Children's Home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

Unique reference number SC369840 Inspection date 22/11/2011 Inspector Louise Redfern Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Date of last inspection 23/11/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

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.

p.2

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.

p.3

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.

p.3

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

p.3

Brief description of the service

This home forms part of a portfolio of services for children and families, operated by a local authority. The home provides care for up to two young people aged between 10 to 17 years on admission, who have significant social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

p.4

Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be outstanding .

p.4

Overall effectiveness

The home provides an outstanding level of care for young people. Young people live in a safe, nurturing and homely environment, the home is decorated to an outstanding standard. The Registered Manager and staff team are motivated organised and deliver high quality care, to enable young people to exceed their own expectations and achieve educationally. Young people are individually supported to engage in purposeful activities and are supported to develop their independence skills.

p.4

Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager ensures staff receive high quality training in order to support young people in their individual care. Staff and young people have excellent meaningful relationships, which support the young people to develop and appreciate the care they receive. Staff consistently manage the young people's care and communicate effectively with other professionals. One professional said, 'The home has an awareness of managing behaviours which are not oppressive, but still follow risk management plans enabling young people to take appropriate risks'.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are outstanding .

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making excellent progress in their educational attainment, they have excellent attendance at school and college. Young people benefit from good reward systems around achievements. The staff team develop innovative ways to support learning with young people and explore community links, such as reading the local newspaper with young people.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people engage in a variety of activities and are given the opportunity to explore new activities with the support of the staff team. These include scouts, music workshops, football and dancing. These are based on individual choices of the young people. The activities develop social skills and social interaction of the young people. They are also encouraged to pursue their own interests in their own communities, which maintain family and community ties. Young people enjoy healthy lifestyles. Staff ensure young people have full access to health promotion information and health professionals. For example, the specialist looked after nurse drops into the home for the staff and young people to talk to and seek advice. Young people access a healthy and well-balanced diet and engage in activities that promote physical exercise, for example, by playing football or using the home’s trampoline. Through well structure individual sessions young people are able

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

to make well-informed choices about their health. They discuss a wide-range of health and social issues, including sexuality, sexual health, relationships, the dangers of smoking and alcohol and substance misuse. These discussions are supported by health promotion information in the home for the young people.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from staff effectively supporting them to enhance their life skills. Cooking, laundry, cleaning, shopping and budgeting are all activities that young people undertake in order to build on independence skills. These are carefully managed for individual young people taking into account their level of understanding and abilities, this enables them to feel supported and excited about learning new skills. One young person stated ‘its alright I get to use the washer to wash my own clothes and bedding’.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making excellent progress to develop their social and practical skills and by doing so their self-esteem is being developed. Young people are enabled to develop their emotional resilience through trusting relationships with the staff team and engaging in new experiences. Young people are nurtured in the home, feel valued and are encouraged to make informed choices about themselves and their future.

p.5

Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

p.5

Quality of care

A highly motivated and dedicated team of staff care for the young people. The staff team work consistently with young people and encourage them to be successful and self-motivated. For example, staff are flexible in their working pattern in order to maintain consistency within the home, covering annual leave and sickness as a team rather than using casual or agency workers. As a result, young people enjoy positive and meaningful relationships with staff members. A young person stated ‘all the team look after me it’s a good thing’.

p.5

Quality of care

The Registered Manager uses impact risk assessments, when matching young people to the placement. This ensures young people established in the placement are not disrupted. Young people are admitted in a planned and thorough manner, ensuring expectations of the home are clearly explained to young people. This enables young people to feel settled in their new placement, a young person stated ‘staff helped me settle in really well’.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people are supported and encouraged to undertake a wide range of good quality leisure activities that include, scouts, troop dancing, music workshops, shopping in the community charity shops, going to car boot sales, golf, cinema and pool. Young people use the local shops and barber shop independently. These activities enable young people to develop their self-confidence, enjoy being part of the local community and develop individual independence skills.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people attend educational provisions on a daily basis, they have 100% attendance in their education provision. Staff regularly liaise with educational placements building strong relationships in order to support young people in their individual placements. Young people have made excellent progress in their education, this is celebrated both at school and within the home by the staff team.

p.6

Quality of care

Young people are successfully cared for in line with their excellent individual placement plans, these are regularly reviewed and updated, ensuring that young people's needs are continually being addressed. Young people have excellent behaviour management plans in place. These enable the whole staff team to support young people in maintaining positive behaviour. Communication between staff and other key agencies is very strong and proactive. The staff team are consistently monitoring the levels of risk for individual young people in order to ensure young people are challenged and developed to their full potential, particularly around building independence skills. One professional commented ‘the home is working on independence with the young person and is enabling the young person to take appropriate risks’.

p.6

Quality of care

The home ensures that links are purposefully developed with other agencies in order for the young people’s emotional well-being and health needs to be met. These links include the looked after children's nurse, drug and alcohol workers and the local mental health team that offers support to young people or staff as part of a consultation process. The staff team receive comprehensive training around medication and there are safe and effective procedures for the storage and administration of medication. Young people, through thorough risk management are supported and actively encouraged to self-medicate. Healthy eating is actively encouraged. Menus are balanced, taking into account individual preferences and promoting a multi-cultural perspective across the menu.

p.6

Quality of care

Young people are able to make complaints, however, there have been no complaints from young people since the last inspection. The home has complaints leaflets around the house and how to complain is discussed in individual one-to-one sessions. Young people have open access to the house phone and regularly meet with professionals in the home, such as Regulation 33 visitors. This ensures young people are able to discuss issues with people independent of the home. Young people have plentiful opportunities to raise their views, wishes and feelings through the day-to-day discussion, with the Registered Manager who is freely available to the young people, in one-to-one sessions or in young people’s meetings.

p.6

Quality of care

Young people live in a home that is furnished to an exceptional standard. Young people are consistently consulted on the decoration of the home. Young people have their own bedrooms, which are decorated to their individual tastes. Young people are encouraged to shop for soft furnishings in their bedrooms and throughout the home, in order to develop a sense of ownership of the home by the young people. The staff team and young people are dedicated to maintaining high standards in the home and complete the decorating themselves.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

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

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are safe and feel safe. They feel protected and are protected. The home has extensive policies, procedures and training in place around safeguarding. The home’s commitment and high expectation of practice, promotes safeguarding and safe care ensuring young people feel they are safe and are kept safe. Young people say ‘I feel safe staff are always around’.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from a highly trained, experienced and committed staff team that embraces the diverse needs of the young people. This ensures the young people receive the appropriate individual support whilst in the home. Young people are supported to take reasonable risks within the parameters of their individual risk assessments to significantly develop their emotional and social skills in the home and wider community.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people thrive and benefit from positive and firm boundaries. As a result there are no incidents of young people being physically restrained. Young people benefit from the use of positive consequences, which include incentives around particular pieces of work. Young people feel the rewards and sanctions are fair and reasonable.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

The environment is physically safe and appropriately secure and takes into account the needs and characteristics of the young people cared for. Staff pay excellent attention to health and safety management. Staff use comprehensive risk assessments around the home, the environment and in the local community. Young people have regular opportunities to participate in fire evacuation drills during the day and night. The home pays exceptional attention to fire prevention and safety. This includes spraying furniture and soft furnishings with fire retardant spray. These measures further promote the safety of young people and staff in the home. The home has a clear evacuation and contingency plan in place should it be required, ensuring young people's safety at all times.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

The home has effective and efficient systems in place to manage incidents. The home has good multi-agency links including with the local police officer. Young people rarely go missing, if they do staff comprehensively search for young people and actively encourage young people to return to the home. Staff are aware of procedures in place for reporting young people as missing and positively respond to them on their return. Staff are vetted through thorough and rigorous recruitment procedures to ensure young people are protected.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

All staff are provided with a high level of safeguarding training, staff gain comprehensive knowledge of child protection procedures and have no hesitation in raising concerns around young people's safety. Investigations into allegations or suspicion of harm are handled fairly and quickly. This ensures effective protection for young people and the staff team. As a result, young people and staff are supported fairly and without discrimination during investigations.

p.7

Leadership and management

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

p.8

Leadership and management

The Registered Manager and the staff team deliver an outstanding level of care for the young people. They benefit from the manager and staff being consistent, self- motivated and exceptionally committed. Staff benefit from excellent relationships with the Registered Manager. These relationships are built on mutual respect and ensure staff are working in a consistent, motivated and highly professional manner. Young people develop strong relationships with both the manager and staff team, which are based on trust and professionalism. These relationships ensure young people are supported in their care and effectively challenged around inappropriate behaviours. The Registered Manager ensures that the staffing levels are sufficient in the home and adapts the rota in order to meet the individual needs of the young people.

p.8

Leadership and management

The Registered Manager has developed highly effective and robust monitoring systems in home, which identify areas for development. For example, the Registered Manager has requested training for all staff on the delivery of purposeful contact. The young people and home benefit from monitoring visits. The visits are consistent and give a clear overview to the manager and staff team where the shortfalls are, ensuring young people receive a high quality of care.

p.8

Leadership and management

All the staff team are professionally qualified. The Registered Manager maintains excellent records and training certificates for all the staff team. Staff systematically attend a mandatory training package, which ensures they enhance their skills and knowledge. Additional training is also available which specialises in areas that provide development for staff and support for the individual needs of young people. Staff receive annual appraisals, which set clear targets in line with the team plan and are regularly reviewed. Staff also receive regular and purposeful supervision, which is monitored by the Registered Manager.

p.8

Leadership and management

The home demonstrates good quality record keeping. Records contribute to an understanding of young people's lives and are up to date and stored securely. Young people are fully aware they can see their files and routinely sign off on documents such as placement plan appraisal sheets. This encourages and enables young people to be part of their care planning and setting goals. All significant events relating to the protection of young people accommodated in the home are notified by the Registered Manager of the home to the appropriate authorities and appropriate action is taken following the incident.

p.8

Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

p.8