Opportunities Limited in Oldham

Unique reference number SC356817 Inspection date 06/10/2010 Inspector Sarah Oldham Type of inspection Key

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Date of last inspection 27/01/2010 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 registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people with learning disabilities, of either gender, between the ages of eight years old up to 17 years old. It is a detached house on a residential estate. There are four bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor and a lounge, dining room and kitchen on the ground floor. The staff office is also on the ground floor. There are enclosed gardens to the front and the rear of the home.

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Summary

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

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Summary

At this unannounced full inspection; all key standards were inspected. This is a good service in most respects with some outstanding features in the outcome areas of enjoying and achieving and positive contribution.

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Summary

Young people are encouraged to eat healthily and take regular exercise. The home works closely with a wide range of outside agencies in order to meet the full range of young people's complex needs. The home's management provides strong and effective leadership which results in staff being clearly focused and guided in meeting the needs of young people. Staff relationships with young people are caring and very supportive. Young people are benefiting from living in this home because it is consistently managed and organised to achieve the best possible outcomes for young people.

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Summary

Communication with all young people is effective. The management and staff at the home ensure that young people are provided with appropriate communication tools to enable them to engage effectively and ensure that their wishes and views are clearly known. The staff support young people with their education well and good links are maintained with schools and colleges Young people are provided with a range of activities and can continue their preferred interests and hobbies. Some minor shortfalls have been identified in relation to young people being supported to record their view with regards sanctions and the numbers of staff holding the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the previous inspection, there were no actions or recommendations made. However, the manager and staff have continued to develop practice to ensure that the young people living at the home are effectively supported.

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Helping children to be healthy

Young people have their health care needs effectively promoted and supported. All young people are registered with a doctor, dentist and optician. Staff support young people to attend medical appointments. The outcomes of these are clearly recorded to enable staff to continue to support young people with their current health care needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

There is a clear policy and procedure in place for the storage, administration and recording of medication. All staff responsible for the administration of medication receive training and assessment prior to undertaking this duty. This ensures that young people who require assistance with medication are supported by staff with the necessary training and skills to provide this.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff support young people living at the home to be involved in the planning of menus. A collection of cookery books, healthy eating documents and plans help young people plan the meals, using visual aids. This enables young people to develop a wider range of choices of menus. Records of menus as planned and those that the young people have eaten are maintained. This enables staff to monitor any changes in diet and appetite effectively. Following appropriate risk assessments, young people are supported to make simple meals, snacks and drinks to further develop independence skills. Meals are sociable occasions and eaten together in the dining room.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people have their own bedrooms. They are able to lock their bedroom if they wish to do so, these locks can be over ridden in an emergency. Staff respect the privacy of young people. Confidential information is stored securely and staff are aware of the importance of maintaining confidentiality. Policies and procedures in place regarding assisting with personal care are detailed and promote the dignity of the young people.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Information regarding how to make a complaint is in the young people's guide in both written and pictorial format. This ensures that all young people are aware of how to make a complaint and reassured that the complaint will be appropriately addressed. The complaints procedure is also in the home's Statement of Purpose and is made known to placing authority social workers, parents and other interested parties. All staff receive training regarding the complaints procedure to ensure that they have the knowledge of how to respond to a complaint and timescales for complaints to be addressed within. There have been no complaints made in the past twelve months. Informal complaints are addressed on an individual basis and records of these are maintained within the young people's individual file. Policies and procedures are in place to support any young person who is being bullied. This is currently not an issue within the home. There are clear procedures for staff to follow

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

in the event of a young person missing from the home. Records maintained demonstrate that staff follow these procedures appropriately and support is provided to the young person on their return to the home.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff encourage and support young people to develop appropriate behaviour. All young people have individual behaviour management plans. These are discussed and are agreed with young people, their social workers and where appropriate, parents or carers. These are clearly recorded, reviewed and updated to ensure that staff have current information. Staff receive training in managing behaviour, including physical intervention. This training is updated on an annual basis. Any physical intervention is only used if the young person is at risk of harm or there is a risk of harm to another person. The occasions when this is used are minimal and clear records are maintained to demonstrate that the agreed intervention has been undertaken. Sanctions are used to encourage and support young people to develop positive behaviours. Again these are rarely used, records are maintained and these demonstrate that sanctions are appropriate. However, in a small number of cases,

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

the views of the young people are not always clearly recorded to demonstrate that these have been sought. They have the opportunity within key worker sessions to discuss these in further detail. Records of these sessions are maintained on individual files to enable young people to reflect on issues that impact on their day-to-day lives.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home provides a safe environment for the young people. There is a clear fire risk assessment in place that is kept under review. Fire drills are undertaken on a regular basis to enable young people to know what to do in the event of a fire. Fire equipment is maintained and checked on a regular basis to ensure that it is in full working order.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Procedures for the recruitment and selection of staff are in place. This includes full application and work history, references and an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure being undertaken prior to employment. This ensures that there is a careful selection and vetting of all staff to ensure that staff have the necessary skills to support young people effectively and to prevent children being exposed to potential abusers. Visitors to the home are required to sign the visitors book and identification is sought to ensure that the safety and well being of the young people is promoted.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Young people receive good individualised support in line with their needs, including support from a range of external professionals such as social workers, community nurse, psychologists and psychiatrists. A key-worker system is in operation to co- ordinate work in connection with each young person's support plan. Key workers are also responsible for compiling reports and attending reviews and case meetings wherever possible

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff encourage and support young people with their education. This is undertaken by attending planning meetings, parent's evenings and developing excellent links with schools and colleges. This is clearly evident when assisting young people during the transition period between school and college.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff develop activity programmes with young people to enable them to engage in activities both within the home and the local community. These are individually planned to support the specific interests of each young person. Activities undertaken include dancing, use of local leisure facilities plus activities within the home such as arts and crafts.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Young people have comprehensive placement plans that identify the level of support they require. These plans are developed in conjunction with the placing social worker, the young person and, where appropriate, their family. Staff have a good understanding of the aim and objective of the placement and these plans are monitored and reviewed on a regular basis. This ensures that the needs of the young people remain the focus of the placement plan at all times. Statutory reviews take place within agreed timescales and staff retain minutes of these meetings to ensure that information is maintained whilst awaiting formal review minutes to be forwarded to the home.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Staff actively encourage and support young people's contact with parents, family and other significant people in their lives. Visitors are welcome and staff also support home visits where appropriate. Where there are any restrictions on contact, these are clearly identified and recorded to ensure that these are complied with.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Young people have a planned introduction to the home. This enables them to visit and to meet staff and other young people prior to moving into the home and also enables staff to assess any potential impact that this would have for the young people. Where it is felt that it would not be in the best interest of the children in placement to have another child placed, this is discussed and agreed with the senior management of the company.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Opportunities to fully involve young people in decision-making about their daily lives and the daily life of the home can be limited due to the nature of their disabilities. Nevertheless, young people are encouraged to make choices and express views through the use of individual communication strategies. These are gathered on an individual basis and also within group settings. This enables the young people to contribute to the plans for the home.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Young people receive care and support which helps them to develop independence skills in line with their capabilities. The development of such skills include self-care, cooking, light household tasks and shopping. However, not all young people have a copy of their Pathway Plan in place. Staff have spoken to placing authority social workers regarding this and plans are in place to ensure that these are completed in the near future.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The standard of accommodation is good. It is maintained to a high standard, clean, tidy and well-decorated. The home blends into the local community very well and is a domestic-style property which is well maintained. Staff take great care in keeping the home tidy and clean and this clearly encourages the young people to respect their surroundings and helps create a homely and calm environment. Young people enjoy their own personal space and are able to personalise their bedroom. There is a lounge, kitchen, dining room, activities room, office and toilet on the ground floor with four bedrooms and a bathroom to the first floor. This enables young people to have plenty of space to either join together as a group or to spend time on their own if they wish to do so.

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Organisation

The Statement of Purpose reflects the aims and objectives of the home. This document is made available to placing social workers, family members and staff. It is reviewed on an annual basis. The children's guide provides young people with information about the home. It is available in both written and pictorial format. This ensures that it is accessible for young people to enable them to have a good understanding of what it is like living at the home. Young people are supported to have a planned introduction to the home to have an understanding of the facilities available.

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Organisation

All new staff undertake a comprehensive induction programme to help them understand their role and responsibilities. There is a core training programme in place that includes child protection and safeguarding, team teach, first aid, complaints and food hygiene. This enables staff to have the necessary knowledge to support the young people. In addition, further training is made available, including NVQ at level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People. However, within the current staff team 70% of staff hold this qualification. Enrolment for remaining staff is ongoing to enable all staff members to hold this qualification. Staff receive supervision on a regular basis and this ensures that staff are effectively supported within their role. Staffing levels at the home are satisfactory but due to the increase of staffing ratios for some young people this has put an additional demand on staffing levels. Recruitment is ongoing to address this.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is good. Young people are provided with care and support which directly links to their individual needs. Young people enjoy positive social activities within the local community and care is given in accordance with young people's cultural identity. Information is provided to young people in both written and pictorial formats. This enables young people to have a good understanding of the home and how it operates.

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Organisation

There are effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the home against the Statement of purpose. This ensures that good standards of care are maintained. The manager completes a monthly report to demonstrate that records are being monitored well. Independent visits to the home are also undertaken on a monthly basis by a senior manager within the company. Detailed reports are completed, a copy is provided to Ofsted and also the manager with any points requiring action. The manager ensures that these are addressed.

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Organisation

Young people's files are maintained to a good standard. All staff at the home are required to read individual care files to ensure that they have the knowledge and information to provide support as identified within individual young people's placement plans to meet their individual needs.

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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 when disciplinary measures or restraints are used, children are encouraged to write or have their views recorded and sign their names against them if possible in the records kept by the home (NMS 22.14)  ensure that a minimum of 80% of staff have completed their National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People (NMS 29.5)

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