Children's Home run by Anderida Adolescent Care Ltd in East Sussex

Unique reference number SC028526 Inspection date 13/09/2012 Inspector Janet Hunnam Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 29/03/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This setting is registered to accommodate two young people aged between 11 and 17 years of age with emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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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 outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make significant progress in a safe and caring environment. Led by an effective Registered Manager with outstanding leadership skills, the cohesive, skilful and experienced staff team deliver consistent therapeutic care enabling young people to develop an awareness of the meaning of their behaviour and their personal responsibility. Highly individualised provision to meet their specific needs supports young people to make excellent progress in all aspects of their lives.

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Overall effectiveness

Positive, trusting relationships allow young people to build their confidence and self- esteem and move forward with their lives. Detailed care planning processes resulting in highly effective strategies to meet the changing needs of young people generate substantial improvement in their behaviour and personal development. Young people are positive about their experience living at the home and one commented that this ‘is the best place I’ve been’. Safeguarding young people and reducing risk-taking behaviour is at the forefront of practice within the home. Young people confirm they feel safe.

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Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager strives to continually improve the high standards of care through rigorous monitoring and initiatives to further develop staff skills and knowledge to benefit young people. One minor shortfall is identified in the recording of restraint. The Registered Manager is not recording that she discusses the physical intervention with the young person and staff member involved. However, this has little impact on the care of young people and overall the home provides excellent care with the needs of young people continually at the forefront of practice and development.

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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 all children and staff are given the opportunity to discuss incidents of restraint they have been involved in, witnessed or affected by, with a relevant adult and the Registered Manager signs the record to confirm such discussions. (NMS 3.17)

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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 excellent progress notably from their starting points at the time of admission as a result of an outstanding level of care. A social worker commented that a young person’s behaviour had ‘turned around’ since living at the home. Highly individualised therapeutic support helps young people explore and understand their behaviour while developing trusting relationships. Consequently, they feel valued, respected and cared for which builds their self-esteem and confidence.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Close attention to health needs result in young people taking greater responsibility for their own well-being. Young people understand the importance of healthy eating and exercise and with staff encouragement embark on a programme of smoking cessation. Young people’s emotional and psychological well-being has a high priority. The detailed identification of each young person’s specific needs, and intense support from staff and a psychologist, result in significant improvements in their behaviour. A young person stated that ‘staff have helped me a lot’,

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from living in a home where education is valued and is embedded into the daily routine. Young people who are past the age of compulsory education continue to pursue courses to develop their employment skills alongside working part-time. Staff are proactive in pursuing mainstream education for young people enabling them to have opportunities to fulfil their potential and increase their life chances. Young people participate in activities of their choice in the local community such as martial arts classes, swimming, bowling and the cinema. Within the home, young people make a positive contribution by tidying their rooms, helping with shopping and preparing meals.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff are extremely supportive in facilitating young people to establish and improve family relationships. A social worker commented ‘staff are excellent in working with a young person’s parent and helping them to appropriately parent their child’. Young people benefit from this high level of parental support and from improved family relationships. Staff effectively prepare young people for the transition to adult life. Young people work on a life and living skills award which allows them to develop the knowledge and skills needed to live independently or move on to future placements. When young people approach the time of moving, they have opportunities to manage their own budget, shop and cook for themselves and generally experience the reality of managing on a fixed income. They receive full support from staff to help them learn from their mistakes within a safe environment. Consequently, young people acquire a

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Outcomes for children and young people

range of daily living skills to prepare them for changes ahead. Planning for the transition to independent living is done at a pace appropriate to a young person’s needs allowing them to build their confidence and successfully make the move.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people share excellent relationships with staff and thrive in a nurturing and homely environment. A social worker commented ‘I am extremely impressed with the level of care, I can’t fault the staff and the home is brilliant’. The welfare of young people is central to practice at the home. Staff are sensitive and empathetic to young people’s needs and foster respect for each other. Therapeutic relationships develop a young person’s understanding of their background. These relationships are supportive and good-humoured enabling them to develop confidence and trust in the adults who care for them knowing their views are valued. Embedded in the ethos of the home is a constant approach of listening to young people, responding to them and feeding back to them. Formal weekly house meetings are in place following the request of a young person and these meetings are an opportunity for young people to be fully involved in planning their week. Young people personalise their bedrooms

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Quality of care

giving them a sense of belonging and opportunities to develop their own identity. Key sessions provide a further opportunity for young people to express their wishes and feelings. Young people know how to make a complaint and details of the procedure is in the young person’s guide, which is also on a vibrant, young person friendly website. Consequently, young people develop a belief that their views are important and they can contribute to decisions that affect them.

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Quality of care

The care planning process is detailed and comprehensive enabling staff to identify each young person’s individual needs and the support they require to progress in all aspects of their lives. The home uses a lodge in Scotland to assess young people’s needs away from distractions. From the detailed strategies and thorough risk assessments, managers produce guidelines for staff to care effectively for young people. The Registered Manager and senior staff regularly update the staff guidelines to reflect the changing needs of young people and enable all staff to interact consistently, within clear routines, structure and boundaries. As a result, all staff apply the same approach giving young people a sense of safety ensuring risks to the welfare of young people are minimised. Staff receive in-depth support from a psychologist through monthly group clinical supervision to analyse young people’s behaviour and the meaning of that behaviour. The staff team devise strategies within

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Quality of care

a therapeutic ethos to address young people’s risk-taking behaviour and facilitate opportunities for them to make progress. Staff employ other techniques such as cognitive behaviour therapy and solution focused approaches where appropriate to meet specific needs. Frequent key sessions with young people demonstrate on-going staff input to address issues of concern. This cohesive approach from staff allows young people to develop an understanding of themselves and the necessity to take responsibility for their actions and behaviour. Young people are involved in their care planning process through monthly reviews of their progress with their key worker and through the targets set in their reward scheme. Daily informal feedback is given to young people by staff on their progress.

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Quality of care

Young people live in an environment that actively supports their physical and psychological well-being. Staff encourage young people to engage in healthy lifestyles including regular exercise and nutritious meals. Young people have individual therapy sessions to address specific issues such as anger management. Staff reinforce recommended techniques enabling young people to recognise their feelings and emotional responses and apply strategies to keep themselves safe. Staff provide opportunities for young people to obtain specialist support in relation to sexual health and sexual exploitation. Such support enables young people to make informed decisions about their own health. A robust system is in place for the administration of medication.

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Quality of care

The stable and committed staff team is proactive in supporting young people to attend education and achieve to their full potential. From their starting points, which often include sporadic and turbulent education history, young people make significant progress supported by staff who value education. The specialist support of the virtual school for looked after children is utilised to good effect to ensure young people receive the most appropriate form of education to meet their needs. Each young person has a weekly planner detailing the structure of their day with enjoyable, purposeful activities included to foster their individual interests and hobbies.

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Quality of care

The home is comfortable and well maintained. It comprises of two separate houses with adjoining rooms linking the two houses, which allows for separate living facilities for each young person. Overall the home is decorated to a high standard with some areas in the process of being re-decorated. On-going maintenance is evident with staff keen to ensure young people live in a pleasant well-kept home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

A culture of safety protects young people. Structure and boundaries enable young people to feel safe at the home with strong relationships between staff and young people underpinning their safety. Young people are confident they can identify an adult who they can talk to should they feel unsafe. Keeping young people safe is at the forefront of staff practice. The local police missing from home coordinator commented that the home does ’everything they can to keep young people safe’. She stated she is ‘really impressed by their partnership working and their strategies for keeping young people safe. They exhaust all possibilities to keep young people safe’. Excellent identification of young people’s specific vulnerabilities informs the risk assessments, which have highly detailed strategies to reduce risk. Staff apply guidelines consistently to reduce risk and manage challenging behaviour. They are exceedingly vigilant in recognising signs of potentially unsafe behaviour and using

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Safeguarding children and young people

approaches to minimise risk and keep young people and staff protected. Where young people engage in risk-taking behaviour, staff immediately discuss the issues with the young person and address the concerns, emphasising how they will constantly take action to ensure the young person’s safety.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Liaison with the local police, in relation to incidents of young people being absent without permission, is excellent. The local police missing from home coordinator commented that the home is ‘absolutely superb. The interventions they put in place are robust from the start’. Clear protocols and an acute awareness of young people’s vulnerability if they leave the home without permission ensure swift and effective action. Significant improvements are evident where young people have a history of high-risk absconding behaviour before living at the home, to the extent that due to the safeguarding measures in place young people have not left the home without permission. A social worker commented that ‘the home’s intervention is the best I have come across’.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff actively promote and reward positive behaviour. Young people can accumulate points for meeting their targets to use for a variety of exciting and fun activities. The reward scheme is on the young people’s website. Rewards include special, once-in-a- lifetime experiences, or are specific to a young person’s individual interests or aspirations. Training in managing challenging behaviour ensures physical intervention is a last resort. The skills and experience of staff in the use of de-escalation techniques averts potentially difficult situations. The recording of restraint, though comprehensive and detailed, does not include a record that the manager has spoken to the young person or member of staff involved in the restraint. Sanctions are fair and proportionate and staff consider the effectiveness of sanctions in supporting young people to modify their behaviour. The home adopts an approach of restorative

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Safeguarding children and young people

justice to provide opportunities for young people to consider the impact of their behaviour on others. Restorative meetings enable young people to reflect on their actions and to take responsibility for their conduct.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Excellent health and safety measures protect young people and staff from the risk of harm. All checks are up to date, appropriate fire safety measures are in place and risk assessments identify potential hazards and risk-reduction measures. The home follows robust recruitment procedures including group interviews, and trial shifts following which young people provide feedback on their views of the potential member of staff. This process protects young people from the employment of unsuitable people.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are outstanding . The Registered Manager of the home is highly effective. The local police missing from home coordinator commented that ‘the manager is outstanding’. She provides excellent leadership to a staff team that is experienced, stable and committed to providing high quality care to young people to secure positive outcomes. Staff confirm there are clear expectations from management in relation to what is required to care for young people with difficult, challenging behaviour and complex needs to enable them to make progress. The Registered Manager’s support is highly valued by staff. The Registered Manager demonstrates a capacity for continuous improvement through initiatives such as strengthening the therapeutic provision. Training for staff in cognitive behavioural approaches advance staff’s skills in meeting young people’s individual needs. Group clinical supervision and other training give staff specific

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Leadership and management

knowledge and skills to develop a therapeutic approach and apply it in all their interactions with young people. Young people benefit from this approach and show significant improvements in their behaviour advancing their future life prospects. Other improvements include the new process for recruitment and initiatives to obtain the views of neighbours, visitors and local authorities to improve the service. No requirements or recommendations were made at the last inspection. Complaints are infrequent and are dealt with promptly and resolved appropriately. A development plan is in place to secure further improvement in areas such as staff professional development, monitoring stress levels of staff, and the continuing development and embedding of the therapeutic model of working with young people.

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Leadership and management

Rigorous and robust monitoring systems are in place. The Registered Manager undertakes weekly reviews of Schedule 6 matters. Regulation 33 reports are detailed and comprehensive and result in recommendations and an action plan to rectify immediately any shortfalls. The home uses an assessment tool to regularly review staff performance in addition to individual monthly supervision. These effective processes sustain the provision of high quality care, demonstrate a capacity to improve and support positive outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

An enthusiastic and motivated staff team have a wide range of skills and experience. The organisation has a strong commitment to training and development and following induction staff pursue a Level 3 course. Staff have the required qualification and mandatory training to care for young people. A range of therapeutic training and support to equip staff to provide high quality care supplements this. Agency staff are not employed so young people are not cared for by strangers and consistency and continuity of care is not compromised.

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Leadership and management

Record keeping is a strength of the home. Records are detailed, well organised and provide an excellent account of young people’s past, current and future needs. Significant events are notified to the appropriate authorities promptly and in detail.

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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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