Children's Home run by Friends Therapeutic Community Trust in Cambridgeshire

Unique reference number SC025733 Inspection date 28/11/2011 Inspector Deirdra Keating Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 17/03/2011 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

The service is registered for 17 placements with emotional and behavioural difficulties and or learning disabilities. The service provides a therapeutic programme and treatment for young men who engage in a structured programme detailed within the Statement of Purpose.

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Brief description of the service

The service is run by a community trust and caters for a specific age range and needs detailed within the Statement of Purpose. There are semi-independence bungalows in the grounds and a separate satellite service for those who require transitional accommodation before living independently. There are a wide range of facilities including on-site education and vocational workshops to support accredited work based learning courses.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides personalised therapeutic care that is planned around the individual needs of each young person. Young people's views are central to the therapeutic programme. Their contributions are highly valued and used very well to implement change and drive improvements. Young people's views about the quality of care and relationships with staff are exceptionally good. There is a strong community ethos and positive team spirit resulting in a welcoming and purposeful environment. Overall, the service fully promotes the therapeutic aims with successful outcomes for young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people feel safe at the service and their welfare is fully safeguarded. New arrangements for monitoring the service are rigorous and provide robust checks on young people's well-being. Clear development plans provide ambitious short and long term goals to improve the facilities and extend the scope of the service provision. There are some minor weaknesses in leadership and management relating to legislation and management roles. While these have been identified for improvement they have no impact on the outstanding outcomes for young people.

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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 within the management roles the lines of accountability are clearly defined (NMS 20.5)  ensure that the home's policies and procedures are updated in line with the national minimum standards. (NMS 21.2)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people flourish in the therapeutic community. The highly individualised treatment programme helps them start to accept and understand their unique backgrounds. Young people benefit from highly structured days in which they have to organise their activities to take part in the programme. This teaches young people how to manage their time and develop self-discipline. The therapeutic programme helps them develop many other valuable skills including; how to work as a team, debate issues, chair meetings and learn new vocational skills. Traditional pantomime productions provide opportunities for young people to work as a team and recognise their talents. Participation in all these activities gives young people self-confidence and direction. This helps young people build positive self-views and make informed choices about their lives. Surveys from young people include 'the home helps us have a good future'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people willingly attend the on-site education and are highly motivated to learn. Young people are able to experience education differently because learning is tailored to individual learning styles. Young people work hard and proudly show their portfolios of work. Several young people have successfully achieved accredited vocational courses required for work. Young people report that in relation to their starting points and past experiences this is the first positive learning experience in which they have fully engaged. This helps young people realise and develop their full potential.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are given excellent support in the development of skills they need for adulthood. They practise living in semi-independence housing where together they budget, shop, cook and clean. Positive comments from young people include 'you can learn lots of different things not just in education. Independence, cooking club, you can change your life for the better'. Young people are also able to access a secondary service to support their future independent lives. They are given lots of support as they explore relocation and build links with their families. Staff work practically with young people to find accommodation and utilise local services. This helps young people reconnect with their families and find the resources they will need to build and maintain independent lives.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

The staff and young people work as a close team engaging fully in the therapeutic community. Relationships between staff and young people are honest, open and highly constructive. They are based on mutual respect for one another and the therapeutic community as a whole. Staff have high aspirations for all young people. Expectations about conduct and behaviour are clearly shared and based on trust of each young person and their peers. This has resulted in a fair, reflective approach in which both staff and young people are able to reflect on their actions and reactions. Relationships are based on an equal basis and this helps young people voice their wishes and openly raise concerns. This has resulted in young people who are extremely happy with the quality of their care.

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Quality of care

Young people learn how to take responsibility for their attitudes and conduct. For example, they are expected to consider their actions and face the consequences of their behaviours. Any sanctions are agreed in community meetings and recorded. Young people show maturity and insight as they accept constraints following misuse of trust. They have made significant progress in their ability to consider the affect of their behaviours. This progress is discussed with young people in individual treatment plan meetings where young people's views and feelings are central to decisions made about their care. This gives young people ownership and control in the planning of their placements.

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Quality of care

Young people's physical and psychological health needs are comprehensively met. Specific interventions and therapeutic support are part of the structured therapeutic programme. Young people attend routine health appointments and specialist help to promote healthy lifestyles such as smoking cessation support. They book routine health appointments which staff transport them to. This helps teach young people how to take responsibility for their own general health needs.

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Quality of care

The staff team work collectively to place the well-being of each young person at the centre of their practice. This includes full participation in the structured therapeutic programme and attendance in education or work based learning. Intentions about how young people spend their time are declared in the community meeting. This allows flexibility and encourages young people to take responsibility for their learning. Staff are innovative and resourceful. They evidence learning in different ways to suit each individual young person. This has challenged the barriers to education and enabled each young person to make significant progress. Staff fully acknowledge and encourage effort and achievement, helping young people develop pride and confidence in their abilities.

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Quality of care

There are a wide range of activities available to young people. While many of these provide enjoyment they also help young people gain valuable skills for the future. These include gardening, car maintenance and learning to drive. Staff also help young people establish a personal sense of identity by visiting different countries of their family origin. This helps young people understand their individual culture and learn about their individual family history.

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Quality of care

Young people are cared for in a large extended house. This is planned well to accommodate each young person safely and provide differing levels of supervision as young people progress through the programme. There are rooms and bed-sits in the house and semi-independence bungalows in the grounds. This provides accommodation that meets the needs of young people as they become increasingly independent. The home is comfortable, welcoming and clean. The maintenance is managed very well. Plans to redecorate are made with young people who choose furniture and paint. This encourages young people to debate choices and care for the house and furnishings.

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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

Young people's safety is highly prioritised at the home. Site security is closely monitored by vigilant staff and close circuit television. All visitors are asked for identification to ensure that visits are pre-arranged and authentic. Staff are carefully chosen and checked thoroughly prior to employment. This ensures that young people are cared for by suitable adults on safe premises.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people report that they feel extremely safe and protected at the home. The large grounds, vocational workshops and education areas cover a large area. The home has devised a highly effective system of monitoring young people. A designated member of staff monitors all young people's whereabouts at various points throughout the day. This gives young people the freedom to move around and make choices about how to spend their time while assuring their safety. This works well and there have been no incidences of young people going missing from the home. However, the procedures for missing from home have been agreed with the local police. This reduces the risk of young people going missing from the home and ensures that those who are more vulnerable are responded to without delay.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Safeguarding practices are clear and effective. Allegations are managed extremely well in line with policies that set out procedures and guide staff in their investigations. All notifications are made as required and reporting is meticulous. Staff have good links with local safeguarding boards. This promotes good communication and understanding of how the local authority works. Staff work closely with outside agencies and legal frameworks to ensure young people stay within the law and fully understand imposed restrictions. These clear guidelines gives young people and staff a strong sense of safety and well-being.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people's physical safety is systematically assured at the home. All required safety checks are in place and carefully managed by maintenance staff. This includes checks on electrical items brought in by young people for their bedrooms. Young people help with some maintenance around the site and house. This helps them understand safety guidelines regarding machinery and builds on their knowledge of health and safety. Excellent use of risk assessments enables young people to take risks in relation to their ages and backgrounds. The home holds several large community events to celebrate traditions throughout the year. These are managed exceptionally well using effective risk management and outside expertise. Young people take responsible roles in these events learning about key elements of safe organisation and minimising risk.

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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 day-to-day running of the home is managed well and promotes an orderly environment. This gives young people structure and security in their daily lives. The clinical and care teams work well together to ensure the aims of the service are maintained. There are many different roles assigned to staff at the service. However, there is a lack of understanding about some of these roles. While this has no direct impact on young people the lines of accountability for some responsibilities are not all clear.

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Leadership and management

There is a strong drive for improvement to the service. Previous recommendations have been comprehensively addressed and this has improved outcomes for young people. In particular new monitoring arrangements balance regulatory checks well and there is good consultation with young people about their welfare. This provides an extra element of safeguarding for young people.

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Leadership and management

The management team have a clear understanding about the strengths and weaknesses and have undertaken a critical evaluation of the service. Development plans outline a staffing restructure and extension of the service that will benefit young people and help them with transition to adulthood. The team are aware that the home's policies and procedures require updating in line with the national minimum standards.

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Leadership and management

The service is well resourced and funding for staff development is good. There are a high number of well qualified staff. Staff are keen to further their knowledge and understanding of how to work with young people. Quality care is provided by professional staff that reflect on their practice in relation to the diverse and changing needs of young people.

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Leadership and management

Records are good and contribute very well to an understanding of young people's unique lives. Staff compile reports to summarise young people's progress and engagement with the programme for other professionals. This helps young people work with the support of outside professionals to plan for the next stage of their lives. Storage of information is secure, maintaining confidentiality for each young person.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is outstanding .

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