Children's Home run by Acorn Care (UK) Limited in Darlington

Unique reference number SC390751 Inspection date 09/05/2012 Inspector Nicholas Murphy Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 30/01/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company.

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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

The home is responsive to the individual needs of all young people and as a result provides satisfactory care for them. Relationships between staff and young people are good. This helps to ensure that behaviour can be managed in a low-key way which preserves the dignity of young people. Care planning is generally well thought out and regularly reviewed, although plans do not address the full range of young people’s needs. Young people are generally doing well in education and are in reasonable health.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff give young people every opportunity to make informed choices about day-to- day arrangements in the home and the plans for their future. The manager and staff make it clear that the welfare of young people is their primary concern. This is reflected by the way in which staff respond to young people and convey their regard for them. One young person said ‘I’m very pleased with the support I’ve been given.’ The building itself is comfortable and spacious, though there is one aspect of the home which is somewhat institutional.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people feel safe in this home and are protected from any significant harm, although some risk assessments for activities are inadequate. Staff are effective in promoting the cohesion of the group which contributes to the low incidence of bullying. Systems are in place to report any safeguarding concerns promptly and appropriately. The manager is effective in leading his staff and ensuring that they have the right skills and qualities to meet the needs of the young people. However, there are several shortfalls in the wider management of the service, including internal monitoring and the induction of new staff.

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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

12A (2001) agree and sign a plan for the child's placement in accordance with regulation 9 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, specifically to meet the needs of the child in relation to their culture and religion (Regulation 12A(1)) 22/06/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that any activities in which children participate are so far as reasonably practical free from avoidable risk (Regulation 23(b)) 22/06/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish and maintain a system for monitoring matters in the home and improving the quality of care provided, specifically to include consultation with children accommodated, their parents and placing authorities. (Regulation 34 (2)) 22/06/2012

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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

 provide a comfortable and homely environment, specifically to remove the perspex screens over the televisions (NMS 10.3)  ensure that there is a written development plan for the future of the home, reviewed annually (NMS 15.2)  ensure that new staff undertake the Children’s Workforce Development Council’s induction standards, commencing within 7 working days of starting their employment and being completed within 6 months (NMS 18.3)  ensure that reports reviewing the quality of care under Regulation 34 are supplied to Ofsted at six monthly intervals within 28 days of completion. (Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 5, statutory guidance, paragraph 3.14)

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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 have good attendance at school and are reaching satisfactory levels of attainment. Those young people in other types of education or training provision are making good use of the opportunities to learn a range of vocational skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s health is generally good, although some of them continue to smoke. The home ensures that young people have a good, varied diet, and provides them with information and guidance in relation to a range of health issues. This helps them to have the ability to make informed lifestyle choices. All the young people enjoy a range of activities. Some activities, such as going to the gym, have helped some young people make significant progress in their levels of fitness and general well-being.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are learning to deal with setbacks in their daily lives, and they actively seek the assistance of staff to overcome difficulties and provide emotional support. Young people place a high value upon contact with their families and friends. Staff make sure that contact arrangements are agreed with social workers and parents and understood by young people. This ensures that any contact is consistently managed and that, when young people need support or supervision in contact, staff can provide this. This ensures that young people are able to maintain attachments to family members and friends and understand their culture and background.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff use both formal programmes of work and more informal counselling and support to help young people become ready to leave the home. This support includes an element of support which the home continues to provide even after a young person has moved on. This helps to smooth the process and increases the likelihood of a successful transition into adulthood.

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Quality of care

Staff foster warm and caring relationships with young people. They are attentive to the needs of young people and treat them with respect. This helps to ensure that they can exercise as much control over their lives as is possible and appropriate. Staff give young people a variety of ways in which they can express their views. Group meetings allow young people the opportunity to raise issues about care in the home. Regular and frequent individual sessions with keyworkers enable young people to say what they think about their own care needs and how they would like them to be met. This level of involvement by each young person contributes to the success of the care plan. One social worker commented ‘I’m sure that in future years my young person will realise the care and support they received at the home will have assisted their progression.’

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Quality of care

Staff draw up young people’s placement plans with regard to their individual needs and circumstances. Needs are identified either in the overarching care plan or the most recent looked after review. Placement plans are shared with young people who are helped to understand placement objectives and how they will be achieved. There is a good level of detail within these plans. This ensures that all staff can respond to young people in ways which are consistent and promote progress. The needs of young people in relation to their cultural and religious preferences are met through daily practice in the home. However, placement plans do not specifically contain reference to these issues. As a consequence, ensuring equality and respecting diversity is more difficult to achieve in a systematic way.

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Quality of care

The home encourages and supports healthy lifestyles for young people. Staff facilitate access to a range of services which help to meet the physical and emotional health needs of young people. Staff have links with schools and other education providers and are fully involved in planning in order to further improve attendance and attainment. Staff praise young people for any achievement, however small, both in education and in other areas of their lives.

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Quality of care

The home is comfortable and well appointed, and the layout gives young people adequate privacy when they want it. This gives young people living here the sense that they are valued and deserve to have an attractive environment. However, this homeliness is somewhat negated by the televisions in the communal rooms being covered by a perspex sheet.

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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

The home has a relaxed and open ethos. This ensures that young people feel entirely comfortable in making any concerns known either to staff or to people outside the home. As a result of this, and the low incidence of bullying, young people feel safe here. In addition, young people have the added security of knowing that the home has clear expectations of what behaviour is appropriate. Positive behaviour is encouraged and rewarded through a formal incentive system. This, and the general acceptance by the young people of the boundaries in the home, helps to ensure that the use of sanctions is relatively low.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are few incidents where young people go missing, and even then the period of absence is not unduly long. Staff have a good understanding of the circumstances in which individual young people may go missing or fail to return on time. This means that they can take action to prevent this happening. In addition, good relationships with the local police mean that coordinated action to deal with such incidents can be quickly put into effect. This minimises the length of time that the young person is away and thus reduces any risk to them.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are skilled in using their positive relationships with young people to manage any challenging behaviour calmly and effectively. Detailed risk assessments of each young person identify triggers which may make young people distressed or upset. Just as importantly, these and other planning documents describe what works (and what does not) in resolving the resultant behaviour. For example, one young person’s plan describes the calming effect that a simple caring physical gesture can have on them when they are becoming distressed. This detailed and explicit strategy enables all staff to respond consistently and effectively. Such information is regularly reviewed and updated and shared with staff every time they come on duty. As a result, there is seldom a need to use physical restraint. Recruitment practice is robust and thorough and ensures that only suitable people are employed to work here. The manager is proactive in notifying the appropriate

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Safeguarding children and young people

agencies of any child protection concerns. This ensures that any required action can be taken in a coordinated way with other agencies and thus is most effective in protecting young people from harm.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Written risk assessments are in place for the building and activities undertaken by young people. However, these are not in a consistent format. They do not identify all hazards attached to an activity, what risks arise from them, and what measures are in place to minimise them. This means that staff cannot always know what they need to do to ensure that young people are not injured while taking part in activities.

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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 manager and senior staff provide strong and visible leadership to the staff team. The manager regularly monitors the work of staff in updating placement plans and other documentation. This ensures that plans have a consistent level of quality and reflect changing circumstances in a young person’s life.

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Leadership and management

All recommendations from the previous inspection have been addressed. Now, all young people are engaged in either mainstream or specialist education provision. Young people are able to make comments on the written record when they have been restrained. This helps them gain a better understanding of why it was necessary. The children’s guide has been revised, so that young people know how to contact people outside the home such as their independent reviewing officer. All staff have the appropriate child care qualification or are working towards it, and the record of staff supervision now includes the duration of each session. These improvements mean that staff are better equipped to meet the needs of young people.

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Leadership and management

The manager is aware of the importance of monitoring the progress of young people towards achieving good outcomes and is developing a system to do this. However, the formal process of internal monitoring of the home is not evaluative and does not include consultation with young people, their parents and social workers. This means that shortfalls in practice are more difficult to identify and address. Additionally, the manager does not send the monitoring report to Ofsted, which means that the regulator cannot provide appropriate oversight of the home’s operation. Furthermore, the home does not have a current development plan. As a result, there is no systematic programme in place to build on existing good practice and improve outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

Staff receive training in a number of areas which enhances their ability to promote the welfare of young people and keep them safe. Staff are well supported by the manager and enabled through formal supervision to develop their skills and reflect on their practice. However, not all staff have undergone the required induction programme. This means that they are not fully prepared for the task of looking after young people and providing the right standard of care.

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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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