Children's Home run by Keys Stepping Stones Limited in Tameside

Unique reference number SC005567 Inspection date 20/09/2010 Inspector Bill Drumm Type of inspection Key

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Date of last inspection 18/01/2010 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

Care and accommodation is provided at the home for up to four young people aged from five years old up to 17 years old. This children's home is situated on a busy main road, close to all the usual amenities and public transport links. The home provides single room accommodation for three young people and a bed-sit for a young person preparing for independent living. The home aims to provide care on a medium to long-term basis and provides accommodation, care, food, clothing, activities and a holiday for the young people.

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Summary

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

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Summary

This was an unannounced key inspection of the home. All of the outcome areas for young people were inspected and were found to be good. Overall, this is a good service.

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Summary

Members of staff care about the young people who live there and treat them with the utmost dignity and respect. In addition, members of staff are fully committed to nurturing and supporting young people to achieve their maximum potential and to develop socially acceptable behaviour. Young people, and members of staff share a warm, friendly, open and honest dialogue with each other. All the young people appear relaxed and comfortable in approaching members of staff with their concerns or to share a joke.

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Summary

Members of the staff team are very knowledgeable, skilled and committed to delivering a high quality service to young people. Monitoring processes are good and ensure standards are maintained, with any shortfalls addressed quickly to improve provision to children. There are clear systems and procedures for keeping young people safe and for their health and welfare to be promoted and their needs met. Young people and members of staff actively share ideas about what the home does and how high standards and quality can be maintained.

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Summary

Three young people currently live at the home, all of whom were present at the time of the inspection and who contributed fully to the inspection process.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspection the home's manager has improved the quality of the written information retained following the holding or restraint of a young person.

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Helping children to be healthy

Members of staff ensure young people follow a well-balanced healthy diet. Young people have easy access to fresh fruit and vegetables and participate fully in the planning of menus. One young person who returned an inspection questionnaire said, 'We have a menu and every Sunday we sit down and choose meals. Staff will tell us if they're healthy or not.' Young people are also encouraged to participate in shopping for food items and meal preparation. The home ensures that young people living there are able to follow the diet of their choice. The home also ensures that young people are able to sample food from different countries and cultures. Young people living at the home enjoy a healthy, well-balanced diet and healthy eating is promoted.

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Helping children to be healthy

Young people living at the home have had their individual health care needs fully identified and reviewed. Each young person has a healthcare plan which outlines what their physical and emotional needs are and what support they may need. Young people are supported and encouraged to attend all meetings and appointments with healthcare professionals. One young person said, 'When we're ill they look after us very well.' Members of staff have all attended first aid training. First aid training is regularly updated. The health care needs of young people are promoted.

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Helping children to be healthy

Young people living at the home are not fully protected by the home’s medication administration systems. Policies and procedures relating to the safe handling and administration of medication are in place. However, the policies and procedures do not take full account of specific safeguards that are necessary when handling and administering controlled drugs. All members of staff have undertaken formal training in the safe handling and administration of medication. An audit of the home's administration records was undertaken during the inspection and were found to be accurate and up-to-date.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Members of staff are pleasant and friendly towards all the young people living at the home. Members of staff work hard to ensure that young people live in a warm, nurturing and supportive environment. Each young person has their own bedroom. Young people are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms in a style of their own choice and to keep the rooms clean and tidy. The home has policies and procedures in place, which explain what action members of staff should take when it is necessary to search a young person's bedroom. No room searches have been carried out since the last inspection. Personal information relating to each young person is stored securely to prevent unauthorised access. Young people living at the home are treated with the utmost dignity and respect. There are policies and procedures in place for dealing with complaints in an effective and timely manner. The young people's guide provides clear, easy to understand

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

information to young people about the complaints process. Young people were observed at the time of the inspection to speak freely and honestly with all members of staff and to make their needs known. One young person who returned an inspection questionnaire said, 'If we have a complaint we tell an adult at our house.' There has been one complaint made at the home since the last inspection. Written records show that the complaint was taken seriously, dealt with promptly and that the young person was satisfied with the outcome. One compliment has also been received since the last inspection. The compliment was received from a placing social worker who is satisfied with the help and support a young person is receiving. Members of staff have received training in the complaints process.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

A copy of the Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures is available in the home. There have been no child protection referrals made since the last inspection. However, the home's manager and the local authority designated officer for safeguarding have agreed when it would be appropriate for a child protection referral to be made to the safeguarding team. The agreement between the manager and the designated officer is not in line with the home's child protection procedures. All members of staff working at the home have undertaken training in child protection and the welfare of young people is generally well promoted. The agreement between the home's manager and the designated officer may inadvertently place young people at risk.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has policies and procedures in place with regard to countering bullying. The young people's guide to the home includes clear, easy to understand information for young people about what action they should take if they feel they are being targeted by bullies. One young person who returned an inspection questionnaire said, 'I was bullied once and the home said that if it happens again I had every right to call the police.' The manager of the home has written a countering bullying risk assessment. The risk assessment outlines the times, places and circumstances where bullying might occur and is regularly reviewed. Members of staff working at the home have received training in countering bullying. Young people are protected from bullying.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There have been no occasions since the last inspection when young people have been absent without authority. However, the home does have policies and procedures in place with regard to what action members of staff should take if a young person is missing. Procedures comply with national minimum standards and provide clear guidance for staff action, particularly when a young person returns to the home after being missing. Young people are responded to positively on their return.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has policies and procedures in place relating to the safe holding or restraint of young people, and members of staff have received appropriate training. Restraint records are retained within a separate bound and numbered book used specifically for that purpose. There have been a number of restraints used within the home since the last inspection and written records show that the use of holding and restraint was appropriate and proportional. The home also has policies and procedures in place, which relate to the sanctions members of staff are permitted to use to help young people modify their behaviour. Sanction records have been completed appropriately. In addition, the home also records the rewards young people can earn for displaying positive behaviour. Since the last inspection there have been far more rewards given to young people for positive behaviour than there have sanctions for negative behaviour. Young people are supported to develop

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

socially acceptable behaviour through positive reinforcement.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people are protected from fire and other hazards within the home. There are good systems in place to ensure that young people, members of staff and visitors to the home are kept safe and free from hazards. At the time of the inspection one young person was actively assisting a staff member to undertake safety checks throughout the home. Fire drills are carried out at regular intervals and these include some undertaken at night. Risk assessments are undertaken on the known and likely activities carried out by young people. These risk assessments are thorough and help to protect young people from the risk of accident or injury.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There have been two new appointments to the staff team at the home since the last inspection. Written records show that thorough and detailed checks are carried out to ensure that all members of staff are suitable to work with young people. Young people living at the home are provided with physical safety and security and are protected from being exposed to potential abusers.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Young people living at the home receive individualised help and support when they need it or when they request it. Young people have their own key worker. Meetings between key workers and young people take place at regular intervals. The progress of each young person is regularly monitored. Members of staff offer help, guidance and support to help young people improve their behaviour and to develop their own individual identity.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All the young people living at the home attend school or are waiting to start school. The home has a very proactive approach to helping young people progress and to achieve their maximum potential; formal education is considered to be an integral part of this process. In addition, young people living at the home are actively encouraged and supported to develop their own hobbies and interests. One young person spoken to during the inspection said, 'The house helps us with our interests and we go out on activities.'

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Young people living at the home are appropriately placed. Planning and placement meetings take place prior to the admission of any young person to the home. Meetings held prior to admission help to ensure all essential information is available and that the placement has the greatest chance of success. Each young person has their own placement plan, which outlines what their needs are and how they will be met. In order to help ensure that needs are met, the manager and members of staff undertake individual risk assessments of each young person and devise more detailed care plans following admissions. The risk assessment for one young person has not been formally reviewed since their admission. Risk management may not therefore be comprehensive. Young people and members of staff could be placed at risk.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Written records retained within the home show that the care needs of young people are formally reviewed with placing authorities and partner agencies within agreed timescales. The changing needs of young people are highlighted and appropriate action taken. The home's manager, members of staff and young people themselves, where appropriate, regularly attend these meetings. The development of young people living at the home is regularly reviewed.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Contact with friends and family is discussed at each young person's planning meeting, prior to admission. Where appropriate, young people are supported and encouraged to maintain regular contact with their friends and families. Restrictions on contact between young people and their families are discussed prior to admission and are written into the young person's placement plan. The reasons for these restrictions, if any, are both known and understood by the manager and staff at the home.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The admissions procedure for the home is good. Arrangements are made for the young person and their carers, where appropriate, to visit the home before a placement is agreed. Written records relating to the placement of young people are retained within the home. Members of staff work very hard to try to make young people feel welcome and to understand what it will be like to live there. Young people move into the home in a planned and sensitive manner.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Young people are encouraged to raise issues, which affect their lives. Formal and informal meetings take place between members of staff and young people about how the home is run and what improvements can be made. Young people are able to speak to any member of staff about how the home is run and to offer suggestions for improvement. Young people who returned inspection questionnaires said, 'We are able to make our views known in our home' and 'I'm happy that I have a say in what happens.'

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Achieving economic wellbeing

There are no young people living at the home who are eligible to have a formal pathway plan. However, the manager and members of staff encourage and support young people to take responsibility for their actions and to develop maturity. This helps prepare them for independent living and adulthood.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Young people enjoy comfortable, homely accommodation that is decorated, furnished and maintained to a very high standard throughout. Members of staff help to maintain the building and to keep it clean and tidy. Young people living at the home are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms and are encouraged to keep their home clean and tidy.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is good. Members of staff support, encourage and enable young people to participate in community based activities on an equal basis, to develop maturity and their own identity. All members of staff have attended equality and diversity training. The Statement of Purpose has recently been reviewed and accurately describes what young people can expect from living at the home. Young people know what services they can expect from the home.

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Organisation

Young people are looked after by members of staff who are generally well supported and properly managed. Most members of staff receive regular, formal supervision. However, two relatively new members of staff have been gaining experience of working in another home owned by the same organisation. It is unclear how frequently they have received formal supervision and who is responsible for carrying this out. The manager and senior staff members make themselves available to talk with members of staff should they need to do so. Staff meetings are held at regular intervals.

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Organisation

Young people receive the care and services they need from caring competent staff. However, not all permanent members of staff are trained to a minimum National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People. The home's rotas ensure that, where possible, there is always a mix of both male and female staff on duty. Staff sickness and holidays are covered by existing staff members being flexible in their work patterns. Consistency of care is provided to young people and there are clear arrangements in place for members of staff to deputise in the absence of the manager.

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Organisation

A record of all training received by members of staff is maintained within the home. Young people are looked after by members of staff who receive regular training opportunities and who are competent to meet their needs. The care of young people living at the home is monitored regularly. A system is in place to ensure performance is monitored and any patterns or issues requiring action are highlighted.

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Organisation

The needs of young people are recorded to reflect their individuality and daily records are maintained. Information relating to the care that young people receive is stored securely. Young people and their parents are able to access this information within the home if they request it.

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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

 review the home's policies and procedures for the safe handling and administration of medication to ensure the administration of controlled drugs is fully considered (NMS 13)  ensure that all members of staff within the home follow the home's policies and procedures for safeguarding children (NMS 17.4)  ensure regular monitoring and review of each young person's placement plan and risk assessments (NMS 2.2)  ensure that all members of staff employed to work at the home receive regular formal supervision (NMS 28.2)  ensure that all members of staff are trained to a minimum National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People. (NMS 29)

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