Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Southampton

Unique reference number SC407783 Inspection date 29/05/2012 Inspector Anna Williams Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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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 home is run by a national private organisation and provides accommodation for an associated residential special school. The home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people aged nine to seventeen years who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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 inadequate .

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Overall effectiveness

There are significant weaknesses in the management and running of this children’s home. Young people have mixed views about whether they feel safe and secure. Young people do not feel that their views are heard. Staff fail to apply consistent responses to negative behaviours. A culture has developed where staff do not positively address and challenge inappropriate, sexist and derogatory behaviours shown by young people. This does not promote a cohesive and nurturing environment for young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make good progress educationally and their attendance is good. Young people take part in a variety of activities within the community, including voluntary work. Young people maintain contact with family and those significant to them.

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Overall effectiveness

The manager has development plans in place. However, these fail to address areas of shortfall identified within this report. The manager has failed to take appropriate action to secure improvement in the quality of care. Areas of shortfall include; a lack of promotion around healthy lifestyles and adequate diets, poor emotional support for young people who receive significant news about their families, lack of robust checks of agency staff, poor staff awareness of diversity and individual young people’s placement plans, insufficient formal staff supervision, and lack of up-to-date risk assessments for staff to refer to in order to keep young people safe.

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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 the Statement of Purpose is kept under review, and where appropriate, revise it, and ensure Ofsted is notified of any revisions within 28 days (Regulation 5 (a) and (b)) 09/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the welfare of children is promoted within the home, with specific reference to individual children's risk assessments being kept up to date, and the use of window restrictors being fully risk assessed ( Regulation 11 (1)) 09/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure children within the home are provided with food which is properly wholesome, is suitable for their needs and meets their reasonable preferences, and is sufficiently varied (Regulation 13 (a) (i - iii)) 09/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that the behaviour management policy is consistently applied within the home in order to promote positive behaviour (Regulation 17B (1) (b)) 09/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that each child is provided with guidance, support and advice on health and personal care issues appropriate to their needs and wishes, with particular reference to smoking cessation advice and prompt access to CAMHS services (Regulation 20 (2) (d)) 09/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all staff receive appropriate formal supervision, including regularly-used agency staff (Regulation 27 (4) (a)) 09/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure each child's file includes all the information, documents and records specified in Schedule 3, including placement plans and placement review minutes, and is kept up to date (Regulation 28 (1) (a - b)) 09/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) review and revise the system which monitors the quality of care provided in the children's home to ensure it is robust and effective at raising standards of care within the home. (Regulation 34) 09/07/2012

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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 children receive personalised care that promotes all aspects of their individual identity (NMS 2.1)  ensure children develop skills and emotional resilience that will prepare them for independent living (NMS 2.6)  ensure there is an environment and culture to promote models and support positive behaviour that all staff understand and implement (NMS 3.2)  ensure that the home has a record of the recruitment and vetting checks which have been carried out on those working for the children's home (NMS 16.3)  ensure contingency plans are in place in the event of shortfall in staffing (NMS 17.3)  ensure staff are equipped with the skills required to meet the needs of children and purpose of the setting, with specific reference to life story work skills (NMS 18.1)  ensure children in the home are regularly involved in contributing to monitoring the operation of the home, and their views and any concerns are seriously taken

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Recommendations

into account (NMS 21.1)  ensure staff support and encourage the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding, and to keep appropriate memorabilia of their time in the placement. Also ensure that staff record and help children make a record of (subject to age and understanding), significant life events (NMS 22.6)  ensure each child's placement plan is monitored by a key worker and the requirements of the plan are implemented in the day-to-day care of the child (NMS 25.2)  ensure the result of all statutory reviews and reviews of placement plans are recorded on the child's file, and individuals responsible for pursuing actions at the home arising from reviews are clearly identified. (NMS 25.8)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are inadequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people do not have structured opportunities to spend time with staff and reflect on their current situations. Some young people have received important news about those who are significant to them. However, formal emotional support and advice is limited. This does not build emotional resilience, nor support young people to understand their backgrounds.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s individual health needs are not fully met. Young people are registered with local surgeries, but engagement with required appointments is mixed. Young people who are ill or injured receive adequate immediate care. Young people’s psychological health is not promoted due to delays in identified therapy being sourced. Young people who smoke do not take part in any smoking reduction programmes. Young people do not eat a wholesome, varied diet and some young people are overweight. This does not support young people to understand the importance of healthy living, and their personal health needs remain unmet.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are all engaged in educational settings; they make good progress and their attendance is good.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people take part in a variety of community-based activities. These include fishing, bike riding, playing pool and trips to the cinema. Some young people undertake volunteer work at a local attraction. This enhances young people’s opportunities to make new friends and to try new activities.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people maintain contact with family members and those who are significant to them. Young people make telephone calls in private and send letters and cards when they wish. Direct contact arrangements are suitably facilitated by staff. This practice ensures and supports young people to maintain relationships with important people in their lives.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have life skills targets. However, engagement in completing individual goals is mixed and progress is very limited. This means that young people do not progress adequately in learning relevant skills or in building confidence around daily living tasks, which would help them when reaching adulthood. Young people receive appropriate personal allowances which are spent on clothes and personal items.

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Quality of care

Young people do not enjoy positive and constructive relationships with each other. Group dynamics within the home are poorly managed by staff. This leads to some young people feeling unsafe.

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Quality of care

Young people’s views are sought through residents’ meetings and surveys. However, feedback from these is limited and leads to some young people feeling unheard. Some young people say that there is no point is speaking out as nothing changes. This does not ensure that young people are fully engaged in appropriately influencing the running of their home.

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Quality of care

Young people know how to make a complaint. Positively, there has only been one complaint since the last inspection which was suitably addressed.

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Quality of care

Young people’s cultural identity is not adequately promoted. Poor placement planning and unsatisfactory staff awareness of cultural issues means that diversity is not celebrated within the home.

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Quality of care

Young people’s educational attendance and achievement is adequately supported. The home provides suitable learning space and staff support homework tasks as required.

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Quality of care

Staff support young people to take part in a range of activities. This benefits young people’s personal development and encourages them to learn new skills.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a home which provides adequate accommodation. Maintenance tasks are promptly addressed. The current kitchen requires full refurbishment which is planned for June half-term holiday. Young people’s bedrooms are suitably furnished and decorated. However, not all bedroom windows have restrictors on them. A lack of comprehensive risk assessment around the use of window restrictors compromises the safety and security of young people.

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Quality of care

Young people’s placement plans vary in quality and are not up-to-date. Targets set do not always have clear measureable outcomes, and progress indicators are limited. Not all young people have a key worker who monitors their placement plans day to day. This means that the individual needs of young people are not clearly identified and met. Staff knowledge of specific targets for individual young people varies. Young people do not have opportunities to be formally part of creating their personal plans and they do not sign the document. This does not allow young people to be fully involved in their own care.

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Quality of care

Systems in place to record and administer medication are safe and effective.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Some young people say they feel safe in the home, others do not. Staff demonstrate sound awareness of safeguarding procedures.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has a behaviour management policy which promotes positive behaviour. However, staff do not consistently implement this policy in practice. Negative and disruptive behaviour is not adequately challenged. This places young people at risk of inconsistent boundaries being set which is inappropriate and confusing for young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people within the home make offensive remarks which staff do not challenge. These include sexist and homophobic comments and derogatory gestures. Young people feel that not everyone within the home is treated the same way with regard to behaviour management. This environment does not build positive and appropriate relationships between staff and young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Positively, there has only been one use of physical intervention since the last inspection. The use of sanctions is low. However, internal monitoring systems do not identify inconsistent staff practice around challenging behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There have been no incidents of young people missing from the home since the last inspection. Appropriate protocols are in place with local police.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people's risk assessments are not kept up to date and do not reflect recent significant incidents. This means that staff will refer to out-of-date and incomplete risk assessments. This places young people at risk of harm. Safe recruitment practices are in place to ensure contracted staff have all the required checks prior to starting work in the home. However, there are no records of agency staff vetting and recruitment checks within the home. The provider addressed this shortfall immediately during the inspection, however this had not been identified through internal quality assurance.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a physically safe environment. Equipment is tested and checked at the required intervals. Young people know what action to take in case of emergency or a fire.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

There is a manager in post, who has submitted an application and is undertaking the registration process with Ofsted currently. The Statement of Purpose was up-dated in May 2012, but not submitted to Ofsted in line with regulation. The Statement of Purpose contains references to former National Minimum Standards which is confusing for placing authorities, parents and carers. The children's guide provides an adequate child-friendly summary of what it is like to live in the home.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are stored securely. Some young people's files do not contain all the required information as detailed in regulation, such as review minutes. This means that individuals who are responsible for action points are not easily identified and staff do not have current information to inform their practice. Other documents are not kept up to date, and this risks staff referring to incorrect information.

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Leadership and management

Young people request that staff look after some of their personal letters and correspondence. However, these items are not stored or presented in a way which is respectful and sensitive to young people. This does not support the safe keeping of young people's memorabilia, which will help them reflect on significant life events when looking at records in the future.

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Leadership and management

Staff undertake on-line training which is refreshed on a regular basis. 71% of the staff team hold the NVQ 3, and the rest of the team are undertaking their studies currently. This ensures young people are cared for by appropriately trained staff. However, only one member of staff has life story work training. This means there is limited experience within the team to offer young people adequate emotional and practical support around life story work.

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Leadership and management

Staff feel well-supported by the manager. However, formal supervision sessions are infrequent. This does not allow staff the opportunity to reflect on practice and receive feedback on their performance in a structured way. Agency staff who work regularly within the home do not receive supervision. This does not promote a robust approach to staff performance management which would ensure a consistent approach from all staff working within the home.

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Leadership and management

Vacancies within the home mean some staff are working excessive hours, sometimes more than 60 hours a week. The home is actively recruiting. However, poor contingency planning places means young people are cared for by staff who are tired and this compromises the overall quality of care.

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Leadership and management

Regulation 33 visits take place, and involve consultation with young people. However, they are ineffective at identifying weaknesses within the quality of care given. The manager completes monthly Regulation 34 reports. However, they do not contain robust evaluation of the service in order to improve outcomes for young people within the home.

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Leadership and management

Since the last inspection, the manager has suitably addressed two requirements linked to safe medication administration systems, and measures of control records. One previous recommendation has been fully met regarding engaging young people in purposeful activities. However, one requirement regarding Regulation 34 reporting is repeated. Four previous recommendations are now actions. These relate to adequate staff supervision, maintaining up-to-date records including placement plans and risk assessments, and ensuring the views of young people are sought and acted upon. This demonstrates a decline in the quality of care since the last inspection.

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Leadership and management

During the inspection, the manager took immediate action to address some of the identified shortfalls, such as agency recruitment records. Overall, young people's unique and diverse needs are not satisfactorily met within the home and there are significant failures to provide an adequate level 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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