Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children‟s Services (2) Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC398482 Inspection date 08/09/2011 Inspector Trevor Hall Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 07/03/2011 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 home is part of a large private children’s care organisation and is currently registered to accommodate six young people who have educational and behavioural difficulties.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

The supportive environment that this home provides enables young people to make good progress. Detailed care planning, supported by good staff involvement, ensures that young people receive the individual care they need. Young people are encouraged to take an active role in their own care and generally enjoy living at the home. Good liaison with external agencies ensures that young people receive good levels of support in all aspects of their lives. Good links have been developed between the home and the educational establishments attended by young people. Young people are given opportunities to experience new activities and learn new skills and are encouraged to challenge previously held attitudes. This enables them to grow as individuals and develop their self-esteem. Staff are highly committed to supporting and enabling young people to develop their skills and socially acceptable behaviour.

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Overall effectiveness

Physical interventions by staff are not always being recorded within 24 hours and these records do not always include young people’s comments. Whilst young people feel generally safe the home does not regularly test the fire alarms throughout the setting.

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Overall effectiveness

The current leadership and management arrangements for the home ensure that young people using the service have their needs appropriately met and enjoy positive experiences. However, there remains the need for these arrangements to be formalised through the registration process.

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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) formalise the appointment of an individual to manage the home by the submission of an application to register the manager 30/11/2011 and to have their suitability tested by this process (Regulation 7(1)) 17A (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose, in particular ensuring a description of the measure used is recorded. (Regulations 17 (4(c)) 30/11/2011

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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 all children and staff are given an opportunity to discuss incidents of restraint they have been involved in, witness or been affected by, with a relevant adult (NMS 3.17)  ensure the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated and avoidable hazards are removed as is consistent with a domestic setting. (NMS 10.3).

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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 benefit from individualised care that promotes their emotional and psychological well-being. Although the home is relatively isolated young people are encouraged to participate in community-based activities. Young people's individual and diverse needs are well met and are well evidenced in all outcome areas. Staff have a good understanding of the strengths and needs of young people and ensure that their confidence and social inclusion is promoted. Young people have developed sound relationships with staff and with each other.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Contact arrangements are good and clearly outlined in the young people's placement plans. Where there are restrictions in place these have been agreed by a young person’s placing authority. Support is given to their contact with family and others significant to them. This helps them to maintain and develop appropriate relationships with people who will be important to them into adulthood and beyond.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have their health needs thoroughly assessed. Staff are mindful of not only the physical but also the psychological and emotional well-being of young people. Each young person has a health care plan that outlines their physical, emotional and psychological needs. Where needed, specialist services are accessed to better promote young people's health and well-being. Good records are maintained evidencing the range of health services used by young people. Staff support young people with attendance of appointments and they are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Young people are involved in menu planning, shopping and food preparation. Young people attend weekly therapy sessions to enable them to build on their emotional resilience.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people living at the home have a recorded range of previous difficulties in their attendance at school. However, all the current residents of the home receive full-time education and have excellent attendance records. Staff support young people to complete homework and school reports highlight good progress. The staff promote education offering time and commitment that enables young people to make consistent progress and gain the ability to recognise their own achievements.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff encourage young people to develop independence skills in accordance with their age while not deterring from the nurturing and caring environment young people thrive within. Simple tasks, such as helping set the table, clearing away the pots or helping to tidy their bedroom, demonstrate how settled young people are and that they have developed a sense of pride and ownership of their home.

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Quality of care

Young people clearly benefit from the security and structure that exists within this home. The extremely competent staff team have created a homely nurturing environment that has well-defined boundaries. These boundaries are consistent and help to give young people a feeling of security without denying each young person's individuality.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy very positive and constructive relationships with staff. There is a positive and open dialogue between staff and young people. Young people are consulted and confirm that they are encouraged and supported to make decisions about their lives. This is important as it ensures that young people have lots of opportunities to express their views and influence decisions that are made about their care and also the running of the home in general. For example, young people feel that they can participate in meetings about them and their future and can have a say in day-to-day matters in the home, such as menus, planned activities and contact arrangements.

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Quality of care

There is a clear decision-making process regarding admission and discharge of young people. This ensures that young people are appropriately placed and their needs can be met by the home. Young people’s care plans are regularly reviewed to ensure the care offered is consistently meeting their individual needs. Care planning documentation and risk assessments are thorough and reviewed regularly. This ensures that staff have good up to date information about the young people in their care. The individual needs of the young people, including cultural, religious, language and racial needs, are identified and addressed.

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Quality of care

Young people confirm they know how to complain and how to access information to assist them to do this. Information is available in the young people’s guide and notice board within the home and includes contact numbers for external agencies. The positive relationship between staff and young people ensures that the young people’s views are valued and that they feel confident to raise matters. In addition, all young people have regular meetings with their key worker to discuss their recent progress and any issues of concern. Staff actively seek young people's views at both an individual and group level and respond in a way that makes the young people believe that their opinions are truly valued.

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Quality of care

Staff place great importance on ensuring that young people live in a home that is appropriately located, designed and maintained. Although the home is rural in its location the company have more then compensated for this with a good level of transport provision. This means that young people have convenient transport for activities, shopping and home visits.

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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 feel safe and protected at the home. There are good systems in place for responding to allegations and suspicions of abuse. The staff team have had training and are experienced in safeguarding young people and know how to proceed if there are concerns about young people’s welfare. The home has established excellent working practices with a range of external professionals, which further protects young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has a very comprehensive set of individualised assessments of risk for each young person in residence. These cover aspects of their potential behaviour, the environment and the activities they wish to undertake. Risk assessments are used positively, to identify potential risks and to provide effective strategies to help to minimise these. These assessments are designed to enable young people to enjoy new experiences and to expand their horizons safely, rather than as a means of rejecting new ideas or stifling initiative.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has a good range of detailed policies and procedures covering aspects, such as prevention of bullying, complaints, safeguarding and behaviour management. These policies are well known to staff and are effectively implemented. Staff work hard to help young people develop a better understanding of what constitutes bullying and what action they should take if they are bullied. Staff receive comprehensive training with regular updates in all these areas, which enables them to protect young people from the risk of harm and abuse. The regular and effective monitoring of the home's records and staff practice contribute to ensuring that young people receive safe care in line with their individual needs.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has appropriate systems in place to protect young people should they go missing, including individual protocols, that are compatible with those produced by the local authority and police. Staff are very open with young people about the procedures they need to follow if this occurs and young people benefit from having this awareness. The use of sanctions is fair and consistent. Staff work hard, guided by other relevant professionals, to enable young people to moderate and improve their behaviour. There is an emphasis on recognising and rewarding positive behaviours, rather than purely punishing those behaviours identified as being unacceptable. This enables young people to develop more socially-acceptable behaviour and better prepares them to interact more positively with the wider community. Staff ensure that young people understand that the boundaries in place are there to ensure their safety.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are invited to sign all records relating to the use of sanctions, which helps them develop understanding and responsibility.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff use physical interventions only as a last resort to ensure the safety of all. When incidents do take place these are generally well recorded. However, these records have not always been completed with 24 hours of the application of the intervention and young peoples views, or their refusal to comment, are not always recorded. The home's manager monitors these records to ensure that each intervention was necessary and was applied correctly. She also ensures that young people are aware of their right to complain, receive any medical attention if required or requested, and that social workers and, where appropriate, parents are informed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Comprehensive staff recruitment procedures, including clearance checks, are followed with all checks having to be in place before a new member of staff starts working with young people. Visitors to the home are also vetted. These practices support the view that young people are protected from people who may pose a risk to them.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home's health and safety measures provide a generally safe environment for young people to live comfortably. There is an ongoing programme of redecoration, repairs and refurbishment to maintain good standards throughout. Fire detection and alarm equipment is regularly serviced in line with regulation. However, the home's fire alarm tests are not being conducted on a weekly basis across the entire campus. Fire drills are done at appropriate intervals. Young people are involved so that they know what to do in the event of a fire.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are satisfactory .

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Leadership and management

Young people live in a home that is suitably managed in their best interests. The home meets the aims and objectives of the Statement of Purpose, and young people, social workers and families are clear about the service and support the home provides.

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Leadership and management

Internal and external monitoring systems provide the home with a consistent approach to the overall monitoring of care. Detailed information highlights areas for development and the manager’s action plan details the methods used to enhance the service. Staff receive suitable support from the manager. Supervision takes place regularly and serves to identify training needs and personal development targets. Staff receive good quality training and this ensures that young people are looked after by the most suitable staff.

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Leadership and management

The manager and staff demonstrate a strong commitment to delivering good childcare practice tailored to the individual and personal needs of the young people they look after. The effectiveness of this approach is measurable in the good progress young people have made both in education and social integration.

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Leadership and management

The current leadership and management arrangements for the home ensure that young people using the service have their needs appropriately met and enjoy positive experiences. However, the current arrangements have only been in place since the June 2011 and there remains the need for these arrangements to be formalised through the registration process.

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Leadership and management

Staff feel well supported by the management team and are clear about their roles and responsibilities. Staff training and development is seen as important and staff receive a range of training which enables them to meet the diverse needs of young people. The promotion of equality and diversity is good. The home's manager provides strong, effective leadership which encourages the delivery of high quality care, which promotes positive outcomes for the young people. Staff receive regular professional supervision which helps to ensure consistency of care, appropriate monitoring of staff performance and is a valued vehicle for professional development. Staff made positive comments about the manager’s commitment, child- centred approach, staff support and clear monitoring processes.

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Leadership and management

The home demonstrates a capacity for continuing improvement, based on its track record and performance since its previous inspection. Four of the five actions set at the last inspection have been met. All seven recommendations made at the last inspection have also been addressed. For example, issues addressed include ensuring that the home's fire risk assessment now covers all areas of the setting, updating the young people's guide to include information about Ofsted, improving staff training in administering of medication and the recording of safeguarding concerns. However, ensuring that all physical interventions by staff are recorded promptly remains outstanding, and this is repeated as a requirement following this inspection.

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Leadership and management

Monitoring arrangements are very effective. The management team has robust systems in place to ensure ongoing monitoring is taking place and that information collated leads to improvement and development. For example, since the last inspection a number of staff have completed training in caring for children and young people increasing.

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Leadership and management

Significant events are notified promptly and dealt with appropriately. The external management monitoring visits by senior staff are thorough and include observations of, and where possible comments from, young people. The manager supplies senior managers with reports that contribute to the home's development plan. The manager also monitors the quality of care on an ongoing basis through supervision, involvement with young people, and contact with their parents, carers, other agencies and social workers. Records are clear, up to date, stored securely, and contribute to an understanding of the young person’s life.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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