Children's Home run by Channels and Choices Limited in Kent

Unique reference number SC408584 Inspection date 03/10/2011 Inspector Helen Lee Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 24/11/2010 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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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 registered to provide care to up the three young people between the ages of eight and under 18 who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. Education in line with the national curriculum is available on site although an external school is currently under development. The home is run by a partnership company.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

This is a good service in most respects with some satisfactory elements. Young people’s welfare is clearly enhanced by the sound relationships that exist between staff and young people. The home provides consistent and well planned care, which means that young people's outcomes in most areas are very good. Education is a strength of the home and all young people are well supported by staff in their engagement in this aspect of their life. Young people have extremely positive views about the quality of their care in the home and their relationships with staff. This is shared by family members as well as social workers for the young people. Staff in the home demonstrate a good understanding of safe working practice to meet individual young people's needs. Young people make good progress in all aspects of their development, and very good practice ensures their health needs are addressed. Young people say they like the home and get on with the staff, and that

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Overall effectiveness

they feel safe there and are protected from harm.

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Overall effectiveness

Areas for improvement have led to three requirements being made at this inspection. These are in respect of the regulation 33 visitor interviewing a wider base of people regarding the standard of provision at the home; checks regarding previous employment and references to be verified and recorded on a staff member's file before they start working at the home and retrospectively, and the keeping of a complete children's register at the home. Recommendations are made in relation to placement plans including young people's assessed identity needs. Improvements also need to be made in relation to information in the children's guide and for the provision of a written record identifying any patterns and trends regarding challenging behaviour to ensure continuing improvement. The home is also asked to consider that although young people have free access to the home's telephone they currently have to ask staff for this.

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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) maintain in the home a record in the form of a register showing in respect of each child accommodated in a children's home all the particulars listed in schedule 4 (1) 01/11/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered persons do not deem fit for employment a person to work at the home unless full and satisfactory information is available as per schedule 2 (Regulation 26) 01/11/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) interview, with their consent and in private, the young people's parents and other relatives as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home. (regulation 33 (4)) 01/12/2011

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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 children have access to independent advice and support from adults who they can contact directly and in private, in particular that they have access to a telephone without asking a member of staff (NMS 1.5)  review incidents of challenging behaviour, to examine the trends or issues emerging from this (NMS 3.21)  ensure that equality and diversity issues are positively addressed in care planning (NMS 2. 3)  ensure that there is a record of the recruitment and vetting checks which have been carried out on those working for the children's home in particular a detailed recording of the discussion about any gaps in employment and recording of checks on past employment (NMS 16.3 )  ensure that the system for recruiting staff includes an effective system for reaching decisions as to who is to be appointed and those to be refused appointment (NMS 16.5)  include in the children's guide how a child can contact the children's rights

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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 care planning which clearly outlines their assessed and agreed needs, however, the care plans do not sufficiently highlight young people's cultural needs. Therefore, the record of young people's histories is not being maintained or developed to fully support their personal identity. Young people are well supported to develop a positive self view and build upon their self esteem including choices around clothing and looking after themselves. One social worker commented that the young person had 'made good progress and is now able to say how they feel about things'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make excellent progress with basic health care engaging in healthy eating programmes, good exercise and all appointments with a general practitioner, looked after children nurse, optician, speech therapist and dentist. Where necessary, young people are helped with attending appointments with the local child and adolescent mental health services or with the in-house child and adolescent psychotherapist. Social workers describe complex mental health issues which the home has helped young people to successfully address leading to improved health outcomes in other areas such as personal hygiene as well as a reduction in absconding incidences.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good use of their learning opportunities. Young people's positive achievements are clearly captured and recognised. Young people make good progress within the home’s educational programme taught at the home following the closure of the organisation's school. All young people show good improvement in educational engagement and in educational attainment appropriate to their potential. Young people show good improvement in engagement, and are looking forward to attending the new school once opened. Young people are confident in their potential educationally.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Where appropriate staff actively facilitate contact with families and friends. Young people can meet with others at the home in a mutual setting or spend time at their own family home. Staff work hard with young people to provide them with excellent links to their families and significant others to aid in their development of an understanding of their background. Young people's social workers say that staff are excellent at working with parents and significant others and at ensuring they are well informed about key events in their child's life.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are becoming prepared for a successful transition to adult life although no young people are currently on any pathway plans. Young people say that staff help them to learn how to look after themselves by encouraging them to cook, bake, tidy their rooms and look after their own personal hygiene. As one young person states: 'the home helps me for when I leave here into the bigger world and to be a nice person in it'.

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Quality of care

Young people say they enjoy being in the home with comments such as, 'the staff are very good and really want to make a difference in our lives' and 'there is nothing to improve, it is all good'. Young people have established successful, mutually respectful relationships with staff. The warm, caring atmosphere provides a relaxing and consistent environment for young people. Young people appreciate the guidance, encouragement and help they receive from staff. All young people are encouraged to express their views and take responsibility for their behaviour. Staff use their thorough knowledge of the young person and their skills in care and control to promote improvement. Young people are helped to develop and practice skills which enable them to build and maintain positive relationships and to resolve conflicts positively.

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Quality of care

There is frequent one-to-one work with all of the young people to seek their views and feedback, as well as children's meetings. The young people are secure in the ability of staff to act on their views and wishes. Staff encourage young people to express their individual and diverse needs and support them in appropriately articulating themselves. Young people are confident that their views and opinions are valued. The management team have an 'open door' policy, which enables young people to easily approach staff with any concerns. Young people are very knowledgeable about the complaints procedure and the staff work exceptionally hard at ensuring they are afforded opportunities to discuss any issues.

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Quality of care

Maintaining or developing relationships for young people with families or significant others is seen as exceptionally important and contact is encouraged and developed by staff. Young people are encouraged by care staff and therapists to take an interest in their personal identity and family background to aid their development. Their family are encouraged to visit and staff give assistance to ensure this happens to the benefit of the young people. Social workers gave examples of ways in which the home ensures visits occur and that commitments are not broken to the detriment and upset of the young person, including picking up individuals or whole families from a considerable distance away. This aids the young people in maintaining or developing their sense of identity and belonging within their home communities.

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Quality of care

All young people are supported in their education by well-managed school attendance. Young people are well supported to achieve their educational potential and to have aspirations above this. The home celebrates the young people's work and effort and young people take pride in the value placed in their work. Activities are arranged for the young people and the home encourages young people to identify a personal activity or special interest. Staff ensure that both the financial and practical support is provided to enable any chosen activities. Young people enjoy cooking and preparing meals as well as snacks.

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Quality of care

The home is well maintained and appropriately decorated and furnished to meet the choices of the young people. Young people are encouraged to take ownership of the home and treat the home with respect and care. Young people have their own bedroom, which is significantly personalised to reflect their individuality. All young people are consulted about any improvements or changes they may have regarding the home. This has resulted in young people taking a pride in the home's appearance and facilities, for example, the artwork and furnishings within the communal areas.

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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

Young people confirm they feel safe and there are no issues with bullying. Young people are suitably protected as a result of the effective procedures in place, for example, all visitors to the building are strictly monitored and they must identify themselves and sign in and out of the home. No general visitor is permitted to have unsupervised access to the young person or the home. Staff receive ongoing training and the induction for new staff covers child protection and safeguarding. All staff are employed through well managed and formal interview and recruitment panels although the recording of decisions relating to the appointment process and how these decisions are reached are not always thorough. Also, there is not a robust system of monitoring the recording of statutory and reference checks carried out for all staff to ensure that they do not work with the young people until all appropriate references and checks are obtained.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Most young people rarely go missing from the home. There has been a significant reduction in incidences for one young person. Young people benefit from a staff team committed to working closely with other professionals to address issues leading to them going missing from care. When young people have gone missing from the home, staff have used a range of effective measures to search, report and then return the young person to the home. All young people are risk assessed as to their individual needs and areas where they may be more vulnerable when absent from the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff constantly talk to young people getting them to reflect on situations and to accept appropriate boundaries but sometimes use physical interventions to contain dangerous situations. All incidents are sensitively and appropriately followed up and reflected upon by staff and the young person. This includes looking at alternative strategies available to all staff. However, although the manager thoroughly reviews incidents of challenging behaviour, the trends and issues emerging from these are not identified consistently.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people reside in a home which is physically safe and appropriately secure. Health and safety certificates verify the safety of the environment. Risk assessments comprehensively identify different areas of risk. The home carries out regular fire evacuation drills, alarm tests and health and safety risk assessments.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager is well liked by the young people and staff giving clear guidance and setting clear expectations to both groups. Young people’s needs are met within a well managed and maintained home. Young people are able to effectively participate in all aspects of their care, education, therapy and healthcare due to the support from well trained, regularly supervised staff. Staff are clear about their roles and their career development aided by annual appraisals, clear procedures and access to appropriate training in line with national standards enhances the service provided to the young people.

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Leadership and management

Staff are motivated and enthusiastic in their role and this is evident in their relationships with the young people. All staff receive appropriate supervision to ensure that they have the opportunity to develop their skills and their practice. Staff meetings are well managed, organised and used by all and provide a good opportunity for staff to look at practice and share views and important topics. Young people are specifically looked at in detail during each meeting and this ensures that the unique and diverse needs of the young people are clearly understood.

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Leadership and management

The manager carries out effective quality assurance of the home and this is largely articulated through Regulation 34 monitoring, quarterly review of these and team development plans. Young people's safety and the quality of care is enhanced by the excellent monitoring and evaluation of practice in line with Regulations 33 and 34. The manager uses this information to great effect in advising changes to individual or group practice. However regulation 33 visits have not benefitted from interviewing any young people's parents, or relatives as appears necessary to form an opinion regarding the standard of care provided in the home.

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Leadership and management

Young people have benefitted from the Registered Manager's robust addressing of recommendations from previous inspections improving the quality of care and safety for them.One recommendation was made at the last inspection regarding staff supervision and this has been efficiently addressed. The manager works within the aims of the Statement of Purpose. The home's children's guide needs updating to include details of the children's rights director and to include how the young people can contact such independent resources directly and in private, rather than by having to ask a member of staff if they can use the home's phone, which is located in the office. There is a commitment to providing a high quality service. All staff are vigorously working towards improving outcomes. The management team consistently communicate high expectations to young people and staff.

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Leadership and management

The children's register does not include the necessary information in order for young people's histories to be documented for their future.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is satisfactory .

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