Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Unique reference number SC039248 Inspection date 01/11/2011 Inspector Pamela Nuckley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 17/02/2011 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 registered to provide a service for six young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties and is run by a local authority.

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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 their placement and feel they are being prepared for independence and adult life. Young people receive support from a stable, well qualified and experienced staff team. There is a good emphasis on young people developing educationally and securing college placements. Young people say that staff listen and take an interest in everything they do and they feel supported and safe. Young people enjoy being at the home and feel that they influence the running of the home. A safe environment is provided for young people with good health and safety control measures. Behaviour management strategies are based on positive interactions and this clearly shows through the young people’s comments. Leadership and management of the home promote a culture of respect and individuality that positively impacts on the young people. Monitoring of the service is of a good standard and contributes towards improving practice. Staff present as

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Overall effectiveness

motivated, competent, empathetic and well trained.

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Overall effectiveness

Areas for improvement for the home are to ensure that the home maintains a high standard of decoration and to evidence that young people are offered a range of activities.

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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 that all parts of the children's home used by children are kept clean and reasonably decorated and maintained. Specifically in relation to the decoration of the stair well and upstairs corridor plus the carpets within these areas. (Regulation 31 (2) (e)) 27/01/2012

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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 pursue individual interests and hobbies. This includes taking part in a range of activities, including leisure activities and trips. Specifically in relation to evidencing what activities are offered to young people. (NMS 7.2)

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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

The home provides young people with positive opportunities to develop and reach their potential. Young people have identified key-workers and the manager and assistant manager have an open door policy. Young people can talk to them at any time. Young people benefit from one-to-one support which helps them to grow in confidence. The young people have made good progress to develop a positive self view, emotional resilience and knowledge and understanding of their background. They enjoy a range of opportunities and are enabled to make informed choices, such as choosing work placements, college placements and hobbies. Young people benefit from a staff group who have a well-developed understanding and sensitive approach to their individual needs. Care is provided with a high regard for each young person’s potential, promotes their identity and carefully considers their specific needs. The promotion of equality and diversity is good. For example, young people are given

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Outcomes for children and young people

opportunities to explore their culture, faith and religion. Young people say that although at this time they do not wish to follow their faith that staff are good at revisiting these issues periodically.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people at the home are in some form of education, whether that be at mainstream school, alternative education or at college. Young people were very complimentary about the support they have received by staff either by arranging transport, getting careers advice or assisting them with home work. Young people’s attendance is excellent. One young person says 'I am taking A Levels at college because I want to be a doctor. I originally thought that being an accountant would be good but through discussions with staff and career guidance I found that it was possible to study to become a doctor and I am really excited about this and I am working hard at college'. Young people say that because staff support and celebrate their achievements this motivates them to achieve and further their educational potential.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff support young people to maintain positive and healthy relationships with family members, friends and other people important to them, if appropriate to do so. Contact with friends is encouraged and they are invited to the home. The home is suitable for young people to meet with their family privately. Young people’s files are very well organised. There is close attention to their individual plans, for example regarding remaining safe and family contact. Placement plans clearly evidence what the arrangements are regarding contact and how the young person is to be supported. Individual needs arising from personal issues or the need for protection for example, are addressed thoroughly. This means that young people are made aware of the concerns of the responsible adults and learn suitable strategies. Young people feel that staff are good at keeping them safe.

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Outcomes for children and young people

There is a good approach to promoting the physical and emotional well-being of young people. Staff encourage young people to access health services, encourage physical activity and discuss the importance of sharing any concerns. Young people are registered at the doctors, dentist and opticians. Young people live in a healthy environment and say they are supported to access services to meet their health needs. This is evident in young people having the confidence to make their own arrangements for doctor’s appointments. Staff promote a healthy lifestyle. The home has a full time cook who provides nutritious, well balanced and home cooked meals. Young people say they are included in the choice of meals and cultural differences are also incorporated. One young person says 'the food is fantastic and our cook will always make anything you ask for'. Another young person says 'I often bake with staff at the weekend and our cook takes into account all of our differences'. Young

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Outcomes for children and young people

people are also encouraged to take part in exercise. One young person says 'I have been attending the gym three times a week since being here and the home helped me purchase a gym pass'. Young people say that due to the advice given by staff on eating healthy and exercise that they feel that they make better choices, have a varied diet and exercise more.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people learn and receive consistent support to develop their independent living skills at their own pace. Young people say that they feel they are being prepared for moving into independence and that staff have given them the advice and tools which will hopefully help them in a successful transition to independence and adult life. Some young people have pathway plans in place and the manager has been proactive in requesting pathway plans for newly placed young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people say that they go on activities and they say staff encourage them to include physical activities. Staff say they encourage young people to make constructive use of their leisure time by offering in-house activities such as board games but also understand the young person’s need for free time. However, due to a concern raised by a social worker and not being able to see what activities are planned with young people, a recommendation has been set for the home to evidence what activities are offered.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from good relationships that are based on mutual respect. Relationships between staff and young people are friendly, meaningful and good natured. This assists young people to develop skills to build and maintain positive relationships and resolve conflicts positively. Young people say that ‘they get on well with all the staff’. Young people know how to complain and confirm that they rarely have to make a complaint because staff listen to any concerns they may have and try to resolve these in an informal way. Young people say they are making very good progress and are very happy.

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Quality of care

Young people feel extremely positive about their home and staff. One young person gave the home ‘10 out of 10’ and another ‘nine and half out of 10’. Young people benefit from a competent and able staff team who are able to meet their needs and support them throughout their placement.

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Quality of care

Young people say they are consulted about all aspects of their care. They are able to discuss their progress and make decisions about their future with staff and attend their review meetings. Placement plans are thorough and show, for example, levels of contact, safeguarding issues and education arrangements and the progress they have made. Placement plans reflect the current assessment of need and include the culture, race, religion and gender of young people. This means that the individuality of young people is fully acknowledged and staff can give individualised care to meet these needs.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a quiet residential area. The home was due to close and a purpose built new property was completed. However, this property was then allocated to another service. As a consequence, the home had not been updated for some time due to the thought that it would be a waste of resources. This decision was made over two months ago and the home has been told they will under go a refurbishment. However, the practicalities and budget for this is yet to be discussed. The home’s stair well and upstairs landing is in need of redecoration and carpets need replacing. Therefore, a requirement has been put in place so that these areas are addressed as a matter of priority. The current accommodation provides good space for young people but is a bit lacking in welcoming features such as pictures or ornaments. Again, staff say this is due to the fact that they thought they were moving and they had removed some of these things. However, although the home

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Quality of care

looks a bit bare in places, once within the home and integrating with staff and young people, the atmosphere was warm, inviting and young people were comfortable within their surroundings. Young people say that they enjoy living here. Young people are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms and are involved in choosing decoration. Staff ensure they apply a good level of privacy by respecting young people’s needs for time alone and always knock on bedroom doors.

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Quality of care

Staff pride themselves on their ability to maintain educational placements, assist young people in gaining careers advice, secure college placements and in celebrating young people's achievements within education. This is evident in the complimentary comments that young people say in regards to their education and the support they receive.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. There are good arrangements to safeguard young people, and their general welfare is promoted by the care arrangements provided by the home. The manager and staff appropriately respond to suspicions of harm through strategy meetings, professional meetings and by having behaviour management plans. Young people say they feel very safe living at this home. Staff receive safeguarding training and were able to give a wide ranging and comprehensive knowledge of reporting procedures in the event of a child protection incident or disclosure. All concerns about young people’s safety are acted on quickly and appropriately. Placement plans are effective at showing a young person's background, individual needs and include an assessment of risk of actual or potential areas of concerns. The plans are regularly reviewed by the Registered Manager and continue to protect young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home follows the local authority’s policy on young people missing from care and implements this in accordance with a young person’s risk assessment and placement plan. Young people say that staff discuss the risks with them, encourage them to make contact and make sure that they are alright on their return. Staff make welfare check telephone calls with young people who are out in the community. There has been a number of missing from home incidents since the home’s last inspection. However, staff believe this was due to the home being an emergency placement and short stay home. Since they have changed into being able to have young people long term it has given staff time to address these issues with young people. This has lead to significant reductions in these incidents and the home’s records reflect this good work being done.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home’s ethos is of staff being a positive role model and showing mutual respect. Staff use effective approaches, actively encourage and promote positive behaviour. Young people learn to take responsibility for their actions, and the reward system succeeds in helping young people develop and maintain socially acceptable behaviour. Sanctions are fair and generally restorative, and there is good evidence of positive behaviour being promoted within the home. This helps young people to interact positively and behave appropriately. There have been a number of physical interventions within the home since their last inspection. However, again this can be related to the home’s emergency and short stay admissions and since having a stable group over the last few months, restraints have significantly been reduced. Young people say that they are not fully restrained and do not understand why if a member of staff moves them away from a situation it is then recorded as a restraint.

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Safeguarding children and young people

However, all young people thought their behaviour was getting better because staff are approachable and listen to them. Staff say by having a relaxed atmosphere and a culture of openness and training in de-escalation skills lessens the need for physical intervention.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are safe recruitment practices in place and new staff are suitably vetted and good checks are completed to safeguard young people, before they start working at the home. The home’s health and safety control measures provide a safe environment for young people, staff and visitors.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff actively discourage bullying and are clear about the potential harmful impact such behaviour has on young people. Information is available to young people. Young people say they are protected from bullying and have the support of staff if there are any concerns.

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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

Young people live in a home which is well managed and resourced to meet their needs. There are three members of staff on duty at all times, which allows for personal attention. Young people’s individual needs are addressed well and are appropriately managed. A key strength of the home is supporting young people in education and this aspect of the service has been complimented on by social workers.

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Leadership and management

Young people’s files provide a good record of risk assessments and behaviour management plans which gives staff clear insight into the young people’s needs and which informs the day-to-day care that they give.

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Leadership and management

The staff provide a good level of care, ensuring they themselves have the necessary training and support to work effectively. The organisation demonstrates a commitment for staff to undertake training on a variety of topics which address the diverse needs of young people. Training programmes include all mandatory training with new staff completing an induction. There is a robust recruitment process in place. This means that young people are cared for by suitably cleared and trained staff.

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Leadership and management

Staff are positive about the management arrangements and feel they are given scope to care for and nurture young people. Staff say that formal regular supervision and appraisals provide opportunities to discuss professional development and plan actions to meet the needs of the young people.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from effective management of the home for example there are various systems to monitor the quality of care. This includes monthly visits by a designated person, in accordance with the regulations. These reports focus on the home’s strengths and any actions needed to address shortfalls. The manager ensures that prompt action is taken to address shortfalls through internal monthly monitoring checks. The home has a basic development plan in place and the manager is aware that it is in early development and needs to have wider scope. For example, including future plans for the service, incorporating young people's views and consultation with others.

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Leadership and management

Information relating to significant events affecting young people’s safety is notified to the relevant agencies, this includes Ofsted, social workers and the safeguarding teams from the local and home authority.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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