Children's Home run by St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in St Helens

Unique reference number SC063550 Inspection date 21/09/2011 Inspector Sonya Robinson Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 09/02/2011 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

The home is owned and managed by a local authority. The accommodation is for up to six young people from the ages of 11 years to 17 years, who have emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

The home takes positive steps to meet the diverse and complex needs of the young people. The main strengths come from the strong links with education providers and the placing authority social workers. This promotes development in all aspects of personal, emotional, education and citizenship for the young people. Staff have good knowledge of the young people they are working with, ensuring their needs are consistently met. The home values the rights of individuals to respect and dignity.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people said that they are able to make their views known and have a say in what happens in the home. They are involved in decisions about what food they eat, what they do in their spare time, how their room is decorated and the plans for their future. Young people say they feel safe living at the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Social workers who have placed young people within the home are complimentary about the care that their young person has received. They state that their young person is 'happy in the service' and that the 'service is generally very good'.

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Overall effectiveness

The home has a friendly atmosphere where everyone usually gets along and young people enjoy positive relationships with staff. Staff value the young people as individuals. Staff are helpful and they enjoy spending time with the young people. Professional and personal boundaries with young people are clear and are consistent with good childcare.

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Overall effectiveness

As a result of this inspection, two requirements and six recommendations for improvements are made. These relate to documentation regarding sanctions and restraints, detail in the young person's guide and Statement of Purpose, staff training and the appointment of a designated person to take responsibility for managing any safeguarding issues. These issues only have minimal impact on the overall outcomes for young people.

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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

17B (2001) ensure that where a measure of restraint is used on a child the record must include details of any measure used to avoid the need of that measure, and for example detail of the measure used (Regulation 17B (4) (b)) 31/10/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) review and revise the statement of purpose and the children’s guide. (Regulation 5) 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 that where a child goes missing and there is concern for their welfare, or at the request of a child who has been missing, staff arrange a meeting between the child and the responsible authority in private to consider the reasons for the child going missing (NMS 5.9)  ensure that the children’s home has a designated person, who is a senior manager, responsible for managing allegations (NMS 20.5)  ensure that there is regular review of incidents of challenging behaviour, such as sanctions to identify, trends or issues emerging form this, to enable staff to reflect and learn to inform future practice (NMS 3.21)  ensure that there is a written development plan, reviewed annually for the future of the home (NMS 15.2)  ensure that there is a good quality learning and development programme which staff are supported to undertake and that training keeps them up-to-date with professional, legal and practice developments and reflects the policies, legal

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Recommendations

obligations and business needs of the home (NMS 18.1)  ensure that all existing care staff have attained a minimum level 3 qualification. This was previously National Vocational Qualification in Caring for Children and Young People and from September 2010 is the, Children and Young People's Workforce Diploma. (NMS 18.5)

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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 highly individualised support which helps them grow in confidence. The home acknowledges racial, religious, gender and other differences and actively encourages young people to openly discuss these issues. This means young people develop positive self-images of themselves and others around them. Young people have strong trusting relationships with staff and as a result they feel valued and respected as individuals.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are in regular contact with family members and significant others which enables them to retain positive relationships with them. Young say that this is very important to them and as a consequence helps their self-esteem.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making very good progress with their education. They attend a variety of school and educational placements. Reports from schools clearly demonstrate that some young people are making outstanding progress in relation to their starting points. Other young people are being actively supported by the staff. Feedback from educational professionals, who work closely with this service, is that 'the young people have done amazingly well under the circumstances' and that is that 'the home is very good at supporting young people'. This is proven in the fact that young people who have just completed their GCSEs have achieved exceptional results.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy healthy lifestyles. They are always encouraged to take an interest in looking after their own physical and emotional needs. Young people are aware of their own health issues, they talk knowledgably and maturely about these. They are aware of agencies, such as child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) teams and the support they can offer them. Young people said 'I know staff care about me.' Staff offer good support when young people are ill and ensure they get the right medical attention.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s preparation for adulthood is integral to the placement. Some young people are progressing towards semi-independent plans, such as being responsible for their own laundry and cooking a couple of meals for themselves a week. Young people understand the importance of saving for their future and have negotiated extra clothing money as a starting point. For example, the management team matching the money saved by the young person at the end of a month.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy the food and talk about the importance of eating healthily. For example, they acknowledge the benefits of eating fish and that fruit and vegetables are healthier than cakes and sweets. They chat happily with staff about various recipes they have tried, through various themed nights, which builds their confidence and creates opportunities to discuss future events.

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Quality of care

There is a positive stable atmosphere at this home. Young people are at ease with staff and they behave appropriately. Where tensions arise, staff manage these situations in a calm manner diffusing difficult confrontations. The young people are treated with respect. Staff work positively to ensure that the young people feel their views are important to the life of the home. Regular meetings are held between young people and staff, where decisions are made about various activities, menus and house rules. Staff engage with young people at a level they understand, enabling them to contribute in a meaningful way to their life at the home. Staff help the young people to understand situations where it may not be possible to fulfil their demands. This is achieved through being open and honest with them reflecting the commitment of the staff to equality and diversity.

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Quality of care

The young people are aware of how to make a complaint if they are dissatisfied about a situation. The open culture at the home encourages the young people to discuss their concerns with staff in the knowledge that they will be listened to. The young people's guide to the home contains detailed information about the complaints procedure in user friendly language.

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Quality of care

The young people's case records indicate that the staff are working positively to ensure that their care needs are being met in line with the care plan. The health care needs of young people are appropriately met. The young people are able to access health care resources as required to meet their physical, emotional and psychological needs. The home actively encourages the young people to lead healthy lifestyles. This is achieved by providing young people with passes to attend the local gym and young people are positively encouraged to take up additional hobbies, such as horse riding, boxing, free running and football.

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Quality of care

There a strong commitment to ensuring that the young people are not disadvantaged educationally. The young people are currently in education, and staff are successful in promoting their attendance. This compares favourably to the period prior to some young people being placed within the home. The positive approach taken by staff towards the education of the young people is commendable.

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Quality of care

Staff encourage young people to discuss a range of diversity issues in order to increase their awareness and understanding of equality and diversity. This has been particularly successful through various themed evenings. These have enabled young people to try different food and has also led to discussions with young people about cultural and religious customs, beliefs and traditional clothing. These discussions are a positive demonstration of the home's approach to widening the outlook of young people to life beyond their immediate environment. Furthermore, young people say they very much enjoy these events.

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Quality of care

The home is well maintained and comfortably furnished throughout. It provides the young people with a safe and stable place to live. They each have their own bedrooms. There is appropriate communal space for the young people to relax and the home has internet access, which has safeguards in place for the young people. The home is located in a residential area with good access to public transport links.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is satisfactory at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff demonstrate a good commitment to preserving the confidentiality, dignity and privacy of young people and they have a good understanding of safeguarding issues. However, the home does not have a specific named person designated, that staff can go to, to deal with allegations. Young people do say that they feel safe living in this home and that they would speak to staff if they were worried or upset. This ensures that young people are protected from abuse.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home actively takes steps to make sure that young people missing from home are protected. If young people go missing staff will try to find them and keep in touch by mobile telephone to encourage them to return and ensure they are safe. Staff are aware and do not exceed the measures they can take to prevent a child leaving without permission under current legislation and government guidance. The home has developed good links with the local police and follows agreed local protocols regarding young people missing from care. Incidents are recorded appropriately, although young people do not have access to an independent advocate upon their return to the home. This is important as it provides further safeguards for the young people placed. There is however, risk assessments in place detailing individual needs and agreed strategies to support and protect young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Although trained in behaviour management including restraint, staff will always attempt to de-escalate a difficult or tense situation involving young people. Physical restraint is not a regular feature at this home. Staff base their behaviour management on attempting to keep situations calm and to engage in discussion with young people rather than resort to physical actions. New legislation regarding children's homes has meant that further detail is now required within documentation and for the home this means that their records lack detail regarding the details of the behaviour of the young person prior to the restraint and detailed clarity of the physical intervention used. Also, sanctions imposed upon young people have become repetitive at times and the effectiveness of these overall is not consistently reviewed. Staff pride themselves on their knowledge of the young people and anticipating triggers that may escalate tensions. Rewards are also plentiful and have included

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Safeguarding children and young people

meals out, extra activities and personal items.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a home that is appropriately maintained where there are regular health and safety checks of the premises including certification for gas, electrical and fire safety checks.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are aware of the fire evacuation procedures which means they are able leave the premises safely in an emergency. Safe recruitment processes within the organisation ensure all staff are suitably vetted. Safeguarding checks are undertaken prior to any member of staff working with young people. All visitors to the home are required to sign in and are appropriately supervised during their visit.

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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

The home has a committed management team who provide effective leadership and direction to the staff. Young people were able to discuss the young person's guide which is given to them when they arrive at the home. This, along with the Statement of Purpose outlines the aims and objectives of the home. Both of these are slightly outdated as they do not reflect the new children's legislation or recent good practice guidance.

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Leadership and management

The staff group are committed to ensuring that high standards of care is demonstrated in their day-to-day professional practice. Staff are clear about their responsibilities and work well as team. They are supported by senior staff and monthly professional supervision is in place to monitor staff development. There is evidence to show that any shortfalls in staff practice is addressed. There are sufficient staff on duty to ensure that the needs of the young people placed are being met.

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Leadership and management

The home is subject to a range of quality assurance monitoring by the local authority. These measures are intended to promote high standards of care for the young people. Management oversight of day-to-day operations works well. Key documents are monitored regularly by the manager, to ensure that the care provided for the young people continues to meet the requirements of the care plan. This is complemented with regular discussions with young people about their views on how they feel about life at the home. The local authority has a development plan in place though the home's individual plan could not be located on this inspection. This would provide specific detail about planned initiatives and developments for the year ahead.

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Leadership and management

The home has a rolling programme of training in place for staff to undertake, however, this has lapsed over the last several months. This has already been picked up by the management of the home and there are arrangements in place to address this in the near future. Also, not all existing care staff have attained a minimum National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at level 3. This was previously the NVQ in Caring for Children and Young People, but from September 2010 is the, Children and Young People’s Workforce Diploma. Again, there are systems in place to address this.

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Leadership and management

Records are appropriately maintained and kept in secure conditions within the office. The approach to confidentiality is sound, and staff have a clear understanding of their responsibilities to maintain accurate records of their work with the young people. These records contribute to an understanding of the young person's life. The young people's case records are well maintained containing detailed information showing progress made against the care plans. The home encourages young people to read their records and to add their own comments on how they are being cared for. This is a demonstration of the culture of openness at this home.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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