Children's Home run by Young Alliance Limited in Cheshire East

Unique reference number SC381531 Inspection date 11/05/2011 Inspector Karen Forster Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 12/01/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011).

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Brief description of the service

This home is a highly specialised children's home that is provided by a private residential childcare provider in partnership with an independent healthcare provider. The service provides residential care for children and young people who have experienced moderate to serious mental health problems. The home offers a therapeutic environment that will facilitate a transition between inpatient treatment and integration into the community. The home is registered to care for five children of either sex from 12 years to 17 years at any one time

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Brief description of the service

At the home's last full inspection, the quality of service was judged to be good.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress.

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Progress

The children's home has demonstrated continued improvement in their quality of care and the outcomes for young people. The home has suitably addressed the requirement and the recommendation that were raised at the previous inspection.

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Progress

Young people are making good progress to develop a positive self image and knowledge and understanding of their background and reasons for their care and health treatment plans. The resident group maintain positive levels of attendance at school or college and their educational achievement is good. These achievements might include access course certificates or increasing abilities to manage monies, for example.

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Progress

Young people benefit from well planned and consistently implemented contact arrangements with people who are important to them. They are confident, as appropriate to their age, about their readiness for independence and adult life. However, some gaps in the recording of pathway planning slightly reduces the level of planning information within the home. The group enjoy sound relationships with staff and their peers and interact positively with others. Young people are fully involved in their placement plans. The home ensures that their contribution to the young people's placement plans is tailored to the individual and focuses on clear, measurable outcomes.

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Progress

Young people have consistent access to the services and support they need to meet their physical, emotional and psychological health needs. Each individual enjoys good health, understands the importance of specialist health improvement programmes and closely follows consistent clinical advice to enhance their mental health.

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Progress

There is evidence of good progress in relation to the requirement and recommendation raised at the last inspection. The level of fire safety within the home has been improved since the last inspection and the improvements have been verified by the local Fire Safety Officer. Thus the safety of the young people has been improved. The home has refurbished the lounge and placed new fittings in the kitchen, demonstrating their attention to the last inspection's recommendation. This means that the home is suitably designed and well maintained to provide a comfortable, homely environment for young people.

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Progress

Leaders and managers keep up to date with new legislation and practice developments, and share these with staff to improve the quality of service. The leadership team routinely makes good use of a range of opportunities for honest, reflective practice relating to the quality of care for each young person. The team use this information well to improve the outcomes for young people. There are comprehensive records of regular external quality monitoring visits and there is evidence that these visits routinely include consultation with young people. Regulation 34 reports include a close overview of home records, and indicate that stakeholders are approached for their thoughts on the service. However, the reports lack details of stakeholder feedback regarding the quality of the service and do not always reflect current developmental areas within the home. This means that not all available information is used to improve outcomes for young people.

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Progress

The staff and managers understand the strengths and areas for improvement of the home. However, agreed areas for development are not clearly recorded to help future checks on achievements and progress. While there are some legibility issues with placement recording, care staff, young people and placing authorities share a common view of the service's aims and objectives. This makes it easy to monitor if the placement remains suitable for each young person.

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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 the internal quality monitoring system includes and records consultation with young people, their parents and placing authorities. (Regulation 34.3) 02/07/2011

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  ensure that all information about each young person is recorded clearly, especially in relation to the legibility of pathway plans within the home (NMS 22.5)  ensure that there are clear and effective recording procedures for the internal monitoring of care practice within the home, especially in relation to incorporating developmental areas highlighted within Regulation 33 reports (NMS 21.1)  ensure that the management of the home consistently monitors that all of the staff's work is consistent with the regulations, the national minimum standards and the home's polices and procedures and that records of this monitoring, the results and areas for development are maintained. (NMS 21.3)

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