Children's Home run by Blackpool Borough Council in Blackpool

Unique reference number SC033611 Inspection date 14/10/2011 Inspector Elaine Clare Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 10/03/2011 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

This children’s home is operated by a local authority. It provides a short break care service for 10 children and young people aged between five years and 17 years. The home is situated in a residential area, within walking distance of the town centre and is near to local shops. It is close to local bus routes, which provide easy access to a range of shops and leisure facilities. The home has a car to help children access the community.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory .

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Overall effectiveness

The strengths of this home lie in the stability and experience of the staff team together with the leadership and support from the Registered Manager. As a result, children using this service have individual care patterns and experience positive outcomes. Primarily the service ensures that children enjoy their time in short breaks stay, have fun and maximise on the opportunities for new experiences. The environment is one that nurtures, supports and encourages children and young people as individuals. Staff have extremely good knowledge of the individual needs and characteristics of young people and promote assurance, confidence and improved ability. There are good relations with local schools and children's individual attendance and achievement is supported. Children's general health is maintained and particular medical practices are supported. There are some shortfalls relating to risk assessments and access to certain activities. A requirement has also been made

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Overall effectiveness

around the Statement of Purpose and Placement Plans.

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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 Statement of Purpose is revised and acuratly reflects the service it decribes (Regulation 5(a)) 30/11/2011

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that before providing care or if that is not practicable as soon as possible thereafter, a placement plan is provided for that child (Regulation 12.1B) 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

 promote all children to communicate their views on all aspects of their care and support (NMS 1.3)  ensure the legal status for every short breaks allocation is recorded in each child's file and reviewed regularly (Short Breaks Statutory guidance on how to safeguard and promote the welfare of disabled children using short breaks)  support staff to make reasonable and appropriate decisions within the authority delegated to them, without having to seek consent unnecessarily (NMS 7.4)

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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 using the service enjoy very good relationships with staff who get to know them as individuals very well. They are cared for in a very individual way and develop their skills and abilities.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children live in their family homes for the majority of their time and have short breaks for one or two nights each month. The emphasis in short breaks care is that children have a positive experience while away from their home. They benefit from having peer contact in a social setting and also mixing with adults other than family members. They enjoy opportunities for activities, trips and outings they may otherwise not have. These all enhance their life experience and awareness. Activities and outings are thoroughly researched and risk assessed and there is a commitment to them being inclusive activities. Children do not miss out because of any particular factor of their ability or disability. However they sometimes miss out on activities due to approval being required from a senior manager.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children and young people enjoy good healthy meals while in short breaks. There is recognition of their individual eating patterns and food tolerances. Meal times are fully inclusive social occasions and children were observed to enjoy both the food provided and the mealtime experience.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children are supported to maintain their education and staff get involved with their education reviews and daily class experiences. Positive behaviour is promoted and children showed their progress in this respect by their actions throughout the inspection and their consideration for each other.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children are continuously encouraged to make choices. Staff teach children and young people to take responsibility for their actions, with appropriate regard being given to their individual levels of understanding and ability. Children are given the opportunity to contribute to the day-to-day activities of the home in order to develop their progress towards adulthood. Young people are provided with gentle training in self care throughout their short break stays. There are also structured transition arrangements in place to support them through to their adult care period.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The service promotes a culture of children first, disabilities second. Within this children and young people using the service have fun times during short breaks. They are given real choices and their views are sought and listened to. They learn life skills and tolerance; they learn how to relate to adults and they develop as individuals.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is satisfactory .

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Quality of care

The service offers an individual approach to care for each child based on individual background assessments. Staff work closely with parents to form an initial picture of each child and their individual needs. This close working relationship continues throughout the duration of the service provision.

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Quality of care

Parents who contributed to the inspection were very positive in their comments regarding the quality of the service and stated their confidence in the staff who care for their children.

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Quality of care

Placement plans in the home fall short in some areas in meeting National Minimum Standards. Areas include lack of individual risk assessments for behaviours displayed by some young people and there is only a minimum reference to outcomes hoping to be achieved by the home while the young person is staying there.

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Quality of care

Staff work closely with other professionals, such as education, through contact with class teachers, attendance at education reviews and using home/school communication books. Health care, like education, is not the primary responsibility of the service. However, staff continue any health care practices that are an established part of a child’s home based care.

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Quality of care

Staff are skilled at using a range of communication methods including picture exchange communication and sequencing strips. Their skills are enhanced through training and developed through meeting the range of communication needs children have.

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Quality of care

The quality of meals provided during short breaks is good. Favourite foods are known and incorporated into meals provided. At the same time there is encouragement towards healthy eating and trying new foods. On arrival from school healthy snacks are provided together with fruit juice and other healthy drinks. Mealtimes are social occasions where staff and children interact with each other and there is gentle teaching about social skills.

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Quality of care

The service is operated from a split-level building in an urban area. It has its own transport to enable access to the nearby towns, local school and other services. Children have single bedrooms and there are suitable pieces of play equipment situated in the garden. All areas of health and safety are well managed and maintained by professional contractors or the home's own staff members.

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Quality of care

Every child is given the opportunity to enjoy activities or experience various sensory stimuli. However, activities are sometimes limited due to a wait of up to six weeks for approval of an activity from senior management. Staff commented this now limits the activities and trips undertaken particularly if plans have to change quickly for example due to weather conditions. The service makes use of the local area, both its natural and commercial facilities. The daily log lists the activities, outings, trips and treats enjoyed by children using the service. There is a clear difference in outings from previous years before the new system was introduced. Staff are creative in the type and duration of activities they provide especially at weekends and during school holidays. The approach to activities is totally inclusive.

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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

There are records relating to personal history but few risk assessments based on known behaviours. Risk assessments in place are generic and include the use of the home’s vehicle and the trampoline for example. However risk assessment around specific behaviours of certain young people using a vehicle, for example, have not been written. Staff are able to produce basic plans of care for individual children and young people but these are not focused on clear measureable outcomes. Targets for young people to achieve an outcome, for example using a cup independently, are not recorded. They are updated with any behaviour changes or contact arrangements and are reviewed yearly The young people are not routinely involved in the development of the care plans and therefore do not have a say about what is written about them. Staff are acutely aware of relevant safeguarding issues and have regular updating training.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are good arrangements for the sharing of information between professionals and good communication on a regular basis between staff and parents. There is joint planning, consultation and comprehensive coverage of all aspects of individual needs through reviews.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The responsible authority does not identify under which section of the Act (1989) short breaks services are being made. Consequently it is not possible for the service to be sure that the placing authority has put in place all the appropriate measures to promote and safeguard the welfare of children using this service.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The Registered Manager has a comprehensive overview of individual children's cases and is proactive in advocating for children's individual safeguarding needs. There are systems in place to monitor related issues, such as behaviour, sanctions and physical interventions. There is, however, very low incidence of either being required or used as staff are skilled in using their knowledge of the children and young people to encourage good behaviour. Each short break stay is documented and provides insights into triggers, adaptive behaviour and outcomes.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are normally recruited centrally and an inspection of recruitment procedures and sample staff records showed the service provider systems to be robust and in line with the principles of safer recruitment.

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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 statement of aims and objectives in the Statement of Purpose does not adequately describe what the service provides, for example some children who are in the care of the local authority have extended short breaks and are placed over 75 days in total over a twelve month period. The staff undertake extensive outreach work with families and this is also not included within the Statement of Purpose. Staff provide a stable and structured environment for children. Care practices help children to develop self awareness and ability in a safe, supportive environment. Children have appropriate staffing according to their individual needs and level of development.

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Leadership and management

Staff understand children's individual strengths and needs satisfactorily. There are consistent working practices which focus on improving children's individual quality of life and potential. Staff are committed to anti-discriminatory practice and will support and develop children's understanding in this regard. They are committed to providing children with individual needs equal opportunities to enjoy normal life experiences.

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Leadership and management

Children receive good care from a well-supported and balanced staff team. The team comprises members of each gender and reflects a range of experience and service with the organisation. Staff have plenty of opportunities for training throughout the year and are well supported through 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. Staff are encouraged to be resourceful and innovative in their approach to care.

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Leadership and management

The rapport between staff, managers and children is warm, friendly and respectful. Manager's have the welfare of children and staff at heart and encourage them each to high achievement. Staff are enthusiastic about their care of children and enduring in their own commitment to positive outcomes for them.

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Leadership and management

There are good systems of monitoring in place. There are monitoring visits made by the organisation and the manager makes monthly reviews of the issues specified in Schedule 6. These then feed into the existing development plan for the service.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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