Children's Home run by Care Afloat Ltd in Lancashire

Unique reference number SC006013 Inspection date 24/01/2012 Inspector Elaine Clare Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 14/02/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This company-run home provides care and accommodation for one young person with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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 Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people receive a satisfactory standard of care. They experience improved outcomes across health and education. Young people say they feel safe and there are reasonable safeguarding measures in place. Staff feel supported and young people benefit from a stable committed team.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people have their views heard and have some say on the running of the home. Staff treat them with respect and help young people to play an active role in the plans for their own care.

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Overall effectiveness

Some shortfalls are identified. This includes the process of the complaints procedure not always being followed within company policy and serious complaints about people working in the home have not being notified to Ofsted. The storing of complaints investigations is not secure. Regulation 33 visits are not occurring every month.

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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

29 ensure records, including complaints records, are kept securely 01/03/2012 (2001) (Regulation 29)

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all significant events are notified by the registered person of the home to the appropriate authority (Regulation 30) 01/03/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the home is visited at least once a month in accordance the regulation. (Regulation 33(3)) 01/03/2012

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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 framework for managing cases of allegations against people who work with children as set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children is followed. (NMS 4.7)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are satisfactory .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Support from staff has enabled them to achieve an improved sense of identity and pride in appearance..

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people do not engage independently in community activities that would develop their confidence and skills as activities must be in the company of staff. This de-motivates young people who explained to the inspector 'that's why I spend so much time on the X-Box and watching TV'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have good physical health. Staff ensure young people have sufficient information for them to make choices around, for example, stopping smoking. Young people plan their own menus on a daily basis and staff ensure there is sufficient nutritious food in store. Young people are supported to attend routine and specialist medical appointments.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make satisfactory progress with their education and their achievements are celebrated. The staff work hard to encourage young people to attend school but as young people comes home at midday and then return after lunch it can be difficult to get the young people to engage with their studies.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are of an age where they make their own choices about the level of contact with family. Young people enjoy positive contact with their family and others who are important to them. Family contact is arranged regularly and telephone contact is made on a daily basis. There are few opportunities for young people to have positive engagement in the wider community. Young people are supported to acquire some practical and life skills to prepare them for adult life for example washing and looking after a pet cat.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is satisfactory .

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Quality of care

Young people live in comfortable and homely accommodation that blends into the neighbourhood. Young people have some input into the running of the home which is suitably decorated and furnished to a good standard. They can decide on menu choice and how they wish to have their bedroom decorated. The home is spacious enough for young people to have privacy should they so wish. This affords respect and dignity to young people.

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Quality of care

Young people say they get on 'ok' with staff, but have little opportunity to enjoy sound relationships and interact positively with their peers. There have been three complaints made by young people about staff. These have been investigated internally and found to be unfounded. However the process of the complaint procedure developed by the company was not followed by the acting manager. Information with regards to the complaint was not stored at the home but instead at the managers own home address. This is against company policy. This is a security risk and proved difficult when trying to inspect the outcome of the complaint. The Regulation 33 visitor also highlighted this as a concern in her November 2011 visit. Without the evidence to establish if procedure is being correctly followed the issue over the whether young peoples protection is being safeguarded can not be judged. Ofsted had not been notified about the complaints. Young people are aware of who

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Quality of care

to turn to if they have a problem; a befriender visits the home regularly.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit in many respects from the key working system, one young person stated, 'the time I spend with my key worker is good'. They are aware of the complaints system and stated ' I got a complaints form in my welcome pack'. There have been an additional two complaints from neighbours to the home, which have been addressed fully and to a satisfactory conclusion.

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Quality of care

Young people contribute to their care planning. Young people are cared for in line with their individual needs.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say they feel safe. If young people are missing from care there is appropriate involvement of external agencies to reduce occurrences and keep young people safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people state that they feel that the rules are generally fair They benefit from clear boundaries set by the staff team. The Regulation 33 visitor did highlight in her September 2011 report that some behaviours were being tolerated and felt there were a lack of consequences to some actions. However this was not observed during the inspection.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff recognise the particular vulnerabilities relating to the diverse needs of the young people they look after and take appropriate action to address them. All staff have received physical intervention training. There have been some restraints in the home that have been appropriately documented.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected by sound procedures that are in place for vetting new members of staff and for dealing with any allegations but as with the case with the complaints this is not always followed. Staff are fully trained and supported in safeguarding issues.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Environmental risk assessments, and action to address any shortfalls identified, ensure that young people live in a home that is safe and free from hazards.

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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

Progress has been made since the last inspection. This includes responding to six requirements and the five recommendations to improve which include: access to food, suitability of staff and managers and Regulation 34 reports. A new manager has been appointed and supervision of staff has much improved.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from being looked after by a staff group that is stable, well supported and adequately trained. Their home is well resourced in terms of staffing levels and finances.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are in good order and are stored, appropriately in order to maintain young people's right to confidentiality. However the exception was the complaints information held at the manager home address. Young people are able to contribute to their plans and reviews and be involved in setting short and long term goals.

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Leadership and management

Records are kept up to date and reviewed by the acting manager who ensures that the home works within its Statement of Purpose. Young people do not benefit from regular monitoring of the care provided. There have been no Regulation 33 visits made during the months of April, June, July and October. This has led to shortfalls in the quality of care not being addressed quickly.

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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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