Children's Home run by Keys ACE Limited in Bury

Unique reference number SC420388 Inspection date 09/05/2012 Inspector Mark Kersh Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Date of last inspection 11/11/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

p.2

Brief description of the service

The setting is a detached property in its own grounds, providing accommodation for up to four young people who have experienced emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private provider.

p.3

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

p.3

Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

p.3

Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from clear care plans which include measurable outcomes specific to each young person.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

Staff value the importance of building relationships with young people and work hard to achieve this. As a result, young people are settled, feel they are listened to and their views acted upon and enjoy time with staff. Staff work constructively with families to support contact and they advocate for young people to ensure that they gain the advice and support they need. Championing young people's needs, despite barriers, is a key strength of the home and is on-going, in particular to securing suitable educational provision for young people.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

Trained staff in the home demonstrate a good understanding of safe working practice to meet individual young people's needs. This robust safeguarding practice promotes the safety of young people, and they feel safe and are safe within the home.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager provides strong leadership and is supported by a dedicated management team who in turn support the staff team. As a consequence young people's needs remain central and they experience improved outcomes across all aspects of their development. Their needs and achievements are closely scrutinised and effective monitoring processes ensure that any weaknesses or patterns or concern are promptly identified and addressed.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

Two recommendations are raised in order to further improve practice, these are in relation to, accurate information within the children's guide and making the home's development plan available.

p.3

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

p.4

Recommendations

 update the children's guide to accurately reflect what the home sets out to do for children, how they can find out their rights, how they can contact their independent reviewing officer, the Children's Rights Director and Ofsted if they wish to raise a concern with inspectors (NMS 13.5)  ensure a written development plan is available within the home and reviewed annually. (NMS 15.2)

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people receive individualised care and support which helps them grow in confidence. They are supported to understand their background through meaningful individual key-working sessions. Young people are involved in the daily running of the home, cooking, shopping, cleaning, menu and activity planning. They participate in young people's meetings and contribute their views for change and improvement. These practices empower young people to have control over their own daily lives.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's health care is of a good standard as young people have access to a local doctor, dentist and optician. Appropriate consents are in place for medical matters. Specific and specialist health provision is provided by professionals external to the home and staff support young people to engage positively with them, as and when needed. Young people have an understanding of key health risks, as a consequence, risk taking behaviours such as smoking, drug and alcohol use and sexual health risks are decreasing.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making good progress in attendance and achievement in their education. Staff have worked in a determined manner to ensure that appropriate placements are sourced quickly and, as a result, young people's education is disrupted as little as possible. This helps to ensure that with support young people can continue to attend and achieve. Contact between the home and school is frequent and effective, enabling staff to support young people successfully with homework or personal targets.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people sustain opportunities to experience a range of activities within the community and they contribute and express their preferred hobbies and interests, all of which are responded to positively by staff to ensure young people's interests are well met.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are supported to establish and maintain constructive contact with families, friends, and other people who play a significant role in their lives. This is sensitively managed and in line with young people’s individual placement plans. Young people say staff have helped them to increase the frequency in which contact takes place, which benefits them greatly and enables them to keep in touch with their families.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Staff help young people to prepare for future independence by encouraging them to develop basic life skills and by giving them practical and emotional support. Young people are encouraged to help with all the household tasks. Currently young people are not at an age where a full programme of independence training would benefit them. Staff have a variety of practical skills that they are keen to share and implement when young people are ready for independence.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people enjoy warm, positive relationships with staff which are the foundation for the good standards of care received by young people. Staff are enthusiastic about their work and actively engage with young people to promote their development. Young people feel that they are listened to and that their views contribute to the running of the home. Young people comment: 'I like living here, staff always listen and they care; it’s ten out of ten.'

p.5

Quality of care

Young people say that they are confident to complain and understand how to do so. Any complaints received are clearly recorded to reflect the action taken by the staff and the outcomes.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people are encouraged to make a positive contribution to their placement and the running of the home. Young people confirm that they are involved in all aspects of their care and that they are given every opportunity to contribute to their own care planning arrangements and statutory review meetings. Staff actively seek their views at both an individual and group level and respond in a way that makes the young people believe that their opinions are valued. The home actively promotes a culture which recognises and respects young people's rights. Young people speak positively about how staff support them and how this makes them feel valued and respected.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people's medication is stored securely. There are clear procedures in place for administration and disposal of medication which are followed in practice by trained staff. All medication in the home is checked daily and this ensures accountability.

p.5

Quality of care

Staff appreciate that individual young people may have needs arising from diversity. The young people receive individualised care and support in line with their diverse needs. Where necessary, staff commission individual support services involved in the health, care and education of young people. The home has links with a wide range of helping agencies, and good practice has helped to provide services to suit each individual young person. Young people confirm that staff provide care and support to them in a way that is particular to them. Staff are aided by external professionals in providing good quality health care in emotional health.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people's educational attendance and achievement is good in relation to individual ability. Staff are proactive and consistent in supporting educational achievements. Young people receive good levels of support to ensure they attend school and positively address challenges and barriers to educational progress and achievement. Young people can expect staff to liaise with schools or local education authorities to ensure suitable provision is found to sustain young people's learning.

p.6

Quality of care

Young people are supported to pursue their own individual interests and hobbies. They benefit from a range of enjoyable experiences, including holidays and a range of diverse and varied activities within the community. Young people's needs in relation to ethnicity, age, sexual orientation and gender are all addressed positively.

p.6

Quality of care

Young people are provided with a good standard of accommodation, which is homely, decorated and furnished in accordance with young people's needs. The setup of the home enables young people to have privacy and appropriate areas are provided for education and meetings with, for example, social workers, friends and family.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

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

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say that they are safe within their home and feel that the staff do their utmost to ensure that they understand all potential risks and can appreciate the steps taken to promote their safety. Staff have access to clear information, support, guidance and advice about child protection and safeguarding requirements. Staff understand their responsibility to protect young people and are able to demonstrate what actions they would take to keep young people safe. Staff are confident about their roles and responsibilities in all areas. This ensures that young people are safe and are cared for in line with their placement plan.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

The home has a clear missing from home procedure that includes agreed protocols with the local police. These procedures provide details of prompt actions to be taken when young people go missing and include positive responses to returning young people. Incidents of young people being missing from home have decreased since the previous inspection, as a result of close working with other professionals to agree and implement strategies. Agreements with young people and the people they are visiting ensure staff know the whereabouts of young people when they are away from the home.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Respectful and warm relationships between staff and young people provide the basis for managing behaviour effectively. There are few incidents of restraints and staff are clear that this is only used as a very last resort to prevent harm to young people. Methods such as rewards, consequences and adult role modelling encourage young people's positive behaviour and assists them in accepting responsibility for their actions. Staff reinforce an anti-bullying culture and incidents are effectively resolved to protect young people.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are further protected by the organisation's robust recruitment procedures that follow safer recruitment standards. Staff appropriately monitor any visitors to the home and maintain a visitors’ book.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

Regular fire safety checks, general checks and maintenance arrangements ensure the home is physically safe and is kept safe. All staff have received fire safety training to enable them to minimise the risks to young people in the event of a fire at the home. Three young people confirm this saying, 'we have been involved in quite a few fire drills and know what to do when the alarm goes off.'

p.7

Leadership and management

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

p.7

Leadership and management

Young people live in a home that is effectively and efficiently run by a strong and effective Registered Manager. There are clear lines of accountability within the management team and this helps promote and develop good practice which means that young people are able to live in an environment that is predictable and responsive to need.

p.7

Leadership and management

There were no requirements or recommendations made at the previous inspection and this home can demonstrate capacity for continuing improvement, based on its track record. No concerns or complaints have been raised following the previous inspection.

p.7

Leadership and management

The home has an up-to-date Statement of Purpose and all staff and placing social workers know the intended aims and objectives and how these are to be met. There are some minor omissions in the children's guide in relation to payable allowances and details of how young people can contact their independent reviewing officer and the Children's Rights Director.

p.7

Leadership and management

Comprehensive monitoring and feedback on practice ensures that the manager is keenly aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Regular external monitoring by people not connected to the home ensures the views of young people, social workers and where appropriate families are asked about the quality of care provided. These effective evaluations help to ensure that standards at the home continue to be good. Service development plans are derived from this monitoring, however, the home's development plan was not available on the day of this inspection.

p.7

Leadership and management

Detailed risk assessments in relation to health and safety matters and external professional contractor checks for gas and electrical equipment are in place to ensure that the physical environment at the home is maintained to a high standard. The manager confirms that there are sufficient funds to carry on the daily operation of the home and that the home is resourced well financially.

p.7

Leadership and management

Staff confirm that they are very well supported and the organisation demonstrates a commitment to professional development. All existing staff have attained the required qualification and any new staff are to commence this with confirmation of their probation period. Regular quality supervision, team meetings and training opportunities all contribute to the competence of the staff in providing good care to young people. Sstaff demonstrate well the positive impact the home has on improving young people's outcomes and how young people's progress has improved from their starting points.

p.8

Leadership and management

Young people's statutory reviews and visits by their social workers are all carried out within agreed timescales. One visiting social worker commented, 'this is the best placement for x, staff are excellent at communicating and keeping me informed and they are always welcoming when I visit the home'.

p.8

Leadership and management

Young people's case file records and other written documentation are of a good standard. This facilitates good communication with other professionals as well as ensuring young people have a permanent and secure record of their history. Good cross referencing of all documentation enables the management team and staff to evaluate and monitor young people's progress. Young people's individual case files are confidentially stored and are arranged in a manner that makes them useable by staff and yet accessible to young people. Young people know that they can have access to their records. The young people’s individual case records reflect their development and progress.

p.8

Leadership and management

All staff are clear in relation to their responsibilities of notifying appropriate authorities of any significant event that takes place. Any action needed following a significant event is followed up and recorded appropriately. This system further protects young people.

p.8

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.

p.9

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.

p.9