Children's Home run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC065679 Inspection date 10/01/2012 Inspector Susan Mullin Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 20/09/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011).

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Brief description of the service

The home is a local authority children's home that provides emergency short-term residential accommodation for five children who have emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making satisfactory progress.

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Progress

The home was judged as satisfactory at the last full inspection. The home has suitably addressed the requirements and recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. These included: producing a Statement of Purpose in line with Schedule 1; ensuring that all records made are signed and dated; ensuring that notifications are sent to the appropriate authorities; and that the training programme was completed for all staff. Additionally, the home was asked to ensure that all young people of compulsory school age received appropriate educational placements. The home was also asked to provide an annual development plan and ensure that any issues raised on Regulation 33 monitoring visits are addressed.

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Progress

The staff have worked in a determined manner to ensure that appropriate education placements are sourced quickly. As a result, young people's education is disrupted as little as possible in order that that they can continue to attend and achieve. Staff describe young people as calmer and more enthusiastic about school. The staff encourage good attendance and ensure that the young people are well prepared for the school day. Personal education plans are in place and these are reviewed regularly. Young people have space, resources and facilities at the home to enable the completion of homework. A computer is available for the young people to use for educational purposes and well-monitored internet access is available. The impact of this has been improved school attendance and associated enjoyment and achievements.

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Progress

The learning and development framework for staff is updated consistently. Training programmes have been strengthened and staff now receive sufficient training to enable them to provide safe, good quality, reflective care for young people. The Statement of Purpose has been reviewed and informs all parties of what the service offers and how the young people will be cared for. There have been no notifications since the last inspection. The home has produced an annual development plan, which sets out its future plans.

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Progress

Robust quality assurance processes are carried out regularly by people independent of the home and any areas of weakness identified are promptly acted upon. These effective evaluations ensure the standards within the home continue to improve. There is effective monitoring of the quality of care for the young people in the home. The manager has a good system to monitor, report and evaluate the administration systems of the home, ensuring staff entries into the care planning systems are of a good standard. However, in some instances the manager has not signed or dated all the incident, restraint and key working records to secure his overall understanding of the young person's progress during their placement.

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Progress

There is a commitment to providing a good quality service and all staff are vigorously working towards improving 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 the manager regularly monitors all records kept by the home, to identify any concerns about specific incidents and to identify any patterns and trends. (NMS 21.2)

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