Children's Home run by Prestige Adolescent Care and Education Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC420876 Inspection date 02/05/2012 Inspector Suzanne Hogben Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 12/01/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This is a home that provides accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is part of a small group of privately owned children's homes in the area.

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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 good .

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Overall effectiveness

This is a good service that provides positive outcomes for young people. The service works hard to ensure good collaborative working with other professionals which facilitates a collective approach to the care of young people. The staff team are the key strength in the provision of high quality care to the young people. They are passionate and motivated and the stability of the staff team ensures a consistency of care which is valued by the young people themselves. One young person described the team as a ‘good strong team’, who all helped to care for them.

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Overall effectiveness

Safeguarding is a high priority in all aspects of young people’s care. Practices are sound and young people learn how to keep themselves safe. Staff reflect on incidents and will put in behaviour management strategies to reduce risk levels. This is often done in conjunction with other professionals and young people benefit from this cohesive approach.

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Overall effectiveness

Educational attendance and achievement is given a clear priority in the home and the staff team are proactive in securing and maintaining education placements for young people. Young people benefit from access to regular family contact and have plenty of opportunity to develop their independence skills. The transition from the home to independent living is well managed and staff are highly motivated in providing support to young people to promote positive outcomes.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people participate in a range of activities and are fully involved in planning and reviewing their care. They have good relationships with staff, and the views and wishes of young people promote the running of the service. The home is effectively and efficiently managed and monitoring is robust. There is one shortfall to the service and as a result, one recommendat6ion has been made.

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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 that the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated. (NMS 10.3)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people in this home are happy and are developing into confident and resilient young people. Staff work hard to promote self-worth and encourage young people to value themselves. Effort is made to help young people make sense of their backgrounds, in one instance helping a young person deal with bereavement and enabling them to understand more clearly their family history.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The health of young people continues to improve. For example, individual work is completed with young people depending upon their own needs. Measures are taken to address the issue of smoking in the home and young people are encouraged to use smoking cessation programmes. Whilst this has not been totally successful, young people are given clear guidance about risks to health and they are beginning to understand the importance of a healthy life style. Therapeutic support is readily available through a therapist but there are also strong links to the local mental health services, if needed. This ensures that young people receive the support they may need. The home is set in rural surroundings and this allows a considerable amount of outdoor activity which also promotes the development of a healthy lifestyle. During the inspection young people were playing happily with staff outside in the extensive gardens and woodlands.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The Registered Manager and staff promote the importance of education and young people’s attendance improves upon admission to the home. Young people are attending and achieving at school, particularly in relation to their starting point. Staff accompany the young people daily to school to support their attendance and learning. While there is still some absence from lessons, regular attendance is promoted. Young people say, ‘I attend part time but sometimes feel I want to stay for the rest of the day’. They say that the staff will help them achieve this. The Registered Manager maintains close links with schools and is highly motivated to address issues which prevent school attendance.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Preparation for the move onto semi-independent living is managed well in the home. Staff implement robust independence planning to enhance the life skills of young people. Young people take responsibility for managing money to purchase food, clothing and items necessary for independent living. Driving lessons have been provided for young people so that when they progress on to independent living they will have the opportunity to have the same skills and achievements as their peers. Staff are proactive in planning and exploring career opportunities such as apprenticeships and further learning. As a result young people feel well supported and can benefit from a smooth transition to independence. One young person commented that they were, ‘excited about getting on with my life’.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Contact with family and other significant people is well maintained and supported. Some young people are placed a significant distance away from their home but a high quality of supported contact is still achieved. Young people say they are happy with the contact they have with family and the support they receive. Good links are maintained with the local community to try and encourage social integration. For example, young people participate in local rugby and football teams. Achievements in these activities are celebrated in the home and young people enjoy the activities they are able to participate in. These activities within the community help the young people develop a social and emotional resilience.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The manager and staff are aware of the risk taking behaviours of young people in the home and use key work sessions and individual therapeutic sessions to encourage a de-escalation of such behaviour. As a result young people are becoming more able to take responsibility for their own actions.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people in this home develop because care is provided by a highly committed and enthusiastic staff group. The staff and management team work extremely well together, one member of staff stating that any issues within the home were not for one member of staff to manage alone, ‘because we are a team and it’s a team issue.’ Because of this young people experience a consistency of care and know that all members of staff will be working together to support them. Young people have excellent relationships with their key worker but feel that all of the staff group have a good understanding of their needs. Young people say there is always someone to talk to about issues because, ‘even if your key worker is off there is always someone else’.

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Quality of care

Young people are encouraged to be supportive of each other and develop and establish healthy relationships with others. On return from school, young people congregate in the kitchen, prepare snacks and talk about their day within a home that feels welcoming and supportive.

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Quality of care

There are regular and effective meetings where young people are able to affect the decisions made in the home. Issues of concern which are raised are followed through with individual key worker sessions. At a recent meeting a young person from the local authority young people’s project visited the home to discuss with the young people their ideas and views on how they could better represent themselves in the running of their home. The Registered Manager felt this to be a useful experience and is exploring ways to increase the involvement of young people.

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Quality of care

Staff are influential in developing services to young people. They challenge partner agencies when they feel there is a shortfall in the service being provided to the young people. They are good advocates for the young people, for example on one occasion comments made about a young person were extensively challenged and adapted to prevent stigmatisation.

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Quality of care

Care planning is detailed and highly individual and great care is taken to ensure that the cultural needs of the young people are met. Young people receive a service which focuses on their social, emotional and psychological health. Management and the staff team have a good knowledge of services available to young people within the community. This is considered a high priority and considerable effort is made to provide contact with communities with similar culture to those of the young people. Even though the home is in a rural setting, young people who may find this alien to their background are given opportunities to experience more urban activities as well as experiencing country life. Many young people have pet hamsters of their own which allows them learn about responsibility and staff from the home have arranged for some young people to regularly visit a local dogs’ home so that they can walk the

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Quality of care

dogs and help care for them. This enables young people to experience activities similar to their peers and is an activity valued by them.

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Quality of care

Young people know who to talk to if they have concerns and they feel that issues are dealt with properly by the manager and staff. One young person commented that if they were worried they would ‘call ‘Childline’ or fill in a complaints sheet’. There are few complaints and the manager ensures that any grumble or concern that a young person may have is immediately dealt with before it escalates to a complaint.

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Quality of care

The home is well maintained and staff try to provide a non-institutionalised environment. The young people have lots of personal things in their rooms; however, there is a lack of more personal pictures and decoration around the house. This results in a lack of homely atmosphere in some parts of the home. In addition the hall carpet is stained and tired. The manager is clear that there are plans to decorate some of the rooms but a recommendation is made regarding the need to improve the décor of the home. This does not however impact upon the quality of care offered to the young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good 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 and understand the boundaries placed upon them by staff. The home has extensive policies and procedures in regard to safeguarding and these are regularly reviewed. Staff ratios are consistent and of a good level which ensures young people’s whereabouts are known and they can be monitored closely. There are clear risk assessments in place to manage and protect young people, enabling them to take reasonable risk as part of their growth and development.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The Registered Manager ensures that the robust missing from home policy is well understood by staff and young people. As a result the amount of time young people do spend away from the home is being reduced. The manager has been prominent in a local police led forum which looks at ways to manage young people missing from children’s homes in the area. At the latest meeting the home was identified for having managed a reduction in the number of reported absences. The police are giving a named police officer, who will be coming into the home, so that the young people can get to get to know him. It is hoped that the positive intervention of police at this level will help improve relationships. The manager is in the process of changing absenting forms so that they give more information about where young people may have gone and where staff may have looked for them. This information, once collated, will inform risk assessments and behaviour management plans. This

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Safeguarding children and young people

should reduce the risk when young people do absent themselves from the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The manager and staff take the issues of risk taking behaviour in young people very seriously. For example, following incidents of young people being near railway lines, the manager contacted school and Network Rail are going into the school to talk to all pupils about the dangers of such activities. As a result of such practice, young people in the home are aware that they are being cared for and kept safe and are involved in learning how to manage risks themselves.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff respond well to the concerns of young people in the home and triggers for behaviour are tracked and monitored. The level of physical intervention is low. Staff view intervention as a last resort and work hard to ensure that all other methods, such as distraction are first used. Young people expressed the view that restraint, if used by staff, is appropriate. The effectiveness of the intervention is monitored with the introduction of a new bound physical intervention book.

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Safeguarding children and young people

A clear recruitment and vetting procedure protects young people and all necessary information is stored on individual staff member’s files. Young people are encouraged to play a role in the selection of new staff but the Registered Manager is clear that such involvement in the process should not expose young people to any risks.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home is a physically safe environment for the young people to live in. Young people have opportunities to participate in fire evacuation drills and all staff are clear about action they need to take in the event of a fire. The manager ensures that the use of regular health and safety checks maintains a safe environment

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are outstanding .

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Leadership and management

A dedicated, enthusiastic and inspirational manager who is very experienced manages the home. Young people have a strong advocate in the Registered Manager and this means their needs are at the centre of all planning. A clear plan for the home ensures the management of the home is effective and efficient. The manager communicates high expectations to the whole staff group, who are themselves a strong supportive group who offer consistent standards of care to the young people.

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Leadership and management

There are extensive and efficient monitoring systems in place which ensure that young people’s care is maintained at a high level. Weekly audits and regular Regulation 33 reports identify trends and patterns and when identified the manager looks at ways to change practice to improve. Weekly reports to social workers are extremely useful and social workers commented positively about the levels of communication between the home and themselves. A strength of the home is the commitment and dedication which the staff team make to the service and the stable staff team means that young people receive sound and safe care.

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Leadership and management

Supervision and training is of a good standard and in addition the manager uses team meetings and question and answer papers for all staff to assess the level of knowledge and identify shortfall. Training is a high priority and all staff receive training to at least the minimum standard required. Induction is thorough and as part of a robust supervision process staff are able to cover professional development and the care of young people in the home. The provider meets the aims and objectives in the Statement of Purpose. Young people and local authorities are clear about the service and what it provides. The children’s guide is age appropriate and a easily readable document.

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Leadership and management

The manager has clearly developed excellent working relationships with local safeguarding services, the police, schools and colleges in the area. As a consequence of this young people’s experiences in the home are enhanced. The manager will make robust challenges if there is a shortfall identified in reviews or there is poor social work contact. Social workers express the view that the home is excellent at maintaining contact and sharing concerns and achievements. One social worker commented that the level of information from the home was ‘regularly excellent and the best that she had experienced’.

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Leadership and management

The manager promptly notifies all significant events relating to the protection of young people to the authorities. Staff, in response to incidents, take appropriate action and all recording is clear and up to date.

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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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