Children's Home run by One To One Crisis Intervention Ltd in Devon

Unique reference number SC068205 Inspection date 05/10/2011 Inspector Chris Passmore Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 05/01/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 as a children's home to provide care and accommodation for one young person of either gender, aged from seven to under 18 years. The property is one of a group of services run by an independent company within the boundaries of a rural town.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make good progress in relation to their starting points. In particular young people benefit from a variety of activities and experiences which they enjoy or have a particular interest in. Young people clearly benefit from positive and caring relationships within a small but committed staff team.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people enjoy the benefits of a comfortable, relaxed home environment and staff have an extremely good knowledge of the young people’s needs and vulnerabilities. Young people enjoy consistent and stable care which supports their developing skills and independence.

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Overall effectiveness

Placement planning is highly individualised and care practice is aimed at meeting young people’s assessed needs. Young people say they feel safe in the home and are able to identify how they have made positive progress since their placements began. Educational attendance and achievement is very well supported by staff and is a clear strength.

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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

Children and young people benefit from highly individualised support and encouragement. This helps them to develop their self image and confidence. They receive support to continue their education in a familiar setting, have excellent attendance and achieve well. During the inspection young people spoke about their enjoyment of their education and the extra curricular activities they benefit from.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s good physical health and emotional well-being are promoted and they benefit from regular health checks by associated health professionals. Understanding and taking responsibility for self care is relative to age but young people are aware of the importance and principles of healthy lifestyles. Young people are enabled to function socially through supported attendance at youth organisation groups and community functions. They are encouraged to take part in activities that are part of family life such as shopping, outings and holidays. This prepares them for adulthood and encourages greater social interactions.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from very detailed individual care planning which consistently underpins the quality of the service. Records show very detailed planning within the home and regular reflection on the effectiveness of strategies in place. Staff are extremely knowledgeable regarding the behaviour of the young people and their individual care needs. They provide consistent boundaries for young people while retaining the ability to be flexible and imaginative in their approach. The home has close working links with social workers and other professionals involved in young people's emotional care and support, this promotes a collaborative approach to care.

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Quality of care

Behaviour management is similarly covered extremely well in care planning. One example was a new behaviour management system based on a young person's favourite football personalities. These systems are targeted at improving social skills and appropriate interactions. Despite aggressive and volatile reactions from young people staff provide them with opportunities for positive interactions through activities or age-appropriate task sharing.

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Quality of care

Staff are mindful to maintain young people's rights to family and other peer contacts. Sometimes young people's own behaviours limit their opportunity for peer interactions or they become the victims of bullying behaviour by others. Staff are persistent in trying to find ways around this. For example staff will intervene to prevent negative outcomes for young people when they are at risk from peers. This action is then followed through by discussing what happened with the young person.

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Quality of care

Staff are actively involved with young people’s schools. They monitor young people's progress and achievement. They support young people's reviews and advocate for them as required. Young people are also encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities at school. Formal reports show significant progress has been achieved by individuals since placements began.

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Quality of care

Staff promote healthy lifestyles for young people through the provision of nutritious meals, encouragement to be active and conversations or discussions about day-to- day life matters. Meals are recorded for content and balance and show a balanced diet overall. In discussion with young people they talk about the type of activities they take part in. These range from individual activities like walks and letterboxing to communal activities such as sports, swimming and specific youth organisation memberships. Young people’s developmental issues are a natural part of the day-to- day business of the home and issues are discussed between staff and young people without undue emphasis or distinction. Where young people make inappropriate expressions or actions they are corrected in a natural way. Young people are able to recognise their individual inappropriate behaviours and understand what makes such behaviour not appropriate. As a result young people increasing learn to modify their

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Quality of care

social interactions and have more opportunities to form relationships.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Arrangements and awareness in respect of safeguarding are outstanding. There are clear case records relating to history and meticulous risk assessments based on known behaviours. These are updated and reviewed regularly and care plans are amended in light of new information and reflective practice. Staff show acute awareness of relevant safeguarding issues both in respect of the young people being cared for and their own vulnerability. Despite incidents of challenging behaviour young people state they feel safe and know staff would do all they could to keep them safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are robust arrangements for the sharing of information between professionals and extremely good communication on a regular basis between key personnel involved in individual placements. This leads to effective joint planning and comprehensive coverage of all aspects of individual needs to ensure safe practice. The home applies the principles of safer recruitment to the appointment of new staff. These processes help to avoid inappropriate adults working with children.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The Registered Manager has a comprehensive overview of individual children's cases and is pro-active in advocating for individual safeguarding needs. There are extensive systems in place to monitor related issues such as behaviour, sanctions and physical interventions. These are well documented and provide insight into triggers, adaptive behaviour and outcomes.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home is a family-styled house set in an area of rural housing development. It is adapted appropriately to enhance the safety of the young people living there. Much of this is individually driven and changes as the needs or abilities of individual young people change, for example access to kitchen areas and equipment. Rigorous checks of mains services and installations such as gas, electrical and fire prevention are in place and well maintained. These ensure young people live in a safe environment.

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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

There is a clear statement of aims and objectives in the Statement of Purpose which the organisation meets. The effective care practices of staff are successful in providing a stable and structured environment for young people. Young people are encouraged to develop self control and confront their issues in a safe, supportive environment. Young people have appropriate staffing according to their individual needs and level of development. Staff understand young people's individual strengths and needs. There are consistent working practices which focus on enhancing young people's individual quality of life and potential. Staff are committed to anti-discriminatory practice and will support and develop children and young people’s understanding in this regard. They are committed to providing children and young people with normative life experiences despite any barriers such as behaviour or disability.

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Leadership and management

Young people receive excellent care from a well-supported and balanced staff team. The team comprises of members of either gender and reflects a range of experience and service with the organisation. Staff confirm they have a well-structured induction training period. Staff are well supported through formal supervision and annual appraisal. There are also frequent opportunities and instances where informal discussion takes place with managers on care related issues. There is a free flow of information and ideas between staff and managers.

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Leadership and management

The rapport between staff, managers and young people is warm, friendly and respectful. Managers have the welfare of young people and staff at heart and encourage them each to achieve well. All staff show commitment to achieving positive outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager has a good understanding of the strengths of the service and the areas of potential weakness. There are plans in place to prepare and submit new Regulation 34 reports as recommended in practice guidance. There are robust systems of internal and external monitoring in place as well as a development plan for the service which is realistic and practical. Together these quality assurance checks provide opportunities to inform future developments and improve practice.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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