Children's Home run by North East Autism Society in Sunderland

Unique reference number SC446957 Inspection date 04/10/2012 Inspector Deborah White Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 28/05/2012 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 children's home provides care and accommodation for children with a learning disability and autism. The home is operated by a private provider.

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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

This is the first inspection since the home was registered in May 2012.

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Overall effectiveness

Children are happy and have progressed from their starting point. Staff are committed and strive to ensure quality outcomes are good. Care planning is individualised and children access the services they need. Educational outcomes are good with children achieving their potential. Feedback from parents, social workers and Independent Reviewing Officers is positive. Children feel safe and live in an environment that meets their needs. Leadership and management is adequate.

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Overall effectiveness

The recording of restraints is unsatisfactory and not all staff receive regular, formal supervision. Not all staff files include recruitment and vetting checks. Monitoring does not include looking for trends or patterns to improve the home's performance and not all new staff are adequately supported with a full, appropriate induction. Staff supervision is not regularly carried out to ensure staff can be enabled to develop.

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Overall effectiveness

There are breaches of regulations and failures to meet national minimum standards, but these have not directly impacted negatively on the welfare of the children accommodated.

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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 within 24 hours the use of the use of any measure of restraint, a legible written record is made that includes all the elements listed in this regulation (Regulation 17B (3)) 31/10/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all persons employed receive appropriate supervision. (Regulation 27 (4) (a)) 30/11/2012

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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

 provide a record of the recruitment and vetting checks which have been carried out on those working at the home which includes all the elements listed in this standard (NMS 16.3)  ensure all records are monitored to ensure compliance, to identify any concerns and to identify patterns or trends (NMS 21.2)  ensure all staff are looked after by staff who are trained and competent to meet their needs and that all new staff undertake the Children's Workforce Development Council's induction standards, commencing within 7 working days of starting their employment. (NMS 18.3)

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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

Children are happy and confident in their home. They have developed positive attachments with each other and staff. This makes children feel accepted and emotionally secure. Children have positive contact with their family and friends in a welcoming environment to help them maintain important relationships. A parent said, 'I am always made to feel welcome when I visit, I feel comfortable visiting my child.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

All children have progressed from their starting point and have exceeded expectations in many activities of daily living. Children are encouraged and supported to achieve to promote good outcomes in their lives. A parent said, 'the home is amazing, my child is doing so well. My child has shown real progress and is confident and happy. It is a miracle what the home has done for my child.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children have 100% school attendance and are achieving their potential. Children enjoy school and are thriving educationally. A teacher said, 'my child is doing so well. My child's behaviour is much improved making them more settled and happy. My child is achieving the best they can.’ Children have access to a wide range of activities that meet their leisure needs. All children access community facilities and are included in their locality. Children also contribute towards their community and deserving causes. For example, the children and staff are planning fund raising events to 'buy a brick' for a new children's hospice.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children have a voice and can express their views, wishes and feelings within their capabilities and understanding. Children have access to a range of communication tools that give them the means to make choices. A social worker said, 'my child has progressed really well with communication. My child has learned to communicate with pictures and symbols and can now make choices.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children are developing a range of independence skills to include them in their daily routines; for example learning self-care skills. Children also help with some household tasks and help with their laundry. Children can make suggestions about how the home can be a better place. A recent request from a child to have a pet rabbit has been met with great enthusiasm from all the children. Each child has a planned role in taking care of their new pet and are excited about the pending new addition.

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Quality of care

Staff enjoy their role and have a genuine affection for the children. Relationships are positive and appropriate. Staff are very complimentary of all the children and clearly see each child as a unique individual. Staff have high aspirations for all children. A parent said, 'the staff are always complimenting my child, they are so positive. This has really increased my child's confidence.’

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Quality of care

Staff continually explore ways to communicate with the children. There is a nominated staff member who is the home's communication champion. The staff member takes a lead in ensuring the children have the aids and tools they need to understand the daily routines and to make day-to-day choices. Staff are knowledgeable in the many communication difficulties experienced by the children and this is reflected in their practice.

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Quality of care

Staff work closely with schools to provide children with consistent care. Staff communicate on a daily basis so they know if children have had a good day at school. Care and school staff meet regularly to share good practice and to review children's educational progress and development. A teacher said, 'we have a great relationship with the staff, the staff are brilliant. Staff are supportive and consistent. This is a good home.’

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Quality of care

Care planning is individualised and clearly shows children's needs and how these will be met. All children have access to a professional multi-disciplinary team employed by the provider, which means they access services quickly. Children also have access to a range of external specialists, particularly healthcare professionals where children have complex health needs. An Independent Reviewing Officer said, 'this is a positive home, I am very impressed. The parents are glowing about the home and staff and my child is making remarkable progress. I have seen my child in a number of placements and this is by far the best.’

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Quality of care

Staff are skilled at communicating with parents, social workers and other professionals to appropriately share information to promote good outcomes for children. For example, staff provide detailed progress reports for placement reviews and have made descriptive referrals to specialists to address children's healthcare development. A social worker said, ‘the home is very good, very welcoming. Staff are good at communicating. I am always kept up-to-date. This is one of the best homes I have for keeping me informed.’

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Quality of care

Children live in a homely environment that meets their needs. There is ample space for privacy and socialising. An enclosed garden provides a safe place for outside play. Children's bedrooms are decorated to reflect children's individuality. Great care has been taken to ensure the environment meets the children's sensory needs. For example, staff have made a collage of photographs of the children in sepia as one of the children has difficulty looking at bright colours. This ensures all children can enjoy looking at pictures of themselves having fun times.

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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

Children feel safe and all feedback from parents, social workers and Independent Reviewing Officers see the safety of children as a strength of the home. Good staffing levels ensure children are not at risk of being bullied or running away from the home. There are robust child protection procedures in place that are known by staff. The Local Authority Designated Officer said, 'I have no concerns about this home. The provider is proactive in keeping children safe. They take all child protection concerns seriously. The staff receive regular training and ring us for advice. I have no worries; I believe the children are safe.’

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Safeguarding children and young people

Behaviour is managed positively and all children have noticeably reduced their episodes of challenging behaviour. Staff are skilled at recognising signs that children are becoming distressed and know how to divert or distract children to avoid unnecessary distress. A parent said, 'my child is a lot calmer and can handle things better. My child is happy and settled at this home.’

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Safeguarding children and young people

Restraint is only used as a last resort and for the right reasons so that children are not handled inappropriately. Parents and social workers are informed when their children are restrained, which shows the home is open and transparent about the use of restraint. Records of each restraint are kept but the quality of some of the recording is poor. A number of entries are illegible due to staff overwriting on carbon copy sheets. This means the damaged entries cannot be reviewed and monitored by the registered persons or Ofsted. Additionally, in the event of any concerns arising in the future about the use of restraints, records will not be available for scrutiny or possible investigation.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff personnel files are stored centrally away from the home with the home storing enough information to allow for the Registered Manager to monitor safety checks. However, not all the records inspected include the all the information needed to ensure the home's checking systems are robust. Some staff had information missing and some sessional staff had no records at all. This could potentially put children at risk if safety checks are not carried out at predetermined intervals.

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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 has made a good start setting up systems to provide children with a stable environment. Team building is a strength of the Registered Manager and this has resulted in children being looked after by caring, committed and happy staff. An Independent Reviewing Officer said, 'this is a good home, I am really impressed. The staff are very good. Lots of thought go into the children, staff go the extra mile.’

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager has high expectations that are mirrored by the staff. Relationships with fellow professionals are positive and the Registered Manager has begun to build up good information networks to ensure children are at the centre of what the home sets out to do. The Statement of Purpose is informative and explains, to parents and social workers, what it is like for children to live at the home.

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Leadership and management

There are monitoring systems in place that identify shortfalls; how these will be met and when they are met. Both the Registered Manager and the regulation 33 visitor consult with children, where appropriate, and parents to ascertain their views and include them in the running of the home. However, the Registered Manager has not as yet started to identify any trends or patterns that may indicate areas for improving the home's performance, and subsequently outcomes for children.

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Leadership and management

The home have for the last three months experienced high staff sickness and absence rates. This has impacted on some of the organisation of the home, specifically maintaining safe staffing levels. There are two regular sessional staff employed at the home to cover staff absence but the hours the two staff are available have fallen short of what was needed to complete the staff rota. As a contingency a decision was made to use staff employed in the school, which is operated by the provider, as support workers in the children's home. The staff employed know the children, which is a good outcome for the children as they sometimes struggle meeting carers they do not know. However, the home does not keep any records to show the staff have experience in residential childcare. Also, the staff were not given an induction to the home or a probationary period to ensure their suitability as support workers. A sessional staff member said, 'I love working at

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Leadership and management

the home and know all the children. There are differences between working in the home and school, staff at the home help me out. There was no induction as such, we got shown round and told about fire safety.’

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Leadership and management

Shortfalls in formal staff supervision have been identified in the three monitoring reports preceding this inspection and records show staff are still not receiving regular supervision. Supervision is sporadic for most staff and the new sessional staff have not received any formal supervision since they commenced working in the home. This means staff are not always offered planned time to discuss their professional development or any issues they may have about the home or care of the children.

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Leadership and management

Children's records are very well organised and reflect how it is for each child living at the home. All records are stored securely to protect children's privacy.

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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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