Children's Home run by South Tyneside Council in South Tyneside

Unique reference number SC032697 Inspection date 17/07/2012 Inspector Stephen Graham Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 09/02/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is registered to offer care and accommodation for six children who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Brief description of the service

The home is operated by the local authority.

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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

The overall outcomes for young people living at the home are good. They are encouraged and supported to discuss their care needs with the manager and staff team. They participate positively in a good range of leisure activities in the community. They benefit from appropriate and well-organised support and advice regarding their personal health care needs. They practise their self-care skills very regularly and the staff team provides good opportunities at the home for them to do so. Young people receive good encouragement and support to help them to attend their education and employment opportunities regularly. The building provides a very comfortable and homely environment for young people to live in.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people receive outstanding individual support from the manager and the staff team. They feel safe living at the home and the staff team provides them with good advice and support to help keep themselves safe. The home is well led and managed. The arrangements used to monitor and further improve the service are outstanding. There are some minor shortfalls within the records and documentation available at the home. These shortfalls have no impact on the good quality care that young people receive from the staff team and manager.

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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 that the written records kept by the home when a child goes missing detail the circumstances of the child’s return (NMS 5.10)  ensure that any avoidable hazards at the home are removed. (NMS 10.3)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

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Outcomes for children and young people

The outcomes achieved by young people living at the home are good. Young people know about their care plans and are encouraged to discuss these regularly with staff. This helps ensure that the care they receive is personalised and meets their individual needs. The individual achievements of each young person living at the home are documented clearly. One young person describes the time spent in ‘the company’ of staff and other young people as one of the best things about living at the home. The staff team works well with parents, carers and social work professionals to achieve good outcomes for young people. Their responses describe how the home ‘is very welcoming’ and how, ‘staff are friendly and supportive to the young people.’ One describes the overall atmosphere at the home as ‘supporting and nurturing’. Another describes the home as having a ‘nice atmosphere’ and how the young people they had placed ‘really like it’. Another describes how young people are

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Outcomes for children and young people

‘treated with respect and as individuals’.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people living at the home enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle. They participate in a range of healthy activities within their local community. The staff team has access to a good range of information, resources and very well-organised independent advice which they use to help young people to maintain good health. Young people access the health services and support that they need and agree that staff look after them if they are ever unwell. Social care professionals agree strongly that young people living at the home enjoy access to appropriate health care.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people also enjoy good outcomes in their education and further training. One social care professional commended the ‘100% attendance’ now achieved by the young person in their education since coming to live at the home. The staff team works to support the learning of young people through their close links with education and employment staff. This helps to ensure that information is shared effectively, to improve educational and employment outcomes. Young people can successfully practise and develop their self-care skills whilst living at the home. There are good resources and a well-organised programme in place to support young people to do this. One social care professional describes how the young person they had placed ‘works well with staff in developing their key and life skills.’

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding . Young people living at the home receive outstanding support and care. One social care professional describes staff as being ‘diligent, professional and child-centred’. Regular meetings are organised to review the effectiveness of care plans. Young people participate fully in these meetings. They contribute their views personally and feel that they are listened to. Managers and staff team members also attend these meetings and provide very detailed reports regarding the progress being made by each young person. Equality and diversity issues are identified clearly in care plans and are positively addressed in daily living arrangements at the home.

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Quality of care

The home has detailed admission procedures which are used effectively by the manager and staff to admit young people safely and to help them settle in quickly. Introductory visits are organised where possible. The manager and staff team uses detailed admission documentation to help ensure that young people are properly matched with the home and the service it provides. Young people benefit from very stable placements at the home. One social care professional described how in their experience, ‘the young people I have known have loved living there and are reluctant to move on when they get older.’

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Quality of care

The home is well furnished and decorated and comfortably meets the needs of the young people who live there. The communal spaces within the home are presented to a very high standard and young people are closely involved in the choice of decoration and furnishings. Each young person has their own bedroom and there are sufficient bathroom facilities. Young people enjoy easy access to a broad range of local community facilities. One social care professional commented very positively on the successful efforts of staff and young people to be a part of their local community and to enjoy good relationships with their neighbours. They describe staff and young people as being ‘community minded’ and add that they ‘interact well with neighbours’.

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Quality of care

Young people living at the home are encouraged to eat well and to enjoy a healthy diet. They are regularly involved in menu planning and food preparation. The food prepared includes a range of healthy choices and examples of food from a variety of cultures. The staff team receives regular first aid training. They are also trained in safe food hygiene and the administration of medication.

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Quality of care

The staff team works to promote and sustain very positive and constructive relationships with each young person living at the home. They use the plans agreed with young people and their placing social workers to help manage behaviours positively and effectively. Young people receive outstanding encouragement and support to be involved in the overall running of the home. The manager and staff team maintain very good records which demonstrate how the ideas and suggestions young people make are considered and regularly incorporated into overall care arrangements. Young people describe spending time with staff and each other and being able to talk and discuss things regularly as being some of the best things about living at the home. Social care professionals, parents and carers are also asked very regularly what they think about the service and how it might improve.

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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 good arrangements in place which safeguard the young people who live there. Young people agree strongly that they feel safe living at the home. The staff team has access to detailed safeguarding procedures and guidance. They receive regular training to help protect young people from abuse. The care plans completed by the manager in partnership with young people and their placing social workers clearly identify risks and protective factors for each young person. These plans are monitored and reviewed regularly to ensure that they remain effective in helping to keep young people safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff team has access to clear procedures which they use to help ensure that, where young people go missing from the home, they are found and kept safe as quickly as possible. Where young people have been missing, the staff team has worked very positively with them and their placing social workers to reduce the number of events occurring and to minimise any further risks. One social care professional described how the young person they work with was ‘constantly absconding’ from a previous placement. They describe how they are now ‘very settled’ living at this home and how they ‘work well with staff’. There has been no use of physical restraint at the home and the use of agreed sanctions is very rarely necessary. Overall, young people enjoy very positive and constructive relationships with the staff team.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home provides a safe and comfortable environment that meets the needs of the young people who live there. Risk assessments and health and safety checks are completed to help minimise any risks to young people. However, the records maintained of these safety checks do not always clearly demonstrate that they have been completed at the required frequency. The staff team is trained to know what to do in any emergency and they practise this regularly with young people. Arrangements are in place to complete checks on new staff team members to ensure they are suitable to work with children. Visitors to the home are supervised by staff to help ensure that children are kept safe when they are present.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The arrangements to lead and manage the home are outstanding. The manager monitors the quality of care provided to young people. They work very effectively with the staff team and young people to plan and implement further improvements to the service where this is possible. The home has a Statement of Purpose in place which is reviewed regularly to ensure that it continues to describe accurately the service provided. Young people receive their own summary guide to the home which is well presented and contains some good information.

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Leadership and management

The staff team working at the home is very experienced. They participate regularly in a range of additional training opportunities. This helps to ensure that they maintain the knowledge and skills required to care for young people successfully. The staff team is regularly supervised. There are arrangements in place to appraise their performance annually. Daily staffing levels at the home are closely monitored by the manager to help ensure that young people receive the care and support they need. The home has a good relationship with the local community and their neighbours.

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Leadership and management

The manager has detailed systems in place which they use to monitor the service and to create reports regarding the quality of care provided to young people. Independent monitoring visits are also completed on behalf of the registered provider. These also report very clearly on all required and recommended matters. The information gathered through these arrangements is used effectively to help plan further improvements to the service. Social care professionals with links to the home believe that improving outcomes for children is the clear priority of the manager and staff team at the home.

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Leadership and management

The three actions and two recommendations made at the previous inspection visit have each been fully implemented by the manager and staff team.

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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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