Children's Home run by Esland South Limited in Kent

Unique reference number SC059037 Inspection date 17/05/2011 Inspector Lucy Ansell Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 11/01/2011 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 is a privately owned registered children's home offering 24-hour care and support to young people of either sex aged between 13 and 17 years of age. Referrals are considered for young people experiencing severe emotional and behavioural difficulties, who have a record of offending behaviour, drug and alcohol problems, mild forms of disability and those requiring assessment for specialist placements. A maximum of four young people can be accommodated at any one time and the home seeks to provide medium- to long-term placements. Whilst the home advocates the positive aspects of planned placements, emergency referrals are also considered when appropriate.

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Brief description of the service

The home is a four bed, semi-detached property situated within walking distance of the town centre and local amenities, including shops, a cinema, GP surgery, schools and colleges which are all within easy reach.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory .

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Overall effectiveness

The overall outcomes for young people are satisfactory with some progress being made in relation to all aspects of their welfare and development. The group of young people in the home are all in the older age group and are preparing to move on to independence and their ties to the home are not as strong as to their peers and communities they wish to move on to. There are clear placement plans in place to address any identified needs and improvements have been made. The staff team is stable and this benefits the young people. Staff are not receiving the appropriate training; to further support the needs of the young people and to improve the quality of service on a long term on-going basis. Young people felt safe and staff had awareness of their role and responsibility to ensure the young people's welfare is safeguarded.

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Overall effectiveness

There were four requirements made to help improve quality of care. There were four recommendations made to help improve good practice.

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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 children accommodated in the children's home are provided with food which is served in adequate quantities and at appropriate intervals; is properly prepared, wholesome and nutritious (Regulation 13(1) (a)) 28/05/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the children's home is conducted so as to promote and make proper provision for the welfare of children accommodated there and make proper provision for the care, education and supervision, particularly on preparing for independence (Regulation 11(1) (a) (b)) 31/05/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish and maintain a system for improving the quality of care provided in the children's home (Regulation 34 (1) (b)) 30/06/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that there is at all times, having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the health and welfare of the children accommodated in the home, a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working at the children's home. (Regulation 25 (1) (b)) 30/06/2011

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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 physical restrictions on normal movement within or from the home are not used unless this is necessary to safeguard children or promote welfare and development (NMS 10.4)  ensure staff are supported to manage their responses and feelings arising from working with children, particularly where children display challenging behaviours or have difficult emotional issues. Also ensure that staff are supported to understand how children's previous experiences can manifest in challenging behaviour (NMS 3.10)  ensure staff responsible for recruitment and selection of staff are trained in, understand and operate the good practices set out in the national minimum standards (NMS 16.2)  improve the recruitment record to show the date on which each check was completed and who carried out the check. (NMS 16.4)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are satisfactory .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make satisfactory progress in relation to their starting point. They are benefitting from support and encouragement which is helping them to develop a positive self-view and grow in self-confidence. Young people benefit from a team that provides consistent boundaries but there is less focus on emotional well-being and helping the young people to develop emotional resilience, and taking more responsibility for their behaviour. Staff do not have a clear understanding of the importance of personalised behaviour plans and frameworks of attachment and quality of relationships. The quality of relationships and understanding and development of staff is essential to improvements in outcomes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s health needs are promoted including emotional and psychological health needs. Staff are guiding young people to understand and manage their own behaviour by raising their self-awareness. The home has systems in place to make referrals to the local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) or specialist services for anger management and emotional health needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people attend school either in the local community or attend alternative education provision. Attendance is mainly good and a financial reward is linked to educational attendance. Expected educational progress for young people is satisfactory and also takes into account any lack of schooling prior to admission. Staff at the home promote educational attainment and help support with homework and will access a range of educational resources to help support young people’s learning. Staff attend school events, maintaining close links with the schools and advocate for the child where appropriate.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are not receiving support to develop their independence living skills such as, doing laundry, shopping and preparing meals and budgeting. Whilst the home is aware that due to the ages of the young people in the home moving on is imminent; there is also little support from the local authorities in terms of moving on plans.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The young people benefit from appropriate contact being maintained with family and friends. This may involve independent travel, overnight stays, risk management and levels of trust appropriate to their age and understanding.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is satisfactory . Young people enjoy appropriate and positive relationships with staff members and when spoken to a young person said ‘the staff are alright, when your good and stuff you get rewards’. Young people are clear that their views and wishes are taken into account but they do not attend house meetings regularly. Information was available on how to make a complaint and on the rights of a child within the young person’s guide. Young people are clear who they could speak to about any concerns. Six complaints have been made by young people since the last inspection but these have been mainly dealt with through informal routes and resolved quickly.

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Quality of care

Young people’s files provide a record of individual care and are signed by the young people. The key worker takes responsibility for ensuring the requirements of the plan are implemented and young people say they are engaged in writing and implementing their plans of care. The home produces a report for the social worker, this feeds into the review process which young people are fully involved with.

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Quality of care

There is a range of activities that are available to the young people from boxing, horse riding, football and hockey. These are chosen by the young people to support their particular hobbies and interests. The young people choose to go out with friends and out into the community as is suitable to their age and in line with their peers. The young people can use the company's caravan for short breaks and enjoy trips out to a local theme park, a local golf range and snooker hall.

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Quality of care

Young people are encouraged to eat healthy meals and to take an active role in meal planning but this does not always happen. The staff team encourage mealtimes to be social occasions, however the young people did state sometimes the food was not nice or that there was not enough in the house. All young people benefit from being registered with a local GP, optician and dentist. The health plans clearly identify any needs; consent forms were clearly seen. The home uses key working sessions to address any health issues or to complete any preventative work. Staff discuss sexual health and information on dangers of drugs and alcohol with young people, and information is available. All staff are first aid trained and have received training on medication administration.

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Quality of care

The home is situated in a residential area a short walk from the town centre. Young people’s bedrooms are spacious and personalised to their individual tastes. The homely lounge has a satellite television package but no internet provision, so the young people can use the home’s educational provision or local library. The open plan kitchen and dining room means staff and young people can socialise, cook and eat together. The home has physical restrictions on normal movement with internal doors that are locked at night to the kitchen and lounge. The home has its own maintenance team so can address any issues immediately.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. Good arrangements are in place to safeguard young people. There are no issues with bullying and the staff are clear on the home’s policy and procedures to follow should this become an issue. Staff have received safeguarded training and are clear on their roles and responsibilities to protect the young people. Young people stated they felt safe and they trusted the staff to keep them safe. The home has a clear safeguarding policy.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Appropriate systems are in place for recording and reporting if young people are absent without consent. When young people go missing staff know what to do and follow agreed procedures. The home has good risk assessments and agreements with local police and social services to ensure the safety of the young people for who they know this is an issue.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from staff who encourage and praise positive behaviour. The home encourages young people to take responsibility for their own actions. They do this through a behaviour reward system and also by ensuring sanctions are reparative if required. The reward system has succeeded in helping to develop and reward some good behaviour. Whilst the sanctions are thought of as fair by the young people, their effectiveness is debatable as they are quite high. The manager is monitoring this and looking to reduce these accordingly. All staff are trained in the use of physical restraint techniques. There is one restraint recorded and this was hands on for a few seconds. All incidents are recorded comprehensively, and a record is held of the young people’s view.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from living in a home which provides physical safety and security. Fire safety checks are up to date, and regular fire drills are carried out. Risk assessments are in place for the building. Electrical and gas appliances are regularly checked and maintained. Young people live in a safe and secure environment which has undertaken all the appropriate risk assessment.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home can evidence a careful vetting and selection process being undertaken. The staff personnel files mainly contained all the required information. The following information was missing from one file; follow up telephone enquires on the written reference. The front sheet did not show the date on which checks were completed and who carried out the check. Staff within head office who are responsible for conducting the recruitment checks are not trained in good practice, however the managers at the homes are and ensure the young people's safety. Any visitors to the home are closely supervised to ensure the safety of the young people.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are satisfactory . The home's Statement of Purpose accurately reflects the services that the home is able to offer and is updated regularly to ensure all information is correct. The children's guide is appropriate and available in a child-friendly format. The consistent environment over the last year has enabled young people to achieve satisfactory outcomes, based also upon the age of the young people and the stage of transition they are in preparing for independence.

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Leadership and management

The staff understand the strengths and weaknesses of young people placed and work towards building on these. Young people are encouraged to fulfil their potential and are supported to develop their self-esteem and a positive self-image. There is a commitment to anti-discriminatory practice and all staff have received appropriate training in equality and diversity.

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Leadership and management

Young people receive care from a motivated, caring and supportive team. Whilst the organisation takes mandatory training seriously and has demonstrated a commitment to ensuring all staff have the appropriate National Vocational Qualification and Children's Workforce Development Council training, the staff lack training in basic childcare concepts.

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Leadership and management

Young people and the staff team benefit from positive management. The staff and the young people have a strong and trusted relationship with the manager and the deputy. The area manager for the company is active and helps to provide clear accountability and management support. There are records of regular Regulation 33 visits and Regulation 34 reports and young people are spoken to during these visits. Although, the reports are not sufficiently reflective to help strengthen the home’s quality assurance practices. The manager does not always evidence in practice how they are reviewing progress of the young people through the quality assurance process. The home does not have a development plan. Regular supervision is occurring for all staff and there is good record keeping. The home's budget ensures the service stays financially viable and is cost effective but this sometimes can be detrimental to the quality of food or activities provided.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is satisfactory .

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