Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Unique reference number SC039683 Inspection date 14/03/2011 Inspector Paul Scott Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 07/07/2010 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 a large, two storey, detached property, situated in a residential housing estate. The home has a small garden area and car parking area at the front and a larger garden area to the rear. The ground floor of the home consists of a large communal lounge, small conservatory area with games facilities, dining room, fully fitted kitchen, utilities room, staff office, Registered Manager's office, toilet facilities and a meeting room. The upper floor contains six single bedrooms for young people, two staff sleeping-in rooms with en-suite facilities and three bathrooms with bath, shower and toilet facilities. The home is operated by a local authority and only considers referrals from that authority. The home can accommodate a maximum of six young people of either gender.

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Summary

The overall quality rating is outstanding.

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Summary

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

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Summary

This visit was an interim inspection and was unannounced. The inspection looked at how well the service safeguards and protects young people's welfare.

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Summary

This service continues to provide an outstanding quality of care for vulnerable young people. Very good policies and individual risk assessments ensure staff know how to promote and protect young people's welfare. Young people are looked after by a group of highly competent, knowledgeable and caring staff with the right skills, experience and training to support young people. Staff work in a consistent and coordinated way with young people and people from other agencies to ensure a collaborative approach to safeguarding young people is taken. Behaviour management is good and is based on sound relationships between young people and staff. Young people's privacy is respected and complaints are extremely well managed. Staff recruitment checks are thorough and visitors to the home are appropriately supervised to ensure young people are protected from harm. Good policies and procedures help to protect young people's physical safety in the event of

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Summary

a fire. However, records of fire drills and evacuations of the building are not sufficiently detailed.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There were no actions or recommendations raised at the last inspection.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people live in a safe environment and are very well protected from harm. Staff ensure young people feel valued and their privacy and dignity are maintained; for example all bedrooms are single occupancy where young people can spend time to be alone when they wish. Information about young people is managed confidentially and held securely in a locked office.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Complaints are very well managed. Young people know how to complain. They said 'staff take their concerns seriously'. Staff work hard to ensure that young people's concerns are addressed quickly. This process means young people feel valued and know that they are listened to. All staff have received training on complaints to ensure they know what to do if there is a complaint about the service.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provider has an excellent safeguarding procedure for staff to follow in the event of any allegation or suspicion of abuse. All staff have completed child protection training. Young people feel safe as they know they can discuss any issues with staff. Comprehensive and detailed risk assessments mean that staff are aware of young people's vulnerability and the risks they may face. Staff work extremely hard to ensure that these risks are effectively managed to achieve a good balance between allowing young people a suitable level of freedom and the need for protection. The manager has established strong links with external agencies to ensure a collaborative approach is taken to promoting the safety and well-being of young people. Therefore the welfare of young people is very well promoted

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There is good written guidance for staff about the prevention of and tackling of bullying. Staff are aware of the potential for bullying and provide good levels of supervision to minimise the opportunity for this. Despite fall outs and arguments, young people say that bullying is not an area of concern for them. They confirm that staff are around at all times and are quick to step in if an incident arises.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people who go missing from home are well safeguarded. Staff follow agreed reporting protocols, such as contacting the police, social workers and parents, if appropriate. Detailed individual risk assessments and plans clearly set out what action is taken to protect young people and these are consistently put into practice. For example, staff always ensure young people know what time they need to come home and keep in contact with young people by mobile telephone. There are good arrangements for young people to be seen by a person independent of the home to discuss the reasons for them going missing. Staff have developed positive and nurturing relationships with young people and strive to promote socially acceptable behaviour. Staff view young people in a positive light and encourage and reward acceptable behaviour. They talk to young people about their behaviour and follow individual behaviour management plans and

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

strategies. These are regularly reviewed and updated by the manager. This ensures consistent practice within clear boundaries that young people understand. Young people are clear about the rules of the home and say that these are 'fair'. Young people have been involved in agreeing what sanctions are used. These are relevant and reflect the age and understanding of the young people. They are reviewed regularly for their effectiveness and to ensure they are fair and proportionate. All staff are trained in a behaviour management technique. Staff use effective management strategies that mean physical restraint is only used when absolutely necessary.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people's physical safety is well promoted. General and individual risk assessments enable staff to put plans into place to manage and minimise risk to young people. The fire safety check records are up to date. Regular fire drills have taken place. However, not all records include the time the fire drill has taken place and details of who was involved. This means some young people and staff will not know how to evacuate the building in the event of a fire.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people are very well protected by the organisation's robust staff recruitment practices. These ensure that all staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before they start work. The identity of all visitors is checked before they are allowed into the home. This prevents unauthorised individuals gaining access to young people in the home.

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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 the written record of fire drills includes all the required information, in particular the names of the people who were involved, and the time the fire drill was undertaken. (NMS 26.8)

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