Children's Home run by Suffolk County Council in Suffolk

Unique reference number SC037256 Inspection date 01/03/2012 Inspector Stephen Halliley Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 06/12/2011 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

This local authority home provides care and accommodation for seven young people from the age of 11 to 18 years old. The home looks after young people who have emotional, behavioural or mild learning difficulties. The service is based on the pedagogic principles of care.

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Progress

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

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Progress

This home was last inspected in December 2011 and was found to be outstanding with no requirements or recommendations being made.

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Progress

Since this time the manager and staff team have continued to drive the service forward and this has resulted in systems being reviewed and amended and outcomes for young people being improved.

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Progress

Transitions continue to be extremely well planned and have included one young person returning to live with their family and no longer being a looked after child. Plans are very well advanced for another young person to also return to live with parents and another is in the advanced stages of family group conferencing with a view to an imminent return to family. Support is being offered to these young people once they leave the home and family support is also being put in place to aid a smooth transition and guard against any potential breakdown.

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Progress

Young people coming in to the home continue to receive a very responsive and individualised service with an emphasis being on education and forward planning with the young person actively involved in this process. Comments made by new residents include, 'they look after me really well' and 'they'll help me get what I want when I'm 16'. This shows the relationships between staff and young people continue to be positive and that outcomes are planned with the young person central to the process.

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Progress

Young people also appear to have made huge strides in terms of their emotional resilience and maturity. This is seen in the vastly increased number of friends who visit the home and stay for tea as young people are no longer embarrassed by their situation or the home itself. Input from the child and adolescent mental health service has increased and they are actively working with a number of young people to address identified individual need.

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Progress

Management changes have included destroying out of date CRB checks, amending supervision records to include the start and end time of the session. Training plans have been amended and on going training is offered to support the professional development of the staff team. This enhances current skills and knowledge levels and improves the service provision for young people. A new administrator and handyman have been recruited and a cook will hopefully be appointed in the next week. A fire audit took place and no issues were raised, though the home have actively sought advice about types of sensors following a minor incident in the kitchen with some spilt fat. This incident resulted in a deep clean of this area taking place. One incident occurred in December which necessitated the Police being called to the home but this was not notified to Ofsted for several days and this has not yet been addressed by the management team.

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Progress

The staff recently supported the young people in running a 'Come dine with me' week which involved young people devising a menu, shopping within a budget, preparing and serving a three course meal and scoring each others efforts. No overall winner could be identified so the group, as a whole, are being rewarded for their efforts with a meal out with staff.

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Progress

The manager has progressed the registration application and is anticipating the registration interview being held in the coming months.

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Progress

This home continues to show capacity to improve and relationships between staff and young people remain a real strength of this service. Outcomes for young people are positive and all transitions are extremely well planned and involve the young person throughout the planning process. Young people feel listened to, safe and well cared for and this is shown in their view of the service and the increase in friends they have visiting.

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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 of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 are notified without delay to HMCI. (Regulation 30 (1)) 22/03/2012

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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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