Children's Home run by Keys Nhcc Ltd in Shropshire

Unique reference number SC020607 Inspection date 09/05/2012 Inspector David Morgan Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Date of last inspection 06/02/2012 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 home provides care for up to three children or young people. The service is for children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties aged between age 8 and 17 years; it is privately owned. There is also a satellite property that may provide care for an additional child or young person.

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 adequate .

p.3

Overall effectiveness

The service was judged good at the last full inspection and progress at the interim inspection was satisfactory. Although there is good personalisation of care and effective safeguarding, monitoring is less thorough than necessary. There is also insufficient integration of the satellite property into development planning. As a result, young people experience some features that are institutional rather than homely. Safety measures are adequate overall, although one matter requires prompt assessment.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

Young people experience many positive aspects of care but also some that set too low a standard for them, particularly regarding the physical environments. This is exacerbated by a high proportion of agency staff with which young people cannot experience meaningful relationships and consistent standards. There are also insufficiently clear post-admission processes and recording of young people’s views about restraints. This indicates insufficient leadership; however additional senior staff have recently been appointed to help the service to move forward.

p.3

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.

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure all parts of the home to which children have access are, so far as reasonably practicable, free from hazards to their health or safety. This is with regard to dealing with refuse around the bins and assessing the oil pipe in the car park at the main house (Regulation 23(a)) 25/06/2012

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that if any event listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. This is with regard to informing Ofsted of not only the instigation but also the outcome of any child protection enquiry (Regulation 30(1)) 25/06/2012

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure all parts of the children’s home used by children are kept clean and reasonably decorated and maintained. This is with particular regard to the satellite property (Regulation 31(2)(e)) 25/06/2012

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) consult with the fire and rescue authority to ensure adequate means of escape, with regard to replacing deadlocks on external doors at the satellite property (Regulation 32(1)(b)) 25/06/2012

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the person carrying out visits in accordance with this regulation inspect the premises of the children’s home. This relates to the outside of properties as well as internally. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 25/06/2012

p.4

Recommendations

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

p.4

Recommendations

 ensure where any sanctions, disciplinary measures or restraint are used, children are encouraged to have their views recorded in the records kept by the home (NMS 3.18)  ensure all children take part in a range of activities, including leisure activities and trips. This is with regard to community involvement (NMS 7.2)  ensure children have access to a range of educational resources to support their learning, including internet access at home (NMS 8.2)  ensure the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated. Avoidable hazards are removed as is consistent with a domestic setting. Risk reduction does not lead to an institutional feel. This is with regard to the use of a metal filing cabinet and padlock in the kitchen and the location of the freezer in the lounge of the satellite property (NMS 10.3)  ensure the home has and implements clear procedures for introducing children to

p.4

Recommendations

the home, the staff and other children living there. They help children understand what to expect from living in the home. This is with regard to the need for clearly managed admission and post-admission processes (NMS 11.1)  ensure the registered person has a written development plan, reviewed annually, for the future of the home. This is with regard to it including the satellite property (NMS 15.2)  ensure there is a good quality learning and development programme and that staff are equipped with the skills required to meet the needs of the children and purpose of the setting, with regard to providing training about the promotion of social diversity and ensuring it is applied in the home. (NMS 18.1)

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from a suitably protective home where they learn to keep themselves safe. They receive consistent messages from staff that have successfully led to significantly less offending and risk-taking behaviour. Individual relationships between young people and staff are positive and effective attachments are in place. As a result young people benefit substantially from their educations and make significant progress in their educational achievements. However, although they have access to the internet elsewhere, insufficient progress has been made to provide internet access to young people on site. This restricts their opportunities to develop their understanding of the safe use of technology and misses an opportunity to promote learning opportunities as fully as possible.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people learn to increase their emotional resilience and to understand and tolerate those around them. Personal strategies are implemented so they are more able to deal positively with challenges and setbacks. This is particularly effective in helping young people stay safe. They also understand how to present their concerns formally and they use such channels effectively.

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are guided to be as independent as possible in their individual circumstances. This is demonstrated by their skills around the houses and in planning their weekly timetables. They are also prepared well for future placements or for moves into independence. They are confident about their next moves and their views are a critical part of the planning. Young people understand the value of healthy lifestyles and have good opportunities to become involved in the local community. However, this is somewhat underdeveloped with regard to routinely undertaking leisure and volunteering opportunities in all cases, for example. As a result, some young people are having somewhat fewer opportunities to develop additional interests or having opportunities to widen their circle of friends. On the other hand, their contact with families is maintained as well as possible. This is an important contribution to their social networks and emotional well-being both now and in the

p.5

Quality of care

The quality of care is adequate overall but there is a wide range of effectiveness. There is close attention, for example, to meeting young people’s individual needs arising from their learning abilities and backgrounds. Good practice is also evident in the work undertaken to prepare young people for adulthood. Occasional opportunities are taken to discuss and promote issues around social diversity, such as gender and racial equality. However, the manager’s aim to promote social diversity in a systematic way has not yet been implemented.

p.6

Quality of care

Young people are provided with ample opportunities to express their views about the service through meetings, advocates and complaints. Any concerns are acted upon promptly and in several cases the quality of care has improved as a result, for example, regarding better designation of their smoking areas away from the house. Young people have confidence in this system.

p.6

Quality of care

Each young person’s needs are identified clearly. Their health needs, for example, are addressed satisfactorily overall. However, staff are not sufficiently clear about what information is to be given to young people who have been admitted recently. This means that their input to young people at this critical time is less clear and coordinated than necessary. Of greater impact is the lack of attention to young people’s surroundings on both sites, particularly pre-admission.

p.6

Quality of care

The satellite property is for one young person only and is inadequately presented because of a range of concerns. These include holes in several walls; there is a condemned and partially dismantled gas fire. There is a missing shelf from the fire place, missing light bulbs, and soiled carpets. All of these issues pre-date the existing resident's admission. In addition, there are shortfalls regarding cleanliness and presentation, for example, regarding the windows, graffiti near the front door, litter and redundant ironwork outside, and poor presentation of the gardens. Other features are not sufficiently homely such as the large metal filing cabinet in the kitchen that is secured with a padlock and the freezer located in the dining room; these create an institutional impression in an otherwise extremely suitable property that is well located. Such issues demonstrate insufficiently stringent monitoring

p.6

Quality of care

amongst managers, which, in turn, do not foster sufficiently high expectations amongst young people and staff

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

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

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from effective systems of safeguarding and behaviour management. As a result, incidents of risk-taking behaviour, such as self-harming and being absent without authority, have reduced significantly. Occasions when young people go missing are rarer and are usually less dangerous. Falling levels of physical interventions also indicate successful practice although follow-up conversations with young people do not always occur or are not always recorded. This indicates a shortfall in the organisation of staff and means that behaviour management strategies are potentially less effective than possible.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people feel safe in their home. This has improved in the main house because of the work undertaken by staff to understand and stabilise the relationships between young people. Bullying now occurs very rarely. Bedroom door alarms and waking night staff help to ensure young people also feel safe at night. Other agencies are notified of issues that arise so that young people benefit from a coordinated approach. It is necessary, however, that the outcomes, as well as the instigation of child protection enquiries, are notified to Ofsted.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

At the main house, shortfalls exist in health and safety standards. These include poor presentation of the outside of the property, including accumulated cigarette butts, litter and waste food. This is a health hazard that attracts vermin such as squirrels, and is also poor role-modelling for young people. Although young people benefit from their gardens, there is insufficient creative use of this facility. An oil pipe supplying fuel to the house is vulnerable to damage by cars; this is a significant hazard although it has been in place since the home was registered. Fire safety arrangements have not been reviewed in the satellite property prior to the admission of a new young person, which means that fire equipment is not in its usual place and thumb locks, as fitted to the main building to facilitate exits in an emergency, have not been installed.

p.7

Leadership and management

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

p.7

Leadership and management

The leadership and management is inconsistent in monitoring shortfalls in practice. For example, certain recommendations arising from previous inspections have not been fully addressed, such as the installation of the internet and implementing a strategy to promote social diversity. Similarly, insufficient attention is given to parts of the physical environment that young people have access to and are influenced by. On the other hand, previous requirements have been addressed. Staff effectively protect young people and reduce their negative behaviours. Staff also feel well supported by managers and their supervision meetings are undertaken regularly. This is reflected in the positive way that staff deal with young people. Young people's individual circumstances are assessed carefully and appropriate action is taken in tandem with other professionals. Therefore the leadership and management are showing sufficient capacity to bring about positive changes to the service overall

p.7

Leadership and management

Development planning is completed in a clear way in the main house but not at the satellite. This means that although the satellite property is regularly visited by managers, there is no plan in place to remedy shortfalls or improve the service there. The satellite property is required to be registered separately as it operates significantly differently to the main house and this is now underway. Monitoring of both services occurs regularly by the manager and also by senior representatives of the organisation. However, it does not adequately assess all parts of the properties to which young people have access. This is the main reason why external areas and some internal areas are of an inadequate standard.

p.7

Leadership and management

There are adequate staffing levels. However, there are low levels of qualified staff, although training is underway, and a high ratio of agency staff (approximately a third). As a result, young people do not benefit as much as possible from high quality staff input and additional pressures are put on permanent staff. This is particularly evident with new young people, as described above, and is a concern expressed by young people. Most of the shortfalls are understood by the manager and steps are being taken to address them albeit retrospectively, for instance, by recruiting staff and providing ongoing training. Additional senior staff have also been recruited recently. This is an important part of ensuring sufficient capacity for managing each shift with greatest effect for each young person.

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