Children's Home run by Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC065792 Inspection date 14/09/2012 Inspector Deirdra Keating Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 27/03/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is owned by a registered charity. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is a therapeutic community based on an Integrated Systemic Therapy model.

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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 adequate .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from care that is planned carefully in conjunction with social workers and placing authorities. The systems to facilitate planning young people's care are meticulous and promote good overall outcomes. A Social worker commends the partnership working and the way in which the home meet regularly with external professionals. Young people are fully involved in care planning, able to contribute their views and happy with the care they receive.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people build attachments with staff that provide continuity and stability. Young people generally get on well and accept one another's differences. The atmosphere in the home is usually calm and settled and this helps young people feel safe and secure.

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Overall effectiveness

The management team of the home are established and working to drive improvement and address weaknesses. Shortfalls identified at the inspection include monitoring, record keeping, staff training and knowledge. At present, these do not affect the good outcomes for young people and the quality of care provided.

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Overall effectiveness

Following a serious incident at the home there has been critical review of the supervision of young people resulting in changes to staffing arrangements. The home has demonstrated compliance and transparency in working closely with outside professionals and Ofsted to address these shortfalls and ensure that safeguarding arrangements are robust.

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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

17B (2001) ensure that the written record of the use of any measure of control includes the effectiveness and any consequence ( Regulation 17 (b) (3) (f)) 28/09/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the review of the quality of care shall provide for consultation with children accommodated in the home, their parents and placing authorities. (Regulation 34 (3) (1)) 28/12/2012

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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 that entries in records are legible and clearly expressed (NMS 22.4)  ensure that the manager monitors in line with regulations all records kept by the home to ensure compliance with the homes policies (NMS 21.2)  ensure that all existing care staff have attained a minimum level 3 qualification and that all new staff hold the level 3 or be working towards it within 6 months of employment (NMS 18.5)  ensure that all staff understand what they must do if they receive an allegation. (NMS 20.1)

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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

Young people achieve positive outcomes and make good progress across all areas of development. They eat well, settle well at night and manage their own personal hygiene. These set routines benefit young people's general health and help promote good school attendance. All young people have educational placements and overall attendance is good. However, there was a serious incident at the home that affected young people's attendance. This meant that for a short period some young people were at the home and this may have been contributory in others not wanting to go to school. This was an isolated period and the percentage of attendance since is consistently good with young people demonstrating academic progress. Young people get to know staff who work closely with them and spend individual time with them on a regular basis. This helps young people build attachments and benefit from adults that know them well and can provide specific emotional support.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people recently enjoyed a group holiday where they stayed in log cabins and took part in a range of activities and new experiences with staff. Young people benefit from clubs and sports in the community where they develop their individual interests and hobbies. These include horse riding, swimming, cycling and football.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are able to have contact with families and significant adults as arranged with social workers and this is facilitated well by the home. Contact is based on young people's wishes where appropriate and this has helped young people develop a better understanding of their unique family backgrounds. A social worker said that contact facilitated by the home 'has really helped her young person move on and develop acceptance regarding her family background.' This benefits young people as they reach adolescence and start to consider their future lives. Young people enjoy more contact with friends and peers as they become older and more responsible. This helps young people build friendships outside the home and learn about independence. Young people are encouraged to start to make their own travel arrangements and staff provide a good balance between allowing young people freedom and responsibility while maintaining their safe whereabouts.

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Quality of care

The staff provide care that is highly individualised and planned holistically. For example, dedicated link workers are planned in conjunction with young people's past experiences and current needs and these are reviewed regularly. Link staff take responsibility for updating care plans and providing regular quality individual times with young people. This has helped young people develop trust and provided grounded and consistent adult role models. Social workers report that this has positively helped young people move on from their past experiences.

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Quality of care

The home runs as a community and meetings with staff and children form part of the daily routine. This provides a forum where young people can air their views and feelings about personal issues and the daily running of the home. Ideas raised by young people are discussed and young people are central to decisions made about their requests. This helps young people know that their views are valued and why staff impose certain rules and boundaries. The discussions are open and honest, staff provide transparency where possible and this helps young people understand why some decisions are made.

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Quality of care

Child focussed meetings ensure that staff and outside professionals can carefully plan care that helps young people develop and grow emotionally. The meetings ensure that young people's wishes are sought. Social workers report that this has been significant in arranging new contact with key adults in children's lives and this has been beneficial to young people. A social worker said, 'there has been opening and movement regarding contact that has really supported young people's understanding of their family background.'

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Quality of care

The staff raise children's views regularly at staff meetings discussing practical requests, contact with friends and travel arrangements. Overall, staff strike a good balance between enabling young people to have freedom and choice about their lives while providing safe parenting perimeters in accordance with their individual ages and vulnerabilities. This means young people can enjoy friendships and relationships outside the home with other peers supporting their development of social skills.

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Quality of care

The home is situated in a rural area surround by trees, fields and animals. Extensive gardens provide ample room for physical activities. Staff promote this well and facilitate, cricket, trampolining, football, cycling and walking. The staff provide healthy adult role models and encourage young people to enjoy active lifestyles outside in the fresh air. The interior of the home also supports the quality of care provided. The house is welcoming and cosy, it is kept clean and fresh by staff promoting a homely and comfortable environment in which young people are relaxed. Bedrooms are highly personalised and reflect young people's individual choices and interests. This includes some young people who have small pets in their rooms. This helps young people know their ideas are valued and treated as individuals.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people report that they generally feel safe at the home. High levels of supervision mean that there are few instances of bullying between young people. There are occasional disagreements that have resulted in two incidents of a physical nature. The reporting of these are difficult to track through records that lack detail and consequences following these events are unclear. Young people are expected to learn from consequences although the approach to care is therapeutic and staff try to deal with the core problem rather than react to symptomatic behaviours. This reflects the therapeutic ethos of the home. Overall, young people are given clear boundaries and expectations regarding how they treat one another, staff and the environment but the reporting of this is poor.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Restraint of young people by trained staff are carried out when situations meet a set safety criteria. The number of restraints since the last inspection is high. Staff are trained in safe techniques and monitor throughout incidents to ensure young people's safety and comfort. However, records of restraint do not consistently record all the required detail. This makes monitoring and review of such incidents difficult to interpret and this reporting does not meet the requirements intended to safeguard young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home is secure and maintained well. Young people are cared for in a home that is physically safe and regularly risk assessed for dangers such as hazards and fire. There are no incidences of young people going missing from the service. Young people are generally collected by staff and are not out beyond agreed times. Young people adhere to coming back at agreed times, staff monitor this well and this keeps young people safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The inspector was aware during the inspection that serious allegations of a child protection nature had been recently investigated by the appropriate authorities. Actions taken by the setting in response to the incident were considered alongside the other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform the inspectors judgements. These include reviewed and more robust safeguarding arrangements to ensure young people are protected from potential harm. The home has worked closely with the local authority and social workers to ensure that action taken in response to the incident will ensure robust safeguarding arrangements are embedded in future practice.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The home has an established staff team and Registered Manager. Although management arrangements are being restructured resulting in a change in the registered manager there will be no impact of this change on young people. This promotes continuity of care for young people.

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Leadership and management

The home meets the aims and objectives as detailed in the Statement of Purpose. The home promotes a model of therapeutic care for young people with complex backgrounds. This has benefitted young people over long term placements. Young people have developed social skills, gained good acceptance about their family backgrounds and made academic achievements. Social workers report that young people benefit from the long-term stability and emotional security while at the home.

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Leadership and management

The staff team are supported and supervised by the management team. All staff receive supervision which highlights training needs to support their roles. While staff undertake therapeutic training, several staff do not have a Level 3 qualification despite being in post for some time. This means that staff may potentially lack knowledge and understanding regarding practice which could impact on the quality of care provided.

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Leadership and management

Shortfalls raised at the interim inspection have been addressed. The home has undergone a serious incident and worked throughout this with the local authority and other professionals to look carefully at the systems in place to safeguard children's welfare. There were shortfalls raised at the interim in relation to safeguarding arrangements. Following this the home made clear changes to staffing to ensure that systems in place fully safeguard young people. While changes have been implemented including the recruitment of new staff, guidance for new staff is not clear. In addition new staff do not receive child protection training prior to starting work and this means that not all staff are clear about what to do in the event of an allegation. This could potentially compromise young people's safety. The independent monitoring of the service has been changed and new arrangements provide a better overview including more consultation with young people and staff.

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Leadership and management

This provides an extra safeguard for young people in the home. There are internal monitoring systems and a review of care has been carried out by the manager as required by Regulation 34. However, this does not provide for consultation with placing authorities or young people as required. In addition some records in the home have been signed off by the manager that do not have the required detail in order to fully safeguard young people's welfare. The internal monitoring arrangements are not robust and this could affect the quality of young people's 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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