Children's Home run by Child First Limited in West Sussex

Unique reference number SC044259 Inspection date 20/07/2012 Inspector Liz Driver Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 05/03/2012 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

This is an established children's home which can accommodate up to five young people aged between eight and 17 years old of both genders. The home is owned by a private organisation.

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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 inadequate .

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Overall effectiveness

This is a setting that has recently seen the departure of the registered manager with a newly appointed manager commencing the week prior to this inspection. He was not available during this inspection.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people receive poor quality and personalised care. Their safety and welfare is compromised and leadership and management is not effective. As a result outcomes are poor although some young people are doing well. The significance of the areas of concerns for some young people are such that overall outcomes are poor.

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Overall effectiveness

The majority of young people make poor progress in areas of their welfare and development. For example, school attendance for young people who have previously been out of education continues to be poor since being at the setting; other young people are attending school or college with satisfactory and good attendance. High risk behaviours are not risk assessed and placement plans/care plans contain insufficient detail. As a result strategies for behaviour management are poor with staff working without strong leadership or support. Anti-social behaviours are addressed but when rebuked by young people staff are left without the experience and support to implement further and new strategies. The voice of young people is not fully recorded in records. A lack of detail in regards to individual health needs has resulted in health needs not being addressed in a timely manner with the potential to have a negative impact on the young people.

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Overall effectiveness

The monitoring of the home and its practices is inadequate. Regulation 33 and 34 visits and reports do not fully cover what is required and they are not submitted to Ofsted as required. The poor content does not enable managers to have a system to improve the quality of care or to develop a plan to improve as a result.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people and staff are not protected as significant information about young people is missing. Young people say they feel safe at the home. Young people place themselves at high risk when out in the community by taking drugs, alcohol and having unprotected sex. Incidents have increased recently. The home does have good links with a range of professionals and despite their input, behaviours remain risky. Health and safety matters are addressed although some areas highlighted in a report at the end of 2011 are still outstanding. Records show that no young person has undertaken a fire evacuation drill.

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Overall effectiveness

A high number of requirements have been raised in order to safeguard young people and drive forward improvement in the home.

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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) interview with their consent and in private, such of the children accommodated there, their parents, relatives and person's working at the home as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home (Regulation 33 (4) (a)) * 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) prepare and implement a written policy which sets out the means whereby appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the home; in particular relating to risk assessments, detailed care planning and behaviour management strategies (Regulation 17 (1) (b)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure by means of a fire drill and practices at suitable intervals, that the persons working at the home and, so far as practicable, children accommodated there, are aware of the procedures to be followed in case of fire (Regulation 32 (1) (e)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure there is a system for establishing and maintaining a system for monitoring matters set out in Schedule 6 of The Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and improving the quality of care (Regulation 34 (a) (b)) * 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) take adequate precautions against the risk of fire in particular addressing areas highlighted in the external inspection undertaken at the end of 2011 (Regulation 32 (a)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure persons employed receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal and are enabled from time to time to 31/08/2012 obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform; in particular staff with designated roles and responsibilities in the home and further training following induction (Regulation 27 (4) (a) (b))

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) make suitable arrangements for the recording, handling , safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of any medicines received into the children's home; in particular stock control and recording of refusals (Regulation 21 (1)) 10/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) supply a copy of the report required to HMCI (Regulation 33 (5) ( a)) * 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) supply to the HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted by him for the purposes of paragraph (1). The system referred to in paragraph 1 shall provide for consultation with children accommodated in the home, their parents and placing authorities (Regulation 34(2)(3)) * 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the routine in the home is organised so far as to further children's participation in education, including regular attendance at school and participation in school activities of children of compulsory school age and regular attendance at college where applicable (Regulation 18 (1) (b)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain effective links with any schools and colleges attended by children (Regulation 18 (1) (c)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) prepare and implement a written policy which is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children's home from abuse or neglect; in particular addressing how staff can protect children from high risk behaviours including having detailed risk assessments in place to show staff how best to protect them (Regulation 16 (1) (a)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline in a children's home, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include confirmation that the person authorised by the registered provider to make the record has spoken to the child concerned and the person using the measure about the use of the measure (Regulation 17B (h)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain in respect of each child who is accommodated in a children's home a record in permanent form which includes information, documents and records specified in schedule 3 relating to that child, and is kept up to date; in particular the recording of incidents needs to be detailed. (Regulation 28 (1) (a)( b)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that each child has access to such medical, dental, nursing, psychological and psychiatric advice, treatment and other services, as he may require; in particular ensuring all health needs are identified and addressed, and anti-social behaviours such as smoking and spitting may that have a negative impact on health and the public are also addressed (Regulation 20 (2) (b)) 31/08/2012 *These requirements are subject to a compliance notice

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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 inadequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Overall outcomes range from adequate to inadequate. The impact of the high risk taking behaviours has an impact on the young people's welfare which is not safeguarded. Some young people make suitable progress at the home, others with more challenging behaviours make poor progress.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have access to some images around the home which reflect different cultures. Little work is done around life history and there is scope for further development in this area, this means that young people have limited support to develop a positive self-view, emotional resilience and a knowledge and understanding of their background.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from the discussions and activities that staff use to build relationships with them. Relationships between staff and young people are good with young people saying they are happy at the home.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s health outcomes are potentially compromised because, despite satisfactory health promotion practices by staff, they continue to engage in risk- taking behaviours such as frequent smoking, drug and alcohol use and sexual activity, with some serious incidents as a result. These have a negative impact on their health and welfare. All young people currently smoke with no strategies in place to address this. There is a culture of acceptance in regards to smoking. Risks relating to drug use, alcohol misuse and possible sexual exploitation are not addressed in risk assessments so staff do not have clear protocols as to how to manage such behaviours to gain improved outcomes. Health issues young people have on arrival are not fully addressed. Other anti-social behaviours, that may have a health impact and that should be actively addressed include young people expectorating and spitting on the public

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Outcomes for children and young people

pavement outside the home; this is not addressed in a manner that has an impact on the young person to change this behaviour. It also has a negative impact on the local community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's education attendance range from good to poor. For those young people who happily attend school or college attendance is good, for the more challenging young person or young people who refuse to attend school, attendance is very poor. Staff do try to engage them in education but with ineffective strategies the outcomes are poor. Educational achievements range from satisfactory to poor, with staff having little knowledge of individual academic achievement and attainment.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are able to express their views and feelings through regular key worker sessions however this is not reflected in areas such as comments following any physical interventions, the giving of sanctions or during regulation 33 visits. House meetings take place and young people state they feel comfortable in talking to staff.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from clear contact arrangements, understanding when they will see significant people, which helps them settle and enjoy seeing their families.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The organisation has its own life-skills plans for young people. Young people sometimes learn skills through taking part in the tasks of running the home, such as cleaning and cooking. Young people are also given help and support with social skills, laundry, healthy eating, budgeting, clothing care and shopping. Therefore, young people receive adequate practical and life skills which prepares them well for adulthood.

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Quality of care

Young people have in general sound relationships with each other. Staff work hard to engage with young people but lack the guidance to use different strategies when needed to gain positive engagement. Poor records with lack of individual information prevents staff from having a full overview of individual areas of need. Areas such as drug taking, alcohol misuse, possible sexual exploitation, fire setting and self-harm are either not recorded at all or insufficient in detail. Staff ensure that young people understand that bullying is not acceptable and young people confirm that there is no serious bullying at the home.

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Quality of care

Staff support young people in their educational placements to their best ability. Those who are engaging, which is 50% of current young people require minimal input from staff to support their educational placements. For the other 50% more could be done to get them back into education. Young people do not benefit from staff having close relationships with schools. Staff do not know about the young people's educational achievements and daily life at school. The lack of strong management has not enabled staff to take time to build relationships with schools.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy a range of activities that they choose. Sufficient monies are available for staff to provide enjoyable activities.

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Quality of care

The home strives to embrace equality and diversity. This means that young people are supported to achieve a sense of personal identity, although the home has not yet developed this area of work to its full potential. The home is located in an area close to the town centre with numerous hostels and care homes close by. It is also in a residential area and close to a large park. It is suitable for its purpose and does provide suitable levels of security. In general it is well maintained with a programme of ongoing redecoration.

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Quality of care

Young people understand why staff cannot always act on their request. The staff team try hard to apply consistent messages but with the lack of written protocols and strategies in place consistency is not apparent and sends out the wrong message to the young people.

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Quality of care

Young people are provided with information in appropriate form about how to make a complaint. There have been no complaints from young people since the last inspection.

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Quality of care

Young people do not benefit from being cared for with the support of good quality placement/care plans. Current plans have significant omissions that affect the safety of young people and staff. A significant lack of knowledge and recordings about serious issues young people are facing does not provide adequate care or protection. As a result risk assessments are either not in place or not detailed enough. None of these have been transferred to a risk assessment or fully acknowledged. This omission could potentially be a serious risk for both staff and young people.

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Quality of care

The monitoring of medication administration is poor with stock control showing discrepancies. Recording is also inadequate as it does not evidence refusals by the young people to take their prescribed medication.

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Quality of care

Staff arrange and try to engage young people to have appointments with health related professionals. Good links with a range of health related professionals ensures timely referrals. However some young people's health needs are not identified or addressed. The impact of this on their education is not considered. Staff lack the support and guidance of a strong manager to enable new strategies to be put in place to try and engage young people with health related professionals and to gain improved outcomes.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people, say they feel safe however staff cannot provide safe practices for all young people's behaviours due to lack of risk assessments and detailed information about them. Staff do not have a full picture of the areas they present as risky and the lack of protocols and strategies mean young people and staff are placed at significant risk. The service is inadequate at keeping young people safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Current behaviours such as drug taking, alcohol misuse, potential sexual exploitation and self-harm presents as very high risk and although being addressed by a range of professionals the effectiveness of that input is not adequate.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The majority of young people do not go missing. The significant levels of vulnerability of certain young people if they do go missing have resulted in some serious incidents. Good liaison between home, youth offending service and the local police result in the young person being managed well when found. There is a good awareness by all professionals in the local area of those young people who present with high risk behaviours when missing from the home. Multi professional meetings held regularly enable all professionals to be well informed. However this does not deter from the fact that young people are placing themselves at high risk with incidents having increased over the last six weeks.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are low numbers of physical interventions despite challenging behaviours. Staff are trained in interventions and de-escalation techniques with regular refresher training taking place. However there is no evidence of a manager monitoring records and no young person comments seen following a physical intervention or application of a sanction.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Investigations into allegations or suspicion of harm are handled fairly, quickly, and consistently referred to the appropriate agencies. Internal investigations are carried out for staff disciplinary matters should they occur.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in an environment that is secure, and in general physically safe. Records show two outstanding areas to be addressed resulting from an external fire inspection at the end of 2011. Records do not show if young people have undertaken a fire evacuation drill although staff are identified in the records.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

Since the last inspection the registered manager has left and a newly appointed manager has commenced the week prior to this inspection. He was not available during this inspection.

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Leadership and management

Overall the home is not effectively or efficiently managed due to the clear lack of strong leadership and management and the poor monitoring of care practices. The nature and significance of incidents and related risky behaviours is high, however staff are not receiving clear and direct guidance of how to manage young people from a consistent management team.

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Leadership and management

No concerns have been raised about the setting since the last inspection. The two requirements made at the last inspection have not been fully addressed. The home did register a manager however as that manger has now left, the home is still without a registered manager. The action plan submitted following the last inspection also stated that Regulation 33 reports would be undertaken and submitted to Ofsted. None have been received by Ofsted since January 2012, despite a senior manager stating they have been sent. Evidence shows they have been carried out but no evidence was made available to show they had been sent to Ofsted.

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Leadership and management

The home cannot demonstrate its capacity for improvement due to the lack of a development plan and poor monitoring by managers. The Regulation 34 review of quality of care are very basic and not evaluative at all, so cannot provide information for the home to develop further and evidence how the quality of care is to be improved. Also Regulation 33 visits do not cover what is asked for in the regulation; they do not evidence interviews with young people accommodated at the home, their parents or staff working at the home. No Regulation 33 reports have been submitted to Ofsted since January 2012 and Regulation 34 reports have yet to be received since the new Ofsted guidance of submitting two reports a year.

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Leadership and management

The home is adequately resourced to meet the needs of the young people with no signs of poor budgets having a negative impact on the young people on a day to day basis.

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Leadership and management

Young people are cared for by a staff team sufficient in number. Staff are regularly supervised but there are gaps in their training. Staff are being asked to carry out roles with responsibilities that they have not received training for such as, health and safety representative for the home and medication administration monitoring for the home. Staff have undertaken induction training however, have not progressed to undertake the Children and Young Peoples Workforce Diploma.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are stored safely and securely. Records of incident reporting are poor as they lack significant and important detail. Some records do not show signatures of young people following an incident or giving a sanction plus there are no signatures of a manager to indicate monitoring is taking place.

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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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