Children's Home run by The Together Trust in Bolton

Unique reference number SC057718 Inspection date 20/02/2012 Inspector Paul Scott Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 29/09/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is one of a number of homes operated by a charitable trust. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties, physical disabilities and learning disabilities.

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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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Progress

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

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Progress

At the last full inspection on the 29 September 2011 the children's home was judged to be outstanding. The home has made good progress in the majority of areas, improving the quality of care and outcomes for young people with disabilities.

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Progress

Young people continue to achieve good outcomes because they receive a consistently high standard of care from a stable, experienced and competent staff team. Staff work hard to ensure young people can look forward to happy and fulfilling lives. They have a detailed knowledge of the individual young people they care for. They provide personal support tailored to young people's development and meeting their changing needs. As a result, placements are very stable and young people's complex needs continue to be effectively met and good progress made.

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Progress

Young people continue to live in a safe, caring and supportive environment where they are treated with dignity and respect and are valued as individuals. They enjoy strong and trusting relationships with staff and each other. Staff use these relationships to good effect to manage the challenging and complex needs of the young people in their care. They creatively use a wide-range of skills and systems to overcome the barriers to communication. Staff teach young people better ways to manage their frustrations and anxieties. Consequently, young people's self-control and behaviour is improving.

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Progress

Young people's current and emerging health needs are routinely addressed. They are taking more responsibility for themselves, appropriate to their age and level of understanding. For example, they are making better choices about their diet by eating healthy food. Staff continue to provide young people with good opportunities to learn and develop new skills. They use fun activities such as travelling on the train or visiting the cinema or youth club to improve young people's confidence and tolerance of others. Also, this has enabled young people to form positive relationships with young people of a similar age.

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Progress

The home is very good at supporting young people to become more independent. Young people are more confident in their own abilities and, with support, they are developing the necessary skills to complete daily tasks safely and independently. For example, one young person will routinely shop for food and bake his own bread.

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Progress

The home is well managed and continues to show capacity for improvement based on its performance since the last inspection. The manager has a clear understanding of the strengths of the home and areas for further development. Staff are provided with good support, guidance and training to equip them with the right skills and knowledge to meet young people's current and emerging needs. For example, all staff have completed protection of vulnerable adults training to ensure they have the right knowledge to support young people over the age of 18.

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Progress

Positive action has been taken to address the requirement from the previous inspection. There is now a system in place to ensure the managers monitoring reports are supplied to Ofsted following the review of any quality of care. The monitoring of the running of the service by the provider could be further improved. The providers monitoring visits are taking place every month. However, the person undertaking Regulation 33 monitoring visits does not routinely seek the views and opinions of young people's families or the placing authority.

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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 wherever possible, the person undertaking Regulation 33 monitoring visits gathers the views of parents and relatives to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home. (Children Act 1989, Guidance and Regulations Volume 5, statutory guidance, paragraph 3.13)

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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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