Children's Home run by Laurel Leaf Homes Ltd in Newham

Unique reference number SC060545 Inspection date 23/07/2012 Inspector Jackie Graves Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 01/05/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is privately run. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for eight children with learning disabilities or emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making inadequate progress.

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Progress

At the last full inspection on the 1 May 2012 the home was judged to be adequate. Since then there has been a decline in the standards of care. Outcomes for young people are compromised and they are not making sufficient progress.

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Progress

Incidents which have occurred since the last inspection show that some staff, although trained, are unable to manage the very challenging aspects of some young people's behaviour, and at times the number of staff on duty has not been sufficient to safely manage them. Some incidents have resulted in damage to the home, injury to staff, some staff leaving the home, the arrest of some young people, and in some cases, the termination of their placement. Although there is a core team of staff who have established positive relationships with young people and can better manage their behaviour, young people do not benefit from staffing which is sufficiently consistent and skilled in helping them to feel secure through the establishment of boundaries. The service continues to try to recruit suitable staff to the team; the manager has increased the number of staff on duty at night and there have been fewer disruptive incidents recently. However, not all incidents are notified to Ofsted

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Progress

as required. This limits the regulator's ability to assess what is happening in the home and take any appropriate follow-up action.

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Progress

Although the home has met one requirement and two recommendations made at the last inspection, insufficient progress has been made in meeting one requirement and five recommendations. In addition, six further requirements and three recommendations are made as a result of this inspection, as the home is failing to meet all national minimum standards and Children's Homes Regulations.

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Progress

Records of any physical intervention have improved. These now contain all information required to show a detailed account of all restraints. These also include young people's comments to ensure they can contribute their views on their experience of being restrained.

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Progress

The front door of the property is kept locked, therefore, young people's liberty is restricted. Young people must ask staff to unlock this door should they wish to leave by this exit or admit friends who are visiting. Although open on the day of inspection, the rear exit has also been locked at times and this has further impacted on young people's free movement into and out of the building.

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Progress

The records of incidents of young people going missing show some improvement. These now detail any reasons given by the young person for going missing and any action taken by the home in light of these reasons. However, records do not include the action taken by staff to protect young people's welfare when they are missing. This shortfall in records also limits how the home may monitor and learn from such events.

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Progress

There are some plans to widen young people's participation in activities, including summer holiday activities. However, there is an over-reliance on electronic media in the home. This limits opportunities for young people to develop confidence, self- esteem and physical fitness through finding new interests and hobbies or getting involved with others in the community. Some further books have been provided but there is only a limited range of educational resources to support young people's learning. Mealtimes are not always social occasions shared with staff. Young people can make themselves snacks, drinks and meals but there is not always enough food in the home to provide them with a sufficiently wide range of foods, nor adequate staff supervision and input to encourage them to make healthy choices. As a result, meals may be eaten in isolation and young people may not develop healthy eating habits.

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Progress

Not all areas of the building provide a comfortable and homely environment for young people. Some areas of the home remain stark and institutional, for example, the lounge, where not all lights are working and there are mostly unfilled shelves. Some areas of the building are not sufficiently furnished and are stark in appearance, for example, the first floor corridor.

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Progress

The staff recruitment process shows some improvement. This now includes asking referees for their opinion on a candidate's suitability to work with children. However, the home has not met a requirement to include verifying why the previous employment or position ended, resulting in a recruitment process which is not entirely robust in order to protect young people. Female and male young people live in the home. The staff team includes people of both genders but there is an imbalance of the gender ratio on some shifts. As a consequence, this restricts young people's choice regarding who attends to their personal care needs. However, the manager is taking steps to address this.

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Progress

Staff have been reminded of what they must do if they receive an allegation or have suspicions of a child protection nature. Training is planned to ensure all staff know how to keep young people safe and protect them. As this has not yet been completed, a recommendation concerning staff understanding of child protection is repeated in this report.

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Progress

Monitoring systems are in place but are not sufficiently effective to help the service develop and consistently meet national minimum standards. Reports of the manager's monitoring do not identify or analyse areas where outcomes for young people and the quality of care may be improved. Monitoring visits on behalf of the provider are conducted regularly. However, action is not always taken by the home in response to all the findings of these monitoring visits to rectify problems and improve the quality of care, for example, to improve the appearance of the games room. Also, management have not always found reports of these visits entirely useful in helping the service develop, for example, because they contain some inaccuracies. However, a new visitor has recently been appointed to improve the quality of reports.

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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) make sure the registered provider and the registered manager shall, having regard to the size of the children's home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children accommodated there, carry on or manage the home (as the case may be) with sufficient care, competence and skill (Regulation 9 (1)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that children accommodated in a children's home are provided with food which is properly prepared, wholesome and nutritious, is suitable for their needs and meets their reasonable preferences; and is sufficiently varied (Regulation 13 (1) (a) (ii-iv)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

11 ensure that the children's home is conducted so as to promote 10/08/2012 (2001) and make proper provision for the welfare of children accommodated there; with particular reference to making proper provision for the care, education, supervision and, where appropriate, treatment, of children accommodated there.(Regulation 11 (1) (a-b) (2) (a-b)) 17A (2001) make sure a measure of restraint may only be used in a children's home for the purpose of, in the case of a child accommodated in a children's home which is a secure children's home, preventing the child from absconding from the home (Regulation 17A (1) (c)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure the registered person implements the behaviour management policy and the means whereby appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the home. Keep under review and where appropriate revise the behaviour management policy and notify HMCI of any such revision within 28 days (Regulation 17B (1) (a-b) (2) (a-b)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure, having regard to the size of the children's home, the statement of purpose, and the number and needs of the children accommodated there; and the need to safeguard and promote the health and welfare of the children accommodated in the home, a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working at the children's home (Regulation 25 (1) (a) (b)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) obtain, where a person has previously worked with children or vulnerable adults, so far as reasonably practicable, verification of the reason why the employment or position ended (Regulation 26 Schedule 2 (4)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure, if in relation to a children's home, any of the events 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 (Regulation 30 (1)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain the system for improving the quality of care provided in the children's home. (Regulation 34 (1) (b)) 10/08/2012

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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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Recommendations

 ensure the children's home does not provide any form of secure accommodation unless the home is an approved secure children's home (NMS 3.19)  make sure that written records kept by the home when a child goes missing detail action taken by staff, the circumstances of the child's return, any reasons given by the child for running away from the home, and any action taken in the light of those reasons (NMS 5.10)  encourage children to participate in a range of positive activities that contribute to their physical and emotional health: with particular reference to making meal times social occasions shared with staff and ensuring there is sufficient food available at all times to promote healthy choices (NMS 6.3)  ensure children have access to a range of educational resources to support their learning and have opportunities beyond the school day to engage in activities which promote learning (NMS 8.2)

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Recommendations

 ensure the home provides a comfortable and homely environment, and risk reduction does not lead to an institutional feel (NMS 10.3)  ensure the staff group who are in day-to-day contact with children includes staff of both genders wherever possible (NMS 17.10)  ensure all staff understand what they must do if they receive an allegation or have suspicions of a child protection nature (NMS 20.1)  ensure the registered person takes action to address any issues of concern that they identify or which is raised with them. (NMS 21.9)

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011).

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