Children's Home run by Kent County Council in Kent

Unique reference number SC403850 Inspection date 14/05/2012 Inspector Lucy Ansell Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 29/02/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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.

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Brief description of the service

This is a council-run, short-break service for children and young people. The home caters for up to six young people living with learning and/or physical disabilities. This includes young people with complex needs and those on the autistic spectrum.

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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

Individual outcomes for young people are excellent with young people receiving individualised child-focused care. Complex medical needs are well met by qualified nursing staff and young people are encouraged to be healthy. Staff ensure young people make good progress and that they have a great time doing lots of fun activities during their stay.

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Overall effectiveness

Children and young people, their families and the professionals involved in their care are all highly positive about the care provided. A strength of the service is the flexible and creative ways they are able to meet children’s and families’ needs. The manager has a clear vision of how to manage the home to improve the quality of care and outcomes for children.

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Overall effectiveness

Two requirements were made. The Regulation 33 reports need to be submitted within the required timescales. The manager's review of the quality of care needs to analyse how the unit and the care provided has improved. A recommendation was made for care plans to show progress and demonstrate how the stay at the home has helped children acquire new skills.

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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) supply a copy of the report required to be made under paragraph 4 (c) to the HMCI within the required time scales (Regulation 33) 31/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish and maintain a system for improving the quality of care provided in the children's home. (Regulation 34 (1) (b)) 31/07/2012

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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 result of all statutory reviews and reviews of placement plans are recorded on the child's file thereby helping to analyse the information to show progress and to show how the stay at the home has helped children acquire new skills. (NMS 25.8)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make excellent progress within many areas of their development which has an impact on their confidence and skills. Young people benefit socially by accessing a wide range of new experiences. Staff use gentle teaching to encourage the young people to learn new skills and change unwanted behaviours. Young people's needs and views are central to all aspects of how the home operates. This has resulted in young people's comments improving their environment and influencing trips out to the wider community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Excellent health care plans ensure that the complex needs of young people are clearly identified with robust guidance for staff to follow to promote healthy lifestyles and their health needs. Young people benefit from qualified nurses being available for additional input to expand the opportunities and monitor their health care needs. Young people who have life threatening conditions or require palliative care are sensitively supported by the qualified nurses.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people who stay at the home have excellent school attendance; transport is provided from the school to the home. The home ensures that close links with local schools promotes key information about children's day-to-day lives being shared. Staff attend key school events and all review meetings.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are positive and gain confidence from being active fund raisers for the home and from hosting and taking part in many locally organised events ensuring they are fully integrated into the community. For example, young people are looking forward to the forthcoming street party for the Queen's Jubilee. Young people enjoy active and varied lives while staying at the home. This includes participation with local clubs, facilities and trips out.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy caring and positive relationships with their caregivers. There are many relationships which span a substantial length of time, providing a secure base of stability and trust. Interactions observed were caring and supportive. Staff are consistent in promoting choice and support in a manner that meets individual young people's needs. Staff are competent at managing the behaviours of young people ensuring that positive interactions were maintained and promoted. Young people stated, 'All the staff are really nice', and 'It's chilled and relaxed here.’ Staff demonstrate a good understanding of young people's individual personalities, needs, interests and strengths.

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Quality of care

The home ensures that young people have regular house meetings and children are encouraged to express their views regardless of their communication needs. The home promotes the use of alternative methods of communication that meets children's individual needs. This results in young people's views and wishes significantly influencing the running of the home and the delivery of their care.

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Quality of care

The home's complaints policy is presented in different formats to meet a variety of communication needs. This ensures that young people are made aware of the ways to make a complaint. The home promotes the use of advocacy if required. Parents and young people are surveyed periodically to gain their views on the services provided, feedback from these is consistently positive.

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Quality of care

Young people are cared for in line with their detailed individual short-break care plan. Care plans include specific details relating to a young person's gender, ethnicity, faith, sexuality, culture, family background and any disability. Documentary evidence and discussions with parents and staff, confirm staff are promoting these specific needs. Care plans identify goals and targets. However, not all care plan goals clearly identify progress made during their stay at the home.

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Quality of care

Clear planning is in place to support health needs and staff complete competency assessments before taking on responsibility for any health tasks not completed by nursing staff. Staff are trained and competent in key areas such as first aid, medication administration, emotional well-being and other issues which may affect the young people. The home has robust management arrangements in place for the management of medications. Parents of young people receiving short-break care retain the overall responsibility for the healthcare of the child. However, staff attend appointments on the rare occasion when these coincide with the respite stay. Young people are encouraged to enjoy active and healthy lifestyles. Staff encourage young people to eat a healthy diet and will encourage them to try new foods and activities. The home ensures young people enjoy a wide ranging variety of activities, such as art and craft, playing in the garden, using the go-karts, going to the beach, and

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Quality of care

having parties. Children and young people's families say that they love coming to stay and that they have lots of fun. One young person stated, 'I have fun here.’ A wheelchair accessible bus is provided so that staff can provide young people with good access to the community.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy staying in a welcoming, homely environment with safe, secure child-friendly grounds. It is well maintained and decorated, and standards of cleanliness are high. Each young person has their own bedroom during their stay and they are encouraged to bring things from home to personalise the room. Each bedroom provides specialist equipment to meet the individual needs of the young people. The home provides a relaxing and nurturing environment for young people to grow and develop.

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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 benefit from staff taking positive steps to ensure they feel safe, secure and well cared for. Young people have close supervision due to their care needs so bullying or children going missing are not issues of concern. All behaviour is viewed as a way of communicating. Staff seek to understand and respond to the young people's needs based upon their sound knowledge of the children. Parents speak positively about how safe and secure they feel about their child's care. They say, 'It's a godsend knowing you can trust the staff who are excellent at managing their behaviours.’ Young people observed clearly trust the staff and feel comfortable around them.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected from abuse by staff who receive training in safeguarding. The home has updated child protection policies to reflect local authority changes. This ensures staff remain up to date with safeguarding procedures and have a sound understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from positive and proactive behaviour management strategies being consistently applied. This assists the young people to develop socially acceptable behaviours and reduce unwanted ones. Restraints and sanctions are used very rarely, careful monitoring ensures accurate clear details are recorded. Comprehensive risk assessments identify young people's vulnerability and any protective factors to ensure young people's safety and welfare.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are actively safeguarded through robust employment and vetting practices. The Registered Manager ensures that no member of staff is employed until all checks have been completed to verify an applicant’s experience, references and identity. Criminal Records Bureau checks are also carried out before a position is confirmed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected by good systems being in place to ensure the safety and security of the building. Regular checks are undertaken to ensure the on-going safety of the building and any appliances. Fire arrangements in the home ensure young people and staff are safeguarded from fire in line with current good practice.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

Management arrangements are clear and the home is well resourced to ensure that children and young people receive good levels of support. The young people and the staff team benefit from positive management and clear leadership and the home is well managed. The home has demonstrated its capacity for continuous improvement by addressing all previous recommendations and improving its performance in this inspection.

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Leadership and management

The home's Statement of Purpose accurately reflects the services they are able to offer and is updated regularly to ensure all information is correct. The updated children's guide is appropriate to the young people using the service, contains all required information and is available in an appropriate format. The home has clear processes to ensure that complaints are effectively responded to, investigated and managed. Children and young people's families know how to complain and have confidence in the service’s ability to respond to any issues of concern which they may raise.

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Leadership and management

The service has effective internal systems for monitoring the quality of care. These include monthly external reports which, while of a high quality, are not submitted in a timely fashion. The manager's reports, while containing all the required information, do not demonstrate the impact and value that living at the home has had on the young people. Good quality assurance feedback systems for parents ensure their views are sought. The home has recently introduced pictorial feedback forms for children and young people so they can clearly tell the home of their likes and dislikes. This empowers young people. Any issues identified are swiftly addressed as management and staff are continually striving to improve standards of care. The Registered Manager is clear on the service’s strengths and weaknesses and has a clear development plan in place.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from an experienced stable team who are well trained and who use their individual skills to benefit the young people. The staff understand the individual strengths and needs of the young people who are accessing the home for short breaks. There is a commitment to anti-discriminatory practice and to supporting cultural and gendered identity. All staff have received good training relevant to the roles they perform. Staff state that the management team are approachable, flexible and supportive. Regular staff meetings and supervision ensure that staff are aware of key issues within the home.

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Leadership and management

Feedback from parents, and the learning disability manager spoken with, was highly complimentary on the competence of manager, partnership working and the commitment of the staff team. The learning disability manager said, ‘Young people make excellent progress; the service provides excellent levels of care and by working in partnership they can address any issues urgently, so families don’t have to wait for extra help.’ Parents also refer to the excellent care of their children and the support for their family.

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Leadership and management

The home ensures young people benefit from receiving regular reviews of their care. If a young person has very complex needs or they need additional support the reviews are held more frequently to ensure their individual needs are being well met. Good quality records that are clear, comprehensive and up to date contribute to a good understanding of the young people's lives. All notifications of significant events relating to the protection of children are reported to the appropriate authorities and appropriate action is taken.

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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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