Children's Home run by North East Lincolnshire Council in North East Lincolnshire

Unique reference number SC367802 Inspection date 18/05/2012 Inspector Fiona Parker Type of inspection Full Provision subtype

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Date of last inspection 21/02/2012 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 local authority home offers a service for children and young people aged between five and 17 years with learning disabilities or learning and physical disabilities. The home can accommodate one young person full time and offer short breaks and shared care arrangements for a number of children and young people. Depending on the level of need, either one young person may receive a service or no more than two young people at any one time.

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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 adequate .

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Overall effectiveness

Overall young people make adequate and some good progress, particularly in keeping healthy; enjoying regular exercise; favourite activities and maintaining a structured education routine to work towards their potential. Young people and all staff are starting to develop positive and warm relationships which is enhanced by a recent period of stability in staffing arrangements. Staff are committed to keeping young people safe. This includes the frequent use of physical interventions. There has been a very recent reduction in physical interventions. However this is not yet sustained to support the successes staff are aiming for with alternative strategies and reducing young people's frustration levels. Care plans are individual and tailored to young people's needs with regular multi-disciplinary reviews to improve young people's experiences.

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Overall effectiveness

Overall this home is providing adequate care with some good aspects. Two requirements are made to enhance staff training, skills and confidence and forward individual internal monitoring reports to Ofsted. Recommendations to maintain staff continuity, provide advocacy, an individual development plan and maintain a homely environment are made to improve the quality of care.

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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 all staff receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. In particular training in physical interventions, managing challenging behaviours and communication to the level of young people's presenting needs (Regulation 27 (4)) 31/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) supply to HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted for the purposes of paragraph (1). In particular forward Regulation 34 reports to Ofsted of the monitoring of this individual home. (Regulation 34 (2)) 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

 assist children to obtain the support of an independent advocate to help them in providing their views, wishes and feelings to statutory reviews (NMS 25.7)  make every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children's attachments are not overly disrupted (NMS 17.8)  ensure the home provides a comfortable environment and is well maintained and decorated. In particular the décor in the home reflects young people's interests and personality and any repairs and repainting are promptly attended to (NMS 10.3)  ensure the registered provider has a written development plan. In particular the development plan outlines the plans, future or any changes for this individual home. (NMS 15.2)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are adequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are beginning to form relationships with core staff members and starting to emotionally benefit from some consistency in their lives. Young people are starting to recognise their own emotions and learn how to express these more positively. Young people are healthy and enjoy a balanced diet to maintain healthy outcomes. Where young people have complex health and behavioural needs appropriate professionals regularly contribute to their plans and care. This ensures young people benefit from a multi-disciplinary approach and perspective to their needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people regularly attend their educational placements and are well supported to maintain daily routines to benefit from their education. Progress in education is satisfactory with young people making small steps to achieve personal goals, for example holding a pen, counting numbers and identifying familiar faces in photographs. Young people make choices about their day, for example: which activity to do next: the colour choices in their bedrooms and how they would like to celebrate their birthday. Young people enjoy activities in the community such as weekly swimming, discos and visits to local parks. This helps young people to develop socially, keep physically healthy and offers structure to their lives. Where possible staff try to encourage broader interests and think creatively about what young people may enjoy.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are starting to learn about respecting their own privacy and dignity and spending private time alone, as well as recognising the personal space of others to keep everyone safe. Where young people may experience disappointments staff try to minimise this and find other ways to promote young people's identity. For example, they support young people to make photograph collages of people who are significant to them. Although staff and an additional person in the local authority advocates for young people, young people do not currently benefit from independent advocacy to represent their views through key transitions.

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Quality of care

Staff are appropriately aware of young people's individual needs and detailed plans suitably guide staff on strategies. All staff are fully committed to building relationships and supporting young people. However difficulties in staffing arrangements have impacted upon consistency for young people and consolidating strong relationships. High levels of incidences and physical interventions are difficult for young people and for staff to manage. Positively, the number of incidences is starting to reduce as staff start to build relationships and ways to communicate to reduce young people's frustrations. During periods where young people are settled staff maximise the opportunities to broaden young people's interests and experiences, for example golf and specially adapted quad biking. Staff look ahead to age-appropriate activities as young people develop, such as opportunities open to them within adult services. Where young people take regular medication as part of

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Quality of care

their plan, arrangements to administer it are sound and accountable.

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Quality of care

Staff work effectively with partner agencies, such as education to agree consistent approaches and maximise learning from shared experiences. This is a positive step although this is at an early stage of development. Equally staff maintain regular contact with key professionals, particularly education and psychology services to scrutinise approaches and respond to young people's needs. Where appropriate staff ensure young people are not disadvantaged due to disabilities, they challenge the basis for any decisions to test this is not the case and promote equality. This is good practice.

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Quality of care

Staff work pro-actively and sensitively with parents to promote family relationships and positive contact experiences, for example in the home, family home or in the community. This increases the chances of positive and enjoyable experiences for young people. Staff are very flexible in supporting arrangements to suit everyone's needs and fully recognise the importance of maintaining relationships for young people's futures.

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Quality of care

Overall the home is clean, appropriately secure and offers a pleasant home to young people. Staff try to maintain a homely and low arousal environment to suit young people's needs, although young people's interests and personality are not fully reflected. Maintenance tasks are promptly reported and the home is kept safe, however there are delays in the local authority's arrangements for repainting and repairing when damage occurs.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people do not routinely experience bullying and staff promote their safety in and outside the home. Where young people's needs are not compatible, alternative arrangements are available to offer accommodation or short breaks within the service. Opportunities for young people to go missing are effectively minimised; if required there are agreed local protocols with police and partner agencies.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people display challenging and complex behaviours which present risks and challenges to keep them and staff safe. As a result, there are a high number of physical interventions, some of which result in injuries to staff. Thorough records detail risks, practice and decision making to support interventions in line with legislation. Some recent evidence shows physical interventions are reducing but this is not yet supported by a sustained period. The manager and staff team aim to continue to reduce interventions and support young people through early intervention strategies and increasingly consistent relationships.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are well aware of their safeguarding responsibilities, reporting arrangements and maintain current knowledge through refreshing their training. Appropriate safety checks and fire drills, including tailored plans to support young people take part in drills, promotes safety.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The home has a suitable and experienced Registered Manager who provides appropriate leadership supported by senior workers and a service manager. The home operates in line with a clear Statement of Purpose, which suitably informs interested parties of the services available. Young people learn about the service through pictorial information which can be tailored to individual needs. The manager has taken appropriate action to meet the requirement and one of the recommendations from the previous inspection. Improving the recording of restraints ensures practice is accountable. The staff team has increased and each shift reflects a balance of gender to offer young people a mix of role models.

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Leadership and management

Independent monitoring adequately reports on monthly progress and reports are forwarded to Ofsted. Weekly service management meetings review the quality of care in the home. Clear reports of the individual monitoring for this home, however are not forwarded to Ofsted. The manager and staff are clear on strengths and areas they are working to improve, such as consistency and implementing behavioural strategies. A service development plan outlines the scope of the overall service. However it does not sufficiently outline the aims, objectives and measurable progress for this individual home.

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Leadership and management

Staff report they are well supported through regular supervision, team meetings and case discussions to reflect on their role and discuss young people's needs. This has been a difficult period due to staffing issues. This has placed high demands on the service which has affected the consistency of care. The staff team is almost at a full complement with two vacancies covered by overtime and a dedicated team of relief staff. At times, following appropriate checks, education staff have supported the home. Young people are starting to build relationships and identify warmly with individual members of staff.

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Leadership and management

Staff receive appropriate training; however the complexities of young people's needs place high demands on staff skills and confidence to make difficult decisions when under pressure. The current level of training does not sufficiently equip the staff team to further develop the quality of care.

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Leadership and management

Significant events are well reported and records are diligently kept and chart young people's lives in sensitive and child-centred language for their future.

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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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