Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Unique reference number SC034746 Inspection date 30/07/2012 Inspector Nicola McEvinney Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 20/01/2012 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

The home is owned and run by a local authority. It is registered to look after a maximum of six children who may have emotional and 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 adequate .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people receive genuine care from a well-experienced and committed staff team. The majority of young people make good progress and have improved outcomes. Staff help young people to develop confidence in themselves, enabling them to move productively to the next stage of their lives.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people say that they are well looked-after. Staff really care about them and they feel safe. One young person commented ‘I really missed (the member of staff) when she was not here’.

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Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager has a clear vision of how he wants the home to develop to enhance young people’s care experience. Improvements have been made since the last inspection, although the requirements made at that time have not been fully met.

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Overall effectiveness

There are a number of breaches in regulations and shortfalls in meeting the national minimum standards. None of these impact significantly on the welfare or safety of young people. These shortfalls relate to the number of staff employed; the staff do not receive regular supervision; there are issues pertaining to the environment, record keeping, care planning and awareness of the emergency evacuation procedures.

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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) ensure that young people are provided with food which is wholesome, nutritious, suitable for their needs and meets their reasonable preferences (Regulation 13(1)(a) (ii) and (iii)) 01/09/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

12A (2001) ensure that there is a care plan in accordance with the provisions in Regulation 9 of the Care Planning Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 (Regulation 12A (1)) 01/09/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the home is suitably furnished by repairing or replacing broken pieces of bedroom furniture (Regulation 31 (4) 01/10/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all parts of the home to which children have access are so far as reasonably practicable free from hazards to their health and safety; in particular, by relocating the fridge, freezer and tumble drier from the boiler room (Regulation 23 (a)) 01/10/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that there is a sufficient number of staff working at the home. (Regulation 25(1) 01/10/2012

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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 all areas of the home provide a comfortable and homely environment (NMS 10.3)  ensure that all staff and young people have practiced the emergency escape plan so that they know what to do in an emergency (NMS 10.9)  ensure that staff are provided with regular supervision (NMS 19.4)  ensure that information about the child is recorded clearly and in a way which is helpful when they access their files now or in the future. (NMS 22.5)  ensure the duties of the registered manager specific to the home are clear and understood. (NMS 14.4)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are adequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit immensely from the support and care they receive from the committed staff team. Staff work closely with them to help develop their self-worth and self-esteem. This on-going support helps young people overcome difficult events in their lives and to develop secure attachments with people they trust and respect.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from having their health needs met; for example, they are registered with doctors, dentists and opticians shortly after admission. Young people are actively encouraged to attend all necessary appointments. Young people often arrive at the home with a history of smoking. Staff provide positive role models by discouraging this; for example, by supporting young people to access smoking cessation services.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Although healthy and nutritious meals are prepared for the young people, there is no monitoring of what food is sometimes eaten. For example, some young people said that they only eat bread and cereals. As a result, these young people do not have a healthy balanced diet. Over time, this has the potential to compromise their health.

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Outcomes for children and young people

On admission, many of the young people have a history of poor school attendance. Through well co-ordinated support and encouragement from staff, attendance quickly improves. For example, education attendance on admission for some young people was 15%. Over the last term, this increased to 50%. These enhanced opportunities are providing young people with greater chances to achieve qualifications appropriate to their abilities and to have meaningful aspirations for their futures.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The home works closely with the local police community support officer, who has acquired funding to develop a plot of land to enable the home to use as an allotment. Although this project is in the early stages, staff are keen to engage the young people to give them an interest in horticulture and growing their own produce.

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Outcomes for children and young people

A diverse range of opportunities is afforded to young people to build their links with local sporting facilities. These opportunities help young people to develop a sense of belonging within the local community and at the same time increase their physical fitness.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Family contact is actively encouraged. This enables young people to sustain productive and meaningful contact with people who are important to them. The home liaises closely with parents and works co-operatively to empower them to manage their children’s behaviour. This helps young people to return home, if this is their plan.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Some young people are of an age where their move to supported living placements is imminent. All the young people are encouraged to help with their own laundry and some individuals help with meal preparation. This enables them to learn practical skills, preparing them for adult life.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is adequate . Staff actively promote and reward good behaviour by helping young people make better life choices. This includes helping them to reduce the amount of swearing. This level of supportive intervention enables young people to be aware of what is socially acceptable behaviour. This in turn means that they are better prepared for independence.

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Quality of care

Regular house meetings are held and provide young people with meaningful opportunities to fully participate in all key decisions that can affect them, including how the home is run. They are also encouraged to attend their individual child care reviews. If they choose not to attend, their reviewing officer will meet with them to ascertain their views so that their participation in key decisions is always secured. Young people are confident about how to make a complaint and are certain that they would be listened to if they found it necessary to raise a concern.

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Quality of care

All young people have care plans. These are generic plans and as a consequence, they fail to outline the individual needs of each young person. Nonetheless, as part of their individual crisis management plan and risk assessment, individual daily routines are set out, ensuring a consistent approach. However, these routines only set out their daily routine on a school day.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from a good quality of treatment and support services. For example, the looked-after children’s nurse supports them with health issues and undertakes some health needs assessments; the drug and alcohol service supports some individuals with addressing their substance abuse and the youth offending service supports young people to address their offending behaviours.

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Quality of care

The child and adolescent mental health service helps some young people to address behavioural issues. This has led to a vast improvement in their personal development and has had a positive impact on their self-esteem. This service is also available to staff and provides the support and guidance to help them manage and understand young people’s behaviour. Specialist therapeutic services are also accessed to help with individual behaviour management.

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Quality of care

Young people’s lives are enhanced by engaging in a range of activities, including coastal walks, rugby league, golf, football and the local gym. Young people enjoyed an activity holiday earlier in the year. Staff engage in physical activities with young people, which helps to develop warm relationships.

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Quality of care

Staff have an excellent awareness of the individual needs, identity and presentation of all the young people, who are given individual support to enable them to develop in a supportive and nurturing environment.

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Quality of care

This is a large children’s home designed over three floors. It is adequately maintained, although some bedrooms contain broken pieces of furniture. The communal lounge is pleasantly decorated, providing a homely environment for the young people. However, the dining room is rather sparse and does not share the homeliness of other areas of the home.

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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 say that they feel safe in the home. Staff address incidents of bullying promptly. The individuals involved are brought together to discuss the impact of bullying behaviour, which helps young people to take responsibility for their actions.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff have a good awareness of safeguarding issues. They are skilled in balancing the need to safeguard young people with the need to ensure that young people’s liberty and dignity is maintained.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from having staff with whom they have warm and nurturing relationships. They respond to the firm but fair approach which staff take and feel comfortable in sharing concerns. Although there is an excessive amount of swearing by some individuals when feeling aggrieved, this is quickly diffused.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Each young person has an individual crisis management plan identifying potential behaviours. The plans include strategies to support young people to manage their emotions.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The incidence of young people going missing has greatly reduced since admission. Individual protocols are in place to ensure that there is a proportionate response when a young person goes missing. Staff have a good awareness of their responsibilities and what action to take when individuals are absent from the home; staff are proactive in trying to locate them. This helps to ensure the safety of all concerned.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are robust recruitment systems in place to ensure that young people are looked after by suitable people. Contractors visiting the home have undertaken Criminal Records Bureau checks in order to help safeguard young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Fire records are in good order with regular fire evacuation drills undertaken. However, there is no record of names of individuals who partake in these drills. This means that it is not clear whether everybody knows what action to take in the event of a fire. The practice of keeping the boiler room open against the home’s fire risk assessment means that young people’s safety may be compromised. Young people currently have to enter the room to gain access to the fridge, freezer and tumble drier.

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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 Registered Manager oversees two six-bedded children’s homes, therefore his ability to manage both homes effectively is compromised. Although he has a vision, which is shared by his management team, of how he wishes to develop this service, there are many demands on his time. This means that the manager does not know how this home is operating at all times. For example, supervision sessions are not held as frequently as they should be, which means that staff are not adequately supported.

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Leadership and management

There are plans to include young people in all areas of how the home operates. For example, rather than having separate staff and young people’s meetings it is planned to have one meeting to ensure that young people are involved in the running of the home. It is also planned to include young people in staff supervision sessions, when their situation is being discussed. This will empower young people, develop their sense of self-worth and ensure that they have a say in the development of their plan of care. The Statement of Purpose is currently being reviewed to reflect this development.

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Leadership and management

The requirements from the previous inspection have been partially met. Regular Regulation 33 visits have been re-established, although they are still not happening each month. Nonetheless, the visitor has identified issues within the home and an appropriate response has been made, thus improving the service for the young people. The Registered Manager monitors the home each month and recognises some weaknesses in the home. For example, young people’s records are not updated regularly, which means that not all the information on the file is current.

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Leadership and management

The one recommendation from the last inspection has been addressed. Young people are encouraged to complete a ‘Let’s talk about it’ form following any disciplinary measure to enable them to reflect on their misdemeanour.

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Leadership and management

There are imminent staff changes, with some staff from the sister home changing roles with some staff from this home. The staffing levels required for some young people has put an enormous strain on the home, further exacerbated by staff sickness levels. There is heavy reliance on staff to work extra hours at short notice or the requirement of casual staff to assist. However, staff are clearly committed, experienced and benefit from good training opportunities. This helps to ensure that they can provide good day-to-day care to the young people.

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Leadership and management

Young people’s records are stored electronically. The records are unwieldy and do not allow easy access to information. In particular, this impacts on young people who may wish to access their records to have a clear understanding of their history.

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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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