Children's Home run by 2nd Nurture Limited in St Helens

Unique reference number SC413223 Inspection date 04/05/2011 Inspector Karen Forster Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 21/02/2011 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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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 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011) and the evaluation schedule for children's homes.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service that exceeds minimum requirements Satisfactory : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Brief description of the service

This privately owned home is registered to accommodate one child or young person of either gender, aged from eight to 17 years. The service can accommodate young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties or learning difficulties. The home offers medium to long-term residential care.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides consistent and well planned care, which means that young people's outcomes are good. Individual care plans are consistently well implemented by informed staff on a one to one staffing basis. This means that a good quality of care is received by young people, that recognises their strengths and addresses their needs. Young people are beginning to make good progress from their starting points, in relation to their emotional and behavioural development.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people have positive views about the quality of their care in the home and their relationships with staff. The positive level of qualified and motivated staff is an obvious strength within the home. Young people benefit from sound relationships with staff, and feel that adults care about their welfare. Staff in the home demonstrate a good understanding of safe working practice to meet individual young people's needs. This robust safeguarding practice promotes the safety of young people, and they feel safe within the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Areas for improvement include gaps within the arrangements for the landlord's access to the property and the lack of stakeholder comments within the quality monitoring programme. The home's Statement of Purpose does not include details of; the staff group; the system to provide appropriate role models of both sexes; and the contact arrangements for young people.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all parts of the home are secure from unauthorised access, especially in relation to the access arrangements for the landlord of the property (Regulation 31 (b) ) 04/07/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the system used to review and improve the quality of care, provides for consultation with young people, their parents and placing authorities (Regulation 34 (3) ) 04/07/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the home's Statement of Purpose is compliant with Schedule 1 of the regulations, especially in relation to details of the staff team; a description of how the home will provide appropriate role models of both sexes and the contact arrangements for young people. (Regulation 4 (1); Schedule 1 (5) (22) ) 04/07/2011

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure that young people's health is promoted in accordance with their placement plan, which should include all relevant details of current health needs (NMS 6.5)  ensure that young people understand, within their level of understanding, the purpose and content of their placement plan (NMS 25.1)  ensure that the staff group, who are in day-to-day contact with young people, includes staff of both genders whenever possible (NMS 17.10)  ensure that each young person can remain in the home until moving on is in their best interests, especially in relation to assessing and recording the risk and impact that a termination to the lease would have on the placement (NMS 11.5)  ensure that young people are given an opportunity to discuss incidents of restraint, if and when they occur, and space for the record of these discussions is included within the home's restraint record. (NMS 3.17)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are developing their own identities, supported by their ready access to some information about their more recent history. The home facilitates this development, through consistently approaching the young people as individual children, and then considering any specialist needs. Young people enjoy a balanced diet and active lifestyles, which keep them healthy. The young people's health plans are incomplete, however young people do access suitable health services. This means they receive and follow personalised and appropriate healthcare programmes, such as sleep improvement plans for example.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have good attendance at school and make good use of their learning opportunities. These opportunities are well supported by additional support within school, and care staff help young people to prepare for school and to relax afterwards. Young people make good progress within these educational programmes, and their positive achievements are clearly captured and recognised.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Individuals enjoy consistent opportunities to jointly plan for their activities and décor plans. Young people see the results of their ideas, which may include their own choice of décor, for example. The young people are less well informed and consulted over their care plans, which is reported upon under quality of care below. This means that young people have some degree of control over their living arrangements. Young people have ready accompanied access to community activities and resources. These opportunities include community youth groups, leisure parks and football activities.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from consistent and well facilitated contact with their families and significant people in their lives. Planned meetings are enjoyed by individuals and mean that they continue to see their blood families and previous carers.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is good . Equality and diversity is well promoted in the home. The service consistently identifies, and positively meets young people's personal needs. The young people's needs as children and those relating to any specific, specialist needs, are addressed equally well. The home's care plans, clearly reflect young people's identity needs and how the home will support them to develop a positive self image. Consequently, young people are developing their own identities, that are personal and important to them. The young people interact daily with female carers and some male teachers, although the level of male contact is minimal. This reduces their contact with male role models. The home's strategies to address this issue are not clearly detailed within the home's Statement of Purpose, as required.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from relationships with well informed workers within their team. Individuals feel that staff care about their welfare and help them in all areas of their lives. There are plentiful opportunities for young people to consult with trusted adults, as they make good use of the one to one staffing levels. This consultation might include honest reflection on their behaviour, for example.

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Quality of care

The home has been occupied for a relatively short time, and the views and wishes of young people consistently influenced the preparation for the placement and the subsequent running of the home. Young people's concerns are also well received and acted upon promptly. This means that young people are listened to and their concerns are taken seriously.

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Quality of care

Young people's care plans clearly reflect their strengths and needs, and effectively address the placement objectives outlined by the placing social worker. While the staff group is very familiar with the placement's aims and works hard to achieve those ends, the young people are less familiar with the content of their care plans.

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Quality of care

While the home's account of young people's personal medical histories is suitable, the content of individual health plans is not sufficiently detailed regarding current health needs. However, personalised health programmes are in place and implemented, which might include behaviour management or sleep improvement programmes for example. Therefore this is a recording issue that has minimal impact on the young people, as they do receive the health services they require. The home's arrangements for the management of medication are safe and effective, which means that young people receive their medication in line with their prescription.

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Quality of care

Staff work well with educational professionals to help young people to address the challenge of their assessed special educational need, and to consistently attend mainstream schooling. The service positively supports and encourages young people to engage in purposeful and enjoyable activities, of the young people's own choice.

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Quality of care

While the home is well maintained and very comfortable for the occupants, there is a limited, month long, notice period attached to the lease. There is no evidence of a written risk assessment to examine the impact on the placement, should notice of a lease termination be served by the landlord.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people confirm that they feel safe and protected within the home. They can openly talk to their carers over their worries and concerns, and feel that the adults listen well and care about their welfare. The home has clear and well understood risk management strategies in place, that recognise the personal vulnerabilities of young people and provide suitable strategies to manage any associated risks. The home maintains an open dialogue with young people, their social workers and the local safeguarding teams. There are well known procedures in place to ensure that, when required, all disclosures would be suitably referred to statutory agencies to keep young people safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has a clear missing from home procedure, that includes agreed protocols with the local police. These procedures provide details of prompt actions when young people go missing and include positive responses to returning young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Positive behaviour is well recognised and suitably rewarded within the group. Young people enjoy meaningful rewards for their positive behaviour. Reparation, where young people can make good or pay for any intentional damage to property, is well used in the home. There has been no use of physical intervention within the home. If restraint were to be used, accounts of the episode would be kept within dedicated records in the home. While this would allow for the manger's overview of any restraint used, there is no space within the records for the young people's feelings about the incident.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are suitably vetted prior to employment in the home, which means that young people are cared for by suitably cleared adults. All visitors to the home are accompanied and supervised, to keep young people safe. However, there is no specific guidance for staff regarding the protocol for the landlord's access to the occupied property and the landlord is a key holder for the premises. The home's health and safety systems are well maintained, to keep the home's occupants and visitors safe. These systems include clear and well implemented fire risk management systems and regular safety checks on the home's power and heat supplies.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good . Young people and staff benefit from the support and consistent direction from the two senior staff. These staff are operational within the care duty rota. They lead well by example and by providing advice and support to young people and other staff.

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Leadership and management

This is a new care service and a culture of self improvement is already well established. The senior staff have been proactive in researching new care initiatives, regional provider networks and professional supervision for themselves. This information is readily shared with the small staff team, which, in turn, then informs the care of young people.

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Leadership and management

The home's Statement Of Purpose clearly outlines the service's aims and objectives, which are well known by staff and stakeholders and addressed in practice. There are some gaps within the Statement of Purpose, which slightly reduces the level of detail in the document. There are no references to; the qualifications of staff; the arrangements for the provision of role models for each gender; and contact procedures for young people. The home's leadership team honestly self assesses the home's progress in achieving the service's aims and objectives. Consequently this partnership has a clear understanding of the service's strengths and areas for development. These areas are beginning to be formulised into improvement plans.

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Leadership and management

The service's positive quality assurance systems help the home to focus on their continual improvement. These systems make good use of some stakeholder feedback, including the data received from the regulation 33 visitor. However comments from young people, their parents and social workers, do not feature within the manager's internal monitoring reports. This means that some, but not all, available feedback information is used to improve outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

The home is adequately resourced to meet the needs of the young people placed there. There is a well trained staff group in place, all of the care staff team are trained to National Vocational Qualification at level three or equivalent. This means that the competence of the whole team has been assessed against a national standard. Staff value new training and the content of their development programmes matches the needs of the young people very well. Following new training, staff put their newly acquired knowledge and skills to good use, when caring for young people.

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Leadership and management

Communication within the home, and between the setting and external stakeholders is sound. Placing social workers feel well informed, and regularly updated over the progress of the placement. Young people attend regular meetings with staff to discuss progress and make future plans. Staff receive; regular in-depth supervision, and attend planned team meetings, in which they can focus on the needs of the young people and the promotion of their outcomes.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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