Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC378187 Inspection date 14/12/2011 Inspector Denise Perry Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Date of last inspection 07/03/2011 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 privately-owned home is one of two children’s homes owned by the same provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for two young people of either gender with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.4

Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory .

p.4

Overall effectiveness

The home provides a supportive environment where young people are developing sound relationships with staff. This helps young people to satisfactorily develop self- confidence, emotional resilience and social skills within the home. Young people’s involvement in the community has not always been positive and has resulted in participating in anti-social behaviour, resulting in police intervention and arrest. The staff team are supporting young people to work with the youth offending service in an attempt to improve young people’s behaviour and understanding of social acceptability.

p.4

Overall effectiveness

The staff team present as non-judgemental and accepting of young people. This creates an environment where young people feel valued and wanted. Staff challenge discrimination appropriately, including racist and homophobic remarks made by young people. This helps young people to gain an understanding and acceptance of people who differ from themselves. The staff team bring a range of experiences with relevant backgrounds to adequately meet young people’s needs.

p.4

Overall effectiveness

The home’s systems for monitoring and evaluating progress and practice needs are improving. This will contribute and improve on the quality of care for young people. For example, the numbers of sanctions imposed are consistently high and in some cases inaccurately recorded. This does not evidence progress in helping young people develop appropriate behaviour management strategies. The manager acknowledges this and action is being taken to address this shortfall through the home’s regulation 34 reports. This demonstrates the home’s capacity for continuing improvement in the interest of young people.

p.4

Overall effectiveness

Young people say that they feel safe living in the home and this contributes to their general well-being and feeling of security. However, the number of unauthorised and missing from care episodes is concerning, as some young people are placing themselves at risk. The manager and staff follow and implement appropriate procedures in line with local and national protocols to minimise risks to young people.

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

p.5

Recommendations

 ensure visits of the home carried out under regulation 33 include relevant checks set out in regulations and guidance and checks of any records of missing person's reports (NMS 21.7)  ensure management monitoring identifies concerns about specific incidents and identifies patterns and trends; and that the manager takes immediate action to address any issues raised by this monitoring. This is with particular reference to missing children and shortfalls arising from schedule 6 and regulation 33 monitoring reports (NMS 21)  ensure the registered person has a system in place to notify within 24 hours the persons and appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with regulation 30. This system includes what to do where notifiable events arises at the weekends (NMS 24.1)  ensure sanctions and rewards are clear, reasonable and fair and are understood by staff and children. (NMS 3.8)

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are satisfactory .

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making satisfactory progress towards emotional resilience and understanding of their background. Staff have developed positive relationships with young people, which has enabled them to make progress in supporting young people’s feelings and views of self and others. A placing social worker said, ‘the key worker is absolutely fantastic and is just great with young people, regardless of the challenges they can bring’. Staff accept young people for who they are and are non- judgemental in their daily practice. This acceptance promotes an understanding of individual heritage, culture, and identity. Where appropriate the staff team promote contact arrangements between young people and their families. This helps young people to maintain and develop appropriate relationships with people who will be important to them into their adulthood lives.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Staff help young people to develop their interest and understanding of healthy eating. This happens through staff involving young people in menu choices and discussing healthy options with them. Young people show pride in their appearance and staff acknowledge this positively to promote young people’s self-esteem. The staff team encourage young people to engage with health services to meet their overall needs. However, some young people refuse support from specialist services, such as drug support agencies.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Staff endeavour to promote young people’s talents and interests. For example, young people have been fishing with staff and demonstrated their skills and interest in this sport. The staff display photographs from these trips within the home to promote young people’s sense of belonging. Young people are praised for their achievements and this promotes their self-esteem and confidence. However, some young people have become disengaged from meaningful activities and positive involvement in the wider community is minimal. This means that young people are not increasing in self worth and their understanding of social acceptability is limited.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people do not attend school or other educational provisions and this impedes on their educational progress and learning. The manager and staff are working with the placing authority to identify educational choices and options for young people. This will support young people to achieve educationally and enhance their social skills.

p.6

Quality of care

The quality of the care is satisfactory .

p.6

Quality of care

Staff help young people to develop positive relationships with one another. Young people interact confidently with staff and share a sense of humour. This contributes to young people feeling valued and included in the home. Staff respond positively to young people when they return after being unauthorised or missing from care. This helps young people to develop their capacity to trust reliable adults who provide care and supervise them. However, ongoing sanctions have not proved effective in helping young people to reduce their risky behaviour. The manager and staff team are in the process of reviewing this and revising the home's positive reward systems to address this. This will support staff to help young people in developing skills in managing their behaviour and developing a sense of responsibility.

p.6

Quality of care

Some young people have difficulties in progressing educationally, as they refuse to attend school. Staff talk to young people about the benefits of education to help them understand the importance of returning to school for their future prospects and social skills. Staff try to promote young people’s interests and talents. However, young people have withdrawn from meaningful activities and as a result are not taking part in activities of interest. Staff work hard to support young people to access health services, such as General Practitioners, dentist and specialist services. However, some young people choose not to access all health services. As a result their potential to lead full and healthy lifestyles are not optimised.

p.6

Quality of care

Not all young people are confident in expressing their views, wishes and feelings to staff through formal meetings. Staff conduct key worker sessions informally to ensure young people are relaxed and more able to talk about how they are feeling. This can be done when driving in a car or sitting at the kitchen table. This is recorded to evidence young people’s views are being sought and are valued by staff.

p.6

Quality of care

The manager and staff have made considerable progress in the décor and maintenance of the home. The home sets homely standards and is decorated and furnished in a way that is comfortable for young people, so that they feel valued and safe. The manager and staff promote equality and diversity in their daily practice. Young people have direct access to information on religion, ethnicity, disability, gender and sexual orientation. The staff are proactive and meet young people’s unique needs well. A placing social worker commented that staff do not give up on young people even when faced with extreme challenges. This means that young people are valued irrespective of their backgrounds, histories and current difficulties.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

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

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people report that they feel safe living in the home and know how to make a complaint if they were unhappy about anything. Staff undertake child protection and health and safety training as part of their induction to contribute to keeping young people safe from harm. However, the ongoing number of unauthorised absences and missing from care episodes means that young people are not always safe. To address this, the manager and staff work closely with the police and placing authority and follow local safeguarding procedures to minimise risks to young people. This means they take appropriate action when they have any concerns about a young person and attend strategy meetings to identify and act on current risks presented to young people.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are not accurately recording sanctions and as a result the amount of sanctions recorded are higher than those actually given. Further, the Registered Manager has not adequately monitored the effectiveness of sanctions through the home’s internal quality assurance systems. For some young people this means that their individual behavioural needs have not been fully met. The manager is in the process of reviewing this shortfall and plans are in place for staff to receive training to enhance their practice and recording skills. The manager and staff have currently implemented new strategies which primarily focus on positive sanctions to promote young people’s behaviour and levels of self control.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people generally display appropriate behaviour within the home. This is due to the positive role modelling displayed by staff, who show respect and understanding towards the young people in their care. Young people do not always make wise choices of activities and friendships in their local community. As a result they are not fully learning and developing personal strategies for themselves. There have been some changes to the staff group since the last inspection. The existing staff group are appropriately qualified and experienced to support new members of staff in their roles. Robust health and safety checks ensure a safe and well-maintained environment for young people to live in.

p.7

Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are satisfactory . The Registered Manager satisfactorily manages the home and is meeting the Statement of Purpose. However, there are shortfalls in the administration and monitoring within the home. The recording of sanctions given to young people are sometimes duplicated and do not represent an accurate reflection of sanctions imposed. In addition, the manager and senior staff are not effectively monitoring the sanctions imposed in a timely manner. This has potential to impact on the quality of care provided to young people.

p.7

Leadership and management

There are no thorough systems to monitor or review how the overall quality of care is implemented and evaluated. Regulation 33 monitoring reports identify areas of improvement needed but lack evidence of action taken by the manager. Furthermore, these reports do not include routine examination of missing person’s reports and this is a current issue within the home. In addition, the timescale for reporting notifiable events to Ofsted is not in line with national minimum standards. However, the manager is currently addressing some of these shortfalls through the home’s regulation 34 monitoring reports and development plan. This demonstrates the homes capacity for continuing improvement in the interest of young people.

p.8

Leadership and management

A previous recommendation for ensuring night time fire drills are held within a 12 month period has been met. Young people know about fire evacuation routes and are familiar with procedures. This contributes to young people’s safety within the home.

p.8

Leadership and management

The existing staff team hold relevant qualifications and new staff have either completed, or are now in the process of completing the level 3 Children and Young People’s Workforce Diploma. One staff member said, ‘The senior staff and manager are very approachable and quick to offer help when needed. They work really hard to support me’. The staff team are carefully selected and bring a range of experience and knowledge. This contributes to young people’s placement plans and ways in which young people’s care is provided.

p.8

Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

p.8