Children's Home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Hertfordshire

Unique reference number SC379199 Inspection date 19/10/2012 Inspector Gwen Buckley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 03/02/2012 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 a local authority long-stay children's home registered to accommodate seven young people of either sex from the age of 13 to 18 years.

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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

Dedicated and caring staff work effectively with young people, including some young people with challenging behaviour. Some young people go missing from the home with the majority doing so to see family and friends in the area. Good working relationship with the police ensure action is taken to ensure the young people missing are returned to the home if they are deemed to be putting themselves at risk. Young people have very good relationships with the care staff and feel they are well cared for.

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Overall effectiveness

There is an issue around bullying in the home which the staff are aware of and are taking action to address. The service provided to individual young people varies. The majority of young people feel they are well prepared for independence while others are not engaging in work designed to help them prepare for independent living. The Registered Manager is aware of the strength and weaknesses of the home and the needs of each young person is kept under constant review ensuring action is taken to meet their individual needs.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people take part in a good range of activities in the home and in the community. Visiting professionals are positive about the standard of care provided and feel the staff are doing a good job in caring for the young people. Staff support young people to attend education or work placements and are supporting and encouraging young people apply for work. Some young people have found work in the area and are starting voluntary work in the community.

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Overall effectiveness

The home has systems in place to enable young people to develop their independent living skills and prepare them for adulthood and plans to further develop and monitor this area of work. The manager has taken action, where required to chase the placing authority social workers to ensure up-to-date pathway plans are provided for young people. Areas for improvement relate to the use of home’s transport to ensure consistency of practice and child protection refresher training is required for some staff.

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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 children receive care which helps to prepare them and supports them into adulthood, so that they can reach their potential and achieve economic well- being (NMS 12)  ensure all staff's work is consistent with the regulations, national minimum standards, the home’s policies and procedures. This specifically relates to how consistently the transport policy, independence training and pathway planning is being implemented by staff (NMS 21.3)  ensure staff receive high quality training to enhance their individual skills and to keep them up-to-date with professional and legal developments. This specifically relates to staff receiving updated child protection training. (NMS 18)

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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

Attending school, further education or work experience varies depending on the young person’s individual needs, overall this has improved in the short time young people have been at the home. Young people have received recognition from the education authority for their individual progress and achievements. The majority of young people are in suitable education or work placements. Young people state ‘I love going to college and staff help me when needed’, and ‘I had college placements, but did not want to go to these, staff are helping me find work.’ Other young people have found work and are undertaking voluntary work in the community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s individual health needs are met well. Young people understand the importance of healthy eating and lifestyles. Young people make positive choices about looking after their health by attending routine dental and optician appointments. Young people, subject to risk assessment, take responsibility for their own medication, which raises their self-confidence.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have access to a good range of activities, both in the home and within the local community. These include trips to the local town, cinema, swimming, tennis and other local facilities. In the short time they have been at the home young people have gone on holiday with staff and they are being consulted over planning for the next holidays. Two young people want to go on skiing holidays which has been agreed.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from appropriate support from staff which enables positive contact with their family members or significant people in their life. Young people are being helped to find ways to manage their feelings and behaviours which supports them in maintaining good relationships with the significant people in their life.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Some young people develop their interests such as cooking and baking and broaden their knowledge of different cultural meals. Some young people assist with tasks around the house, and develop their levels of independence, while others choose to not fully engage in this work. Changes are planned to the independence work programme to ensure young people are able to plan, purchase and cook meals for a week within a strict budget. Young people say that they are confident in their ability to look after themselves when they leave the home.

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Quality of care

Young people build their confidence and self-esteem through the support provided by staff on a daily basis. They have good relationships with staff and all have an adult they can approach if they are worried about something. Staff are aware that some young people may not want to approach them if they have concerns or are worried. Staff then work effectively with people external to the home to ensure young people have someone they can talk with. Young people know how to complain if they are unhappy about the care provided in the home or support they get from their social worker. Staff take action to ensure young people receive support to access their advocate and social worker when they request this.

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Quality of care

Young people are cared for by a dedicated and caring staff group. Young people say that although they have not been at the home long they consider that the care provided is good. The views of young people about the standard of care they receive are sought by staff in the home and by the local authority that operates the home. This gives young people a sense of belonging and helps build their confidence.

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Quality of care

Young people say that the staff give them a chance to talk about daily events and they allow them the opportunity to have their say about what they like. As a result staff have organised boxing lessons for some young people. Young people report ‘staff are friendly and some are much better than others, I am glad [staff name] and [staff name] are coming to work here as they are great staff.’ When young people’s requests for staff to do things are not met the reason why is explained to them. For example, the reasons why bedroom door alarms are used at night have been explained clearly too young people. Young people have choices with regards to the décor of their bedrooms, in menu planning and which leisure activities they want to undertake.

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Quality of care

Young people's needs are set out in very detailed in-house placement plans. These plans are monitored by the Registered Manager to ensure staff are taking action to meet the child’s needs. Young people say they value time spent with their link workers as they can talk through their issues. Visiting professionals report that the staff are very caring and communication is good as they keep them informed about their child’s progress.

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Quality of care

Staff seek young people’s views about life at the home and how to help young people manage their behaviour. Young people are involved in setting individual targets to be achieved over the week. These targets are highly individualised and help young people manage things they are having difficulty with such as settling at night or attending further education courses. Looked after Children reviews take place on time and records held on file. Young people are encouraged by staff to consider what they want to say at reviews. This helps young people have a say in how they are cared for.

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Quality of care

The young people accommodated are new to the home. Some arrived without updated pathway plans. Social workers have been asked to update the pathway plans so that the home can work towards the agreed plan.

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Quality of care

Young people have access to a local General Practitioner, dentist and other health care professionals to meet individually assessed needs. Young people are able to self-administer medication subject to risk assessments. This helps young people develop skills and enables them to safely work towards taking responsibility for all their medication.

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Quality of care

Educational and personal achievements are celebrated in the home. Certificates and records of achievements and any progress made are held on file and displayed in the home. Photographs are taken of special events celebrating their achievements and young people are given copies of these. Staff are aware of the varying needs of the young people and ensure young people are praised for good behaviour and when achieving things they have previously found difficult.

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Quality of care

The home is safe, clean and well maintained and furnished. The home has excellent space and garden areas, which provides young people with opportunities to play and relax in groups or on their own.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are aware of the vulnerabilities relating to each young person. A compliment received by a social worker states that 'the staff are doing all they can to meet the needs of young people. They are very aware of the potential risks young people put themselves in and work well with others to keep young people safe.' Link workers talk to young people about the dangers they may be putting themselves in. This helps young people understand the possible dangers; topics cover areas such as alcohol misuse, sexual exploitation and other risks young people may face when they are in the community or missing from care. The Registered Manager and staff display excellent appreciation of child protection issues and how to keep young people as safe as possible. However, child protection refresher training for care staff has not taken place in line with the home’s own expected time line, which does not ensure they are up to date with safeguarding

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are clear about the actions to take if a young person goes missing and when they return. The number of young people missing from care at the home fluctuates and is dependent on the needs of the young people accommodated at any one time. The Registered Manager analysed the reasons why young people have gone missing over the last year; 70% of the young people going missing do so to visit friends and family in the area. This information is shared with the social workers and police to keep young people safe. There is a very good level of information sharing with the police and other agencies to ensure the risks to young people when they are missing are taken seriously. The local police visit the home to build up positive relationships with the young people. Young people know staff are concerned for their welfare; will take action if they go missing and will continually try to contact them on their mobile

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Safeguarding children and young people

phones in an effort to check that they are safe. The incidents of young people going missing have reduced since they arrived at the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people have their behaviours responded to in a safe and individualised manner by care staff. Visiting professionals state that young people are kept safe they acknowledge there has been some bullying in the home, but young people are kept safe and most young people enjoy their time at the home. Staff are maintaining detailed records of any incident that may involve bullying. They are working with external professionals to look at these incidents and agreeing and providing support needed for the individuals involved. Young people report that they feel safe and that staff will take action if there is any sign of bullying.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Visiting professionals state the staff manage the challenging behaviour of young people very well and keep them up to date with progress or concerns. Each young person has a detailed risk assessment and behaviour management plan. This helps staff develop strategies to help them understand the triggers to unwanted behaviours and manage them better in future. In the five weeks young people have been at the home this has had varying degrees of success. Some young people since arriving at the home have learned to control their anger and not lash out at others in the way the previously would have. They feel very proud of this. Other young people still present with challenging threatening behaviour if they do not get what they want from staff immediately. For example, if staff are unable to give them a lift to their friends at short notice a few can become aggressive. Overall, these incidents are reducing.

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Safeguarding children and young people

External agencies are used to support young people in a variety of ways which includes resilience training and consultation with mental health professionals. This helps young people talk about and manage their feelings and develop as individuals which raises their confidence in their own ability. Sanctions are seldom used and mainly involve the removal of the television from a young person’s bedroom as a result of them staying up very late the night before and disturbing everyone. The sanction records are monitored by the manager and include young people's comments. Positive behaviour is encouraged and celebrated. Young people report ‘it is worth behaving so that I can get my extra phone credits.’ There is a transport policy which the young people do not appear to want to comply with; not getting a lift the minute they want one is often the trigger for unwanted behaviour. The Registered Manager does not have a system to monitor how effective

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Safeguarding children and young people

this policy is or how consistently it is applied.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Restraint seldom occurs, they are only used to keep people safe. When restraint does occur actions taken by staff following these incidents show they are sensitively and appropriately followed up. Nine restraints have taken place in the last year. Records are well maintained and the views of young people involved are sought in debriefing sessions and recorded. Staff help young people to manage their feelings of anger or frustration and find other ways to express themselves. This helps young people to understand what has occurred. Young people feel their views are valued and this enables them to cope better in a similar situation the future.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home is well decorated, equipment is tested and checked at regular intervals and bedroom door alarms are used when required to keep young people safe. Placing social workers are aware of the use of bedroom door alarms and have agreed to this. Not all young people are happy with this but understand that at the moment they are used to help keep them safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

No new staff have been employed at the home since the last inspection. Therefore the recruitment process has not been inspected on this occasion.

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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

The Statement of Purpose sets out the aims and objectives for the home and the home is operating in line with these. The service has gone through a period of change with five young people from another home all arriving on the same day five weeks ago. This was well managed with staff from the previous home spending time in this home to enable a smooth transition. This provided new staff time to get to know the young people. The views of young people on the care they receive are central to practice development. Action is swiftly taken to address issues young people may have and keep young people safe both in the home and in the wider community. Staff share information with the police and child protection agencies which helps protect young people.

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Leadership and management

Young people are being cared for by staff who have the knowledge and skills to meet their individual care needs safely. Staff receive regular supervision. Training is provided to staff to help them understand the specific needs of the young people they care for. Staff receive excellent support from management in the home and from external professionals to help them care for the young people. Specialist training in trauma in young people has been organised and fortnightly meetings with mental health professionals take place to look at the issues young people have. This enhances the staff awareness and understanding of the issues young people face and their ability to better support the young people.

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Leadership and management

All significant events are reported to Ofsted and the placing authority as required. Records are stored securely and contribute to a history of the young person’s life at the home.

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Leadership and management

External Regulation 33 visits take place monthly and reports are available in the home. The visitor includes the views of young people in the report. Some reports sent to Ofsted did not have the correct name of the home on the title page. External and internal management quality assurance systems are in place and have addressed staff practice issues relating to recording and managing the young people’s files. Records are well maintained and information easily found. This will assist young people in the future understand the reasons for staff actions and help them follow their life in the home should they wish to view their files.

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Leadership and management

The manager monitors practice under Regulation 34 and ensures information such as review notes are on files. They are monitored to check that any actions agreed in reviews are followed up by the link workers. This ensures reviewed notes are available for young people to read and help them understand plans in place for their care. Long term plans are in place for the home to change the focus of the service and provide more outreach work for young people in the community.

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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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