Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Oxfordshire

Unique reference number SC069128 Inspection date 13/10/2011 Inspector Michael Williams Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 17/12/2010 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 service is provided by a national charity for vulnerable children and young people. Its domiciliary care service is inspected by the Care Quality Commission. The service is provided in partnership with a county council and a county primary care trust. Children and young people can therefore be provided with care and health packages. Most of the children and young people using the service have complex health needs or are on the autistic spectrum and have associated challenging behaviour. The service is located in a residential area of a city. It opened in February 2007 and caters for a maximum of six children and young people at any one time, including one emergency bed.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

Assisted by a member of staff, one young person, who is relatively new to the home, commented that the staff and the care are okay, the activities are good, and the home is good. On their child's behalf, one parent commented that what is good about the home is 'It's like home from home, and the staff treat me really well and fairly'. In September 2011, the registered provider visitor reported 'The staff on shift, as always, were very welcoming and the four young people all appeared relaxed with the staff member allocated to looking after them'. On their sister's behalf one young person commented: 'She loves coming to see you all for the weekend. She is so happy when we come to collect her. She talks about you all the way home! It means a lot to my mum and dad that [my sister] is looked after so well.'

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides young people with very individualised care that consistently takes into account the views that they communicate about their care and support and the views of their family, social workers and independent reviewing officers. The staff team and the young people staying at the home enjoy good relationships with each other. The home's practice is very child-centred: young people's bookings are made first and staffing is then arranged around them; staff look into what the young people enjoy, or would benefit from doing and then arrange appropriate leisure activities; and the recent changes to the inside and outside of the building have been made to better suit the needs of the young people.

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Overall effectiveness

The home's written policy and procedure regarding the arrangements for child protection does not meet the requirements for Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010.

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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 the home's written policy and procedure regarding the arrangements for the protection of children meet the requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010. (Regulation 16) 31/01/2012

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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 make good progress to develop a positive self view, emotional resilience and knowledge and understanding of their background. This is achieved by the very personalised care each young person receives that promotes all aspects of their individual identity. The home has an up-to-date 'My Profile' for each young person. These include personal and family information, individual risk assessments, a small number of specific and achievable outcomes, and an individual behaviour plan. They are devised by the young person's link worker in consultation with the young person, their parents or carers and social worker. After looking through their child's profile, one parent commented 'You've done a great job - I really recognise [my child] in this profile and hopefully it will allow carers to get to know her'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people live in a healthy environment where all of their health needs are very well promoted and they are able to access the services they need to meet them. Young people's personal profiles include their health and medication needs, for example whether or not they need a nurse on site. Staffing is arranged accordingly, and daily staff handovers highlight these needs when they receive a residential short break at the home. The review of young people's care includes the review of their health needs. Young people exercise choice in the food that they eat. Eating and drinking forms part of their profile and the menu that the home's cook follows is guided by both young people's choices and healthy eating.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are very well supported to achieve their educational potential. Most young people arrive at the home from school and leave the home for school. Staff at the home support young people's attendance at their schools and maintain regular contact with them, for example through daily information exchanged in home/school books.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are actively and positively involved in leisure activities both in the home and in the community. 'My Leisure and Activities' forms part of young people's profiles and 'Enjoy activities/short breaks' is one of the identified outcome targets for their stays at the home. Trips are organised to help promote young people’s health such as reducing stress that may affect their medical conditions, for example visits to the local park. One young person commented 'My favourite thing to do at [the home] is to go in the ball pool'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people receive positive care which promotes their independence during their stay. Independence Skills forms part of young people's profiles and increasing independence is another of the identified outcome targets for their short breaks at the home. When required, the home actively supports young people's transition to adult services.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Staff have consistently high aspirations for all young people using the service. To promote their individual potential, each young person's 'My Profile' includes agreed areas of need and identifies individual outcome targets that staff report on when they stay. The purpose of the latter is to evidence what experiences the child/young person has had whilst receiving care at the home as part of the home's drive to continually promote young people's welfare.

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Quality of care

Staff are extremely effective in promoting young people's full participation at school, in their community and wider society. They are dedicated to promoting young people's school attendance and educational achievement and their participation in community-based activities. One young person commented 'I like it that the staff join in games with me'. Children take part in activities with staff both inside the home and outside in the local community. A school clinical nurse specialist commented that along with nursing staff at the home: 'We have all been working hard to ensure that a child with complex needs can access school. The nurses have been positive, flexible, professional and show a can do attitude and have been completely child centred in their approach'.

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Quality of care

Staff celebrate young people's achievements and place their well-being at the centre of their practice, irrespective of the challenges they present. Young people's case records include how they have achieved their individual outcome targets while at the home, for example in terms of improved communication skills. When young people present challenges, for example because of the intensity of their health, or behavioural needs, additional staff are allocated to work with them.

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Quality of care

Staff are proactive in supporting young people to make progress in every aspect of their lives. They are highly active in promoting young people's potential through extremely individualised care; positive behaviour and relationships, both with other young people and staff in the home; good health and well-being; leisure activities; educational achievement; and practical skills. As a result, the home has received a number of appreciative comments from the young people's families, such as 'We really appreciate the support and love that you all show to [our child]. Also, that we value the support you give to us as a family'. Staff consistently and centrally involve young people in the planning and review of their care. Young people's link workers assist them, within their level of understanding, to understand the purpose and content of their residential short break care plan and review meetings. Staff work extremely hard to be able to

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Quality of care

understand and represent young people's views on all aspects of their care and support, which they communicate both verbally and non-verbally. Staff are enthusiastic about the Makaton training they have just participated in to further facilitate their communication with the young people.

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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's individual profiles clearly identify risks and protective factors for them. Individual young people have an up-to-date risk assessment that identifies the key significant risk for them and effective measures that staff at the home implement to minimise it. Assisted by a member of staff young people can indicate 'yes' in answer to the question 'do you feel safe at the children's home'.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Effective protection for young people is provided. Safeguarding and protecting children is included in the home's Statement of Purpose and in more detail in a separate policy and procedure for staff. However, neither document makes sufficient reference to the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and to Working Together to Safeguard Children (2010).

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff at the home are proactive in promoting positive behaviour and relationships. Young people's profiles include their individual behaviour plans. Since the last inspection, staff at the home have used and recorded a number of measures of control and physical interventions. The Registered Manager is in the process of amending the recording of any measure of control, restraint or discipline used in the home as a result of recent amendments to the regulation and guidance in the national minimum standards for children's homes regarding behaviour management. On their child's behalf, one parent commented that the rules on restraint are followed in the home 'to help keep me safe or if I hit out at members of staff'. Nobody identified bullying as a problem at the home. Assisted by a member of staff young people indicate 'no' in answer to the question 'do you get bullied or picked on'.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Since the last inspection, no young person has not gone missing from the home. Should they do so, they will be protected as far as possible by the home's up-to-date protocol with the police regarding missing children.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There is very careful selection and vetting of all staff working with young people in the home to help prevent unsuitable people from having the opportunity to harm them. Contracted and agency staff do not start work at the home until all the checks required in the Children's Homes Regulations 2001 are completed, either by the national charity running the home or by the agency.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people stay in a very safe home that provides them with a very suitable physical environment. The last inspection reported that the home's manager had highlighted to its registered provider a number of environmental difficulties that had come to light since it had been operating, and which needed to be overcome to secure future improvement. This inspection took place towards the end of the refurbishment of the building to update its facilities both inside and out. Checks on the safety of the home are up-to-date and subject to regular monitoring.

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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 home has a clear Statement of Purpose to make the aims and objectives of the home and the services and facilities it provides clear to staff, placing social workers and young people's parents. It includes all of the matters required. However, the arrangements for child protection require updating to reflect the current LSCB arrangements that the home follows. The home's accompanying guide for children and young people is in a format suitable for them.

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Leadership and management

Staff ratios, experience and support are such that they sufficiently meet the needs of the young people. The staff team, staff training, supervision and development, and the staffing policy are all included in the home's Statement of Purpose. The home operates with a mix of residential and nursing project workers to ensure that the deployment of staff on individual shifts will always meet the individual needs of all the young people on short breaks at the home. Since the last inspection, staff have participated in a range of training to be able to continue to meet young people's needs, for example in terms of their health and safety. The Registered Manager and her deputy spoke positively about the new arrangements in place for staff supervision, which rotate supervisors and plan supervision sessions up to July 2012. Regular staff team meetings are also a support for staff.

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Leadership and management

The home's Registered Manager, deputy children's services manager, and senior nurse and residential project workers have the skills, experience and qualifications to exercise effective leadership of the home's staff and operation, and ensure the delivery of good quality care that meets the individual needs of each young person on a short break at the home.

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Leadership and management

The home is part of a national charity for vulnerable children and young people. The Registered Manager has produced a service business plan 2011-12 for the home. It addresses finance, growth/development, effectiveness, including the five outcome targets used to measure the home's direct support to young people, and workforce development. The home's last inspection did not require or recommend it to take any action to secure future improvement.

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Leadership and management

Regular and sound procedures for monitoring the operation of the home contribute to maintaining the good quality of the provision and promoting the welfare of the young people. The Registered Manager reviews the matters required to be monitored by them, for example by signing records in the home's measures of control and physical interventions logs after reviewing them. Monthly external monitoring is carried out by the registered provider visitor. They report in line with the national minimum standards for children's homes and Every Child Matters outcomes, and on any action taken and required.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is outstanding .

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