Children's Home run by New Forest Care Limited in Hampshire

Unique reference number SC068046 Inspection date 17/07/2012 Inspector Bridget Goddard Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 14/02/2012 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

A private company owns and operates this children's home. The setting accommodates a maximum of one young person of either sex between the ages of 10 and 17 years who have complex emotional, behavioural and educational difficulties. The company uses attachment therapeutic approaches in engaging young people. Where it is assessed that young people are not able to attend main stream schooling, the company has the provision of a small specialist education unit and a working farm.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality 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

Young people make outstanding progress with a focused and committed staff group who offer an outstanding quality of care. Young people's well-being is central to this home and young people benefit from highly individualised care strategies. The home is good at keeping young people safe, and detailed risk assessments are regularly updated to reflect changing needs.

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Overall effectiveness

The home offers a bespoke programme of therapeutic interventions which are tailored to meet young people's specific needs. The home has a positive approach to behaviour management and is successful in reducing harmful behaviours. There is low use of both restraints and sanctions, but the policy on when restraint can be used is not compliant with regulation. Staff are positive about working in the home and feel they are well supported through training and supervision.

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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

17A (2001) ensure that the policy on positive intervention is reviewed to ensure that it is compliant with the appropriate regulation. (Regulation 17A (1)) 28/08/2012

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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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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 are making exceptional progress in all key areas of their life. They have progressed from at best intermittent school attendance, to routinely attending school in a timely fashion. They now have very good attendance, and consequently are now achieving at school. Their level of educational achievement is very good, both in terms of their starting point and attainment level.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have made huge progress in improving their health. They are demonstrably physically healthier because of a good diet and routine physical activity, but are also emotionally more robust. Young people demonstrate this by their increased ability to deal with setbacks in their lives, and by coping better with stressful situations. Some young people are also much better able to manage their own specific health needs effectively.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people do not engage in offending, or use of harmful substances. There are no regular issues with risk- taking behaviour and such behaviour is rare. This means that young people are able to use their energies in much more positive ways. Young people are engaged in community activities on several nights a week, and this helps them grow in confidence and promotes the development of useful skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have regular contact with those important to them. This helps them understand their background and maintains and builds crucial emotional attachments. Young people are making excellent progress in gaining independence skills, and have acquired important skills in self maintenance, cooking, shopping and finances. This means that they have acquired some useful core skills to help them cope with adult life.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding . The company prioritises young people being cared for by a staff group that they know and trust. This means that if young people move home within the company, the staff group moves with that young person. This gives young people excellent opportunities to build strong relationships with their staff group and encourages positive behaviour. Staff are highly committed to promoting young people's welfare, for example, actively supporting young people's attendance at a variety of community activities. This has been a sensitive and carefully planned process, and has resulted in young people acquiring both new skills and confidence. Staff also join in with young people in celebrating rewards and achievements. This gives young people a bank of positive experiences to draw on.

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Quality of care

Young people are very much at the centre of practice at the home. The pattern of the day is built around their needs and activities, and regular care planning meetings ensure that young people are consistently cared for according to their care plans. These plans pay careful attention to young people's needs and well-reflect their personal identity. Young people know that they are not able to achieve some goals immediately, and they are enabled to express their views on this regularly. For example, young people contribute to their risk assessments and their daily log. Young people are knowledgeable about the complaints process, and there have been recent complaints by young people. Responses to these have been prompt and thorough, and young people are appropriately involved in the outcomes.

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Quality of care

Staff ensure that young people's good health is systematically and imaginatively promoted. Young people's physical heath is much improved by personalised attention to maximising both healthy eating and to achieving a wide range of active hobbies. Young people's emotional and psychological health needs receive particular attention, and young people clearly benefit from bespoke, direct delivery of a range of therapeutic interventions. In addition, young people's daily care is discussed routinely with psychological specialists and staff are able to reflect on their practice and adjust this accordingly. This excellent attention to maximising psychological well- being also extends to the most important relationships in young people's lives.

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Quality of care

Young people generally attend the company's own school. Staff support young people's regular attendance and celebrate their achievements. This enables close working relationships between school and home and consistent application of most behaviour strategies. The home also has highly effective relationships with placing social workers who 'really like the level of care provided'.

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Quality of care

Young people further benefit from living in a home that is well-maintained, and well - designed for the needs of the young people living there.

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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 clearly demonstrate by their generally relaxed behaviour and close relationships with staff that they feel safe and secure in the home. Staff support this by their careful attention to young people's safety. This ranges from thorough home based risk assessments, to assessments focused on protecting young people in everyday activities outside the home. These thorough assessments are regularly re- assessed and updated and shared with young people as appropriate and with placing authorities. This means that young people are well-protected from unnecessary risk, but are able to develop life skills in line with their growing abilities.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people rarely go missing, and staff have a good understanding of the triggers for such behaviour; how to mitigate this risk, and effective strategies during such incidents. This has proved to be very successful in reducing the numbers of such incidents. Generally, the numbers of incidents has dropped dramatically over the last few months. This means that young people are being further protected from harm.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home is very effective at devising and using highly individualised behaviour strategies. This is greatly assisted by discussion of all sanctions and restraints at regular meetings. Behaviour strategies are routinely and appropriately modified to increase their effectiveness, for example changing incentives to further promote desired behaviour. If sanctions become necessary, young people are involved in choosing from an individualised selection. This helps encourage personal responsibility for behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff routinely use effective de-escalation techniques to minimise behavioural conflict, and consequently, sanctions are low and the numbers of restraint incidents has significantly decreased. Records of physical restraint are well-kept. However, the organisation's restraint policy does not accurately reflect under what circumstances restraint can be used. The policy includes the possible use of restraint in situations where it is not permissible to use restraint. There is no clear evidence to suggest that this has adversely impacted on practice or young people, but there is a risk that restraint could be used inappropriately.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff ensure that any allegations of harm are thoroughly dealt with. The home environment is kept safe and secure by regular maintenance and routine completion of health and safety checks including fire drills, which involve young people.

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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

The home is well- managed by the Registered Manager. Much of the daily management of the home is ably carried out by the day-to day-manager. There have been some internal complaints since the last inspection, and these have been responded to well. There were no recommendations or requirements at the last inspection. The most significant change since the last inspection has been the change to young people and therefore the staff group. The management of the home has clearly responded positively to this and are producing improved outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose has been updated, and gives a detailed oversight of the home's ethos and practice which are well-understood by placing authorities. Managers have routine oversight of such areas as sanctions and medication, and their detailed knowledge of young people means they can usefully comment and make appropriate modifications as necessary. Managers engage in all meetings about young people and often discuss with them the next stages in their plan or any proposed changes.

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Leadership and management

There is an appropriate development plan in place and this is supplemented by a log which details progress. Staff are very positive about working in the home, particularly about the on-going commitment to constant improvement. They are pleased about their levels of support and supervision saying: 'managers are very supportive and accessible outside formal supervision'. Supervision is routinely held and is detailed and individualised. Team meetings are held appropriately, and provide good opportunities for the whole staff group to look at the detail of how young people are cared for. Training is well-organised and reflects the care needs of young people. This very good package of staff support and challenge means that they are as well- equipped as possible to offer high quality care.

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Leadership and management

The home is well-resourced and maintained and has good relationships with neighbours. There are sufficient staff to effectively meet young people's needs. Records are clear and well-kept and placing authorities praise the home's communication seeing it as: 'excellent, in that I am always updated '.

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Leadership and management

Monitoring systems are effective and Regulation 33 visits are received in a timely fashion. These contain useful comments and observations from young people, staff and other agencies which make them particularly effective. Notifications about significant events are promptly and accurately made, and any action on these is very appropriate.

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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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