Children's Home run by Mulberry House Care Homes Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC060554 Inspection date 16/11/2011 Inspector Philip Cass / Susan Mullin Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 01/12/2010 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 Croft is a privately owned children's home. It accommodates up to two young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties who are between eight and 17 years of age.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people at The Croft are well cared for by a committed staff team who have a very child centred approach. Young people are treated with respect by staff who are sensitive to their wishes and feelings. A strong ethos of care underpins effective behaviour management strategies. The home supports young people to make very good educational progress and provides individually tailored support to move into independence.

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Overall effectiveness

Effective recruitment, health and safety, and safeguarding systems ensure that young people are safe and feel safe in the home. The Registered Manager maintains good links with other professionals that support the assessment and management of risk taking behaviours.

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Overall effectiveness

There are areas for improvement in relation to the management of the staff rota, staff training and supervision, the décor in the home, activities, risk assessments, the Statement of Purpose and the children’s guide.

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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 any activities in which children participate are so far as reasonably practicable free from avoidable risks. Specifically, up-to-date, comprehensive risk assessments must be in place and make clear the strategies necessary, to reduce the risk of harm on all known risks (Regulation 23 (b)) 06/01/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that children accommodated in the home are provided with appropriate leisure facilities and activities (Regulation 18 (2(b)) 06/01/2012 (2001) update and revise the Statement of Purpose (Regulation 5) 06/01/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all staff receive appropriate training to equip them to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care (Regulation 27 (4)(a)) 06/01/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the employment of any persons on a temporary basis at the children’s home will not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs (Regulation 25 (2)) 06/01/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) produce a children’s guide in a form appropriate to the age, understanding and communication needs of the children to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 4 (4)) 06/01/2012

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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 the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated (NMS 10.3)  ensure that a written or electronic record is kept by the home detailing the time and date and length of each supervision held for each member of staff. This is with particular reference to bank staff (NMS 19.5)  ensure that the registered person has a written development plan, reviewed annually, for the future of the home, either identifying any planned changes in the operation or resources of the service, or confirming the continuation of the home’s current operation and resource. (NMS 15.2)

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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

Young people benefit from well planned, individualised support which enables them to grow in confidence, develop emotional resilience and form a positive understanding of their background. The key worker system encourages young people to identify, focus and build on their abilities and goals. Staff are aware of young people's strengths and help to nurture and celebrate their talents, achievements and interests.

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Outcomes for children and young people

There is a good approach to promoting the physical well-being of young people. Their health plans clearly identify their specific needs and they regularly visit their general practitioner, dentist and optician. One young person said, ‘the staff make sure I know when I need to see the dentist and they take me to the doctors if I am not feeling well. I am pretty healthy anyway.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good progress with their educational attainment which is fully supported by good attendance levels. Young people explained that they have been supported and have received information and advice. This has helped them to identify and apply for suitable courses, in relation to their skills and interests.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people receive consistent support to develop independent living skills they will need in adulthood. Young people learn about different foods and gain skills by being involved in household tasks, food shopping, preparation and cooking of meals and budgeting. Young people feel very confident with their level of independence skills and consider they are well prepared for leaving care. Young people are actively involved in decision making in the home, including the recruitment of staff. This improves levels of confidence and self esteem. One young person said, 'it has been good living here but I am now ready to move on. I have money in my bank and always keep enough to last me.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from positive contact with family members in line with their placement plan. The location of the home is appreciated by young people because of its close proximity to friends and family. This enables young people to stay in regular touch with people who are important to them. Family and friends are made welcome in the home and young people are able to keep in touch via safe social networking sites and the telephone.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a very caring environment and have positive relationships with staff. Young people say they get on well with most staff. Regular residents meetings are held where young people are encouraged to give their opinions about life in the home. One young person stated, ‘I have my say in the running of this home. I make sure all the staff know what I want. I don’t always get what I ask for but that’s life.'

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Quality of care

Detailed placement plans are implemented for young people in line with their placing authority’s plan. There are systems in place to keep staff and social workers up to date when there are any changes to the care plans. This helps to ensure that young people are receiving care based on their current identified needs. Young people are encouraged to be involved in developing their care plan, so they are fully aware of arrangements made for them. Health plans are of a good standard and understood by staff.

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Quality of care

Staff are knowledgeable about young people's backgrounds and provide an open forum, where they can be approached at any time to discuss individual issues. Needs relating to young people's personal identity, heritage and sexual orientation are comprehensively identified in their care planning and positively promoted in their daily living arrangements.

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Quality of care

Young people say they know how to make a complaint and one young person has made several. All complaints are treated seriously and all are thoroughly investigated and the outcome provided in writing to the complainant. Young people enjoy annual holidays and are encouraged to save for their spending money. However, there are few planned activities either in or out of the home. The usual monthly outing, where young people from the company’s other three homes would join in, has not been occurring. As a result, young people do not fully benefit from purposeful and enjoyable leisure activities.

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Quality of care

Young people live in homely accommodation which is suitably furnished. The house is located in a residential area and there is easy access to local facilities and good public transport links. However, some interior areas of the home are not well decorated.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home provides a safe and nurturing environment for young people to live. Young people are encouraged to pass on any concerns that they may have to senior management and other agencies. Young people are confident that management take their concerns seriously. As a result, young people report that they feel safe in the home and bullying is not an issue.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people receive individually tailored support to develop socially acceptable behaviour. Behaviour management strategies focus on staff trying to build open and trusting relationships with the young people. As a result there is minimal use of sanctions. The management team monitor the use and effectiveness of sanctions and are pro-active in taking the views and feelings of the young people into account. Successful behaviour management strategies have meant that physical intervention has not been required.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The safeguarding policy is clear and fully implemented by staff. Reporting procedures are well understood by staff and young people, this reduces the risk of abuse. Staff receive training in safeguarding but adequate records of this training are not maintained.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Rigorous recruitment practice ensures that staff are thoroughly vetted before starting work in the home. This includes detailed verification of references. This process significantly reduces the risk of potential abusers gaining access to vulnerable young people. Systems are in place to ensure visitors to the home are appropriately vetted and supervised.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home works closely with other agencies and the police to formulate plans that minimise potential harm. Young people are further safeguarded through the open and positive relationships they have with staff. These relationships contribute to the fact that young people rarely go missing from the home. Although the care plans are generally comprehensive, not all areas of risks to young people have detailed risk assessments in place. This does not fully safeguard the welfare of young people. Fire evacuation procedures are well established in the home and servicing and testing of equipment is carried out as required. Robust health and safety systems are in place which means that young people, staff and visitors are protected from accidental injury.

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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

Young people benefit from good relationships with an experienced and well-qualified management team who are focused on providing good quality care. However, the ongoing restructuring of the organisation leads to frequent changes in the staff team. These changes make it difficult for young people and staff to build trusting relationships.

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Leadership and management

Staff are provided with a range of development and training opportunities which support them to meet the complex needs of the young people. There is a clear induction process for new staff which is linked to the Children's Workforce Development Council induction. Insufficient monitoring of individual training needs has meant that some staff have not received training in key areas including physical intervention and medication administration.

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Leadership and management

Staff have a good understanding of how to support young people to celebrate diversity and help them to understand their own backgrounds.

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Leadership and management

The home has a development plan which is written in consultation with the staff team. This ensures that the staff are aware of the aims and objectives of the home and have a focus on continuing improvement. However, the development plan lacks clarity in relation to key objectives and timescales. It is not effectively used as a tool to identify planned changes to the service.

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Leadership and management

Regular staff meetings take place. These are a forum for monitoring the quality of care and developing strategies to support the young people. Staff receive support through regular supervision but supervision monitoring records are unclear and reflect a lack of effective planning for supervision, especially in relation to bank staff. There is a Statement of Purpose which provides comprehensive information about the home to parents and placing authorities. The Statement of Purpose does not accurately reflect the staff working in the home or their experience. The home also has a children’s guide. The guide is not sufficiently child friendly in its format and design. This means that it does not fully support young people to move into the home or overcome any problems they may have. Furthermore, it does not give clear and adequate information about key areas such as how to make a complaint.

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Leadership and management

A range of systems are in place to monitor the quality of care provided in the home. The Registered Manager regularly reviews care plans, risk assessments and daily records. Weekly summaries are written which provide a good record of each young person’s progress in the home. Regulation 33 monitoring visits are carried out regularly which highlight shortfalls and support the Registered Manager to continually improve the service. Appropriate authorities are notified of all significant events relating to the protection of Children.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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