Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

Unique reference number SC410539 Inspection date 08/08/2012 Inspector Andrew Hewston Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 06/02/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home provides care and accommodation for a maximum of two young people who may have emotional and/or behaviour difficulties. The home is managed by a limited company. The purpose and function of the home is to provide long-term care.

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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

Young people benefit from a caring and dedicated staff team who understand the need for attention to equality, diversity and inclusion in providing a service. Care is provided in close consultation with parents, young people and other involved professionals. Staff are well trained and enthusiastic, and have significant knowledge and understanding of the needs of the young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people enjoy being at the home and there are positive relationships built with staff members. Young people state that they are well cared for and listened to.

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Overall effectiveness

Good systems are in place that make sure young people are safe within the home. These are supported by some good records that detail events that occur within the home well. Records of key working sessions require some improvement.

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Overall effectiveness

The hard working and dedicated management of the home consistently aims to achieve the best possible outcomes for young people. An updated development plan is necessary to show how the home is to move on.

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Overall effectiveness

Five recommendations are made at this inspection to improve practice and outcomes for young people.

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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 young people are supported in developing a range of independence skills (NMS 12.1)  ensure young people in the home are regularly involved in contributing to the operation of the home, and their views and any concerns are seriously taken into account (NMS 21.1)  ensure young people have access to a range of educational resources to support their learning (NMS 8.2)  ensure the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated (NMS 10.3)  ensure the registered person has a written development plan, reviewed annually, for the future of the home, either identifying any planned changes in the operation or resources of the service, or confirming the continuation of the home’s current operation and resource. (NMS 15.2)

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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

Staff work well with young people to develop their awareness of their backgrounds and also to support how they move on with their lives. The staff have high expectations for young people whatever their starting point. Attention is paid to building confidence and self-esteem by treating each as a unique individual, building on strengths and trying to overcome difficulties. Parents and social workers are able to discuss significant improvements that they have observed in the outlook and behaviours of young people while being at the home.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people benefit from contact with family members and some understanding of why they are looked after. A particular strength of the home is the work in partnership with parents and significant adults and helping to build supportive relationships.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's attendance at educational provisions has improved and they are keen to discuss their own achievements while being at school. Strong links are in place with health professionals to ensure that young people move forward in their own health and decrease use of differing medication with appropriate support.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Some independence living skills development is completed to help young people when they leave the home. Records of these are of an acceptable level but could be developed further.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is good . Young people have strong positive relationships with staff. Staff know and understand the needs of the young people with a social worker stating that 'all the staff are able to discuss what is going on with the young person whenever I call'. They provide a caring, nurturing and therapeutic environment, giving consistent messages to young people. The service is creative, flexible and adaptable to ensure it meets the individual needs of the young people. Young people are able to discuss differing individuals that they would talk to if they had a problem at the home, including external independent listeners. No complaints have been made at the home since the last inspection, suggesting that all such concerns are dealt with prior to these needing to be formally resolved.

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Quality of care

Young people are involved in decisions about their own care as well as day-to-day decisions within the home. However, minutes of young people's meetings do not show how requests have been responded to and recordings of key worker sessions to work with young people on specific issues are sporadic. Good placement plans are created through discussions with social workers, staff at the home, young people and parents where appropriate. These are developed alongside placing authority's plans and reviews to ensure a consistent level of care. Health plans and records show that a range of health professionals are involved with the home and all staff are aware of the differing and sometimes complex health needs of the young people. Robust medication administration is completed well by trained staff to ensure the safety of the young people.

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Quality of care

Education takes a high priority within the home and young people fully engage with differing educational provisions. This is fully supported by the staff team, and young people are able to discuss how they have moved forwards with their education. Young people do not have access to a computer within the home. This was highlighted as an area of development that was going to be taken at the last inspection and would be helpful with young people attending college courses.

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Quality of care

The home is well designed and cared for by the staff team and young people, although some minor repairs are necessary. Communal areas include photographs of current residents and bedrooms are personalised by the young people. Young people state that they like the home and that it is comfortable.

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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

Robust and well known safeguarding arrangements fully protect the young people within the home. No specific safeguarding referrals have been raised since the last inspection. When concerns are highlighted these are dealt with swiftly through consultation with all professionals involved with the care of young people. Records relating to safeguarding are fully completed to ensure the safety of young people. No young people are involved in concerning risk taking behaviours such as leaving the home without permission, although there are clear procedures in place should such an instance occur. These procedures have been developed following consultation with the local police and they fully support young people's safety.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Detailed and effective management guidelines are in place to clarify responses to challenging behaviours. Recordings of incidents requiring sanctions or restraint are completed thoroughly, with young people's responses to these instances in place. Levels of restraint are very low and staff are able to discuss a range of ways that they use alternative management practices to decrease challenging behaviours. Young people and social workers report very positively on the significant decreases in challenging behaviours from the young people's admission to the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Checks to ensure the health and safety of the young people and staff are completed in excess of expected timescales. Recruitment checks were fully completed at the last inspection and there have been no new staff at the home since.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

Young people flourish in the warm, welcoming and friendly environment. The needs of young people are at the core of the service provided and all attempts are made to meet the diverse range of needs and enable young people to make the most of their time living in the home.

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Leadership and management

The home is appropriately staffed to meet the needs of the young people. The manager has an excellent awareness of these differing needs and leads a skilled team in responding to them. The manager monitors all required areas on a monthly basis, although the home's development plan requires updating to show the strengths of the home and how some areas require development. External monitoring is completed regularly and is used in developing recordings within the home.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose gives a good awareness of the level of care provided at the home and is regularly updated. Staff have a good range of experience and qualifications. All staff are trained up to the expected level. They are fully supported through regular supervisions and monthly staff meetings.

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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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