Children's Home run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC028905 Inspection date 25/10/2012 Inspector Susan Mullin Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 21/03/2012 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

The home is part of a local authority residential provision for looked after children. It provides care and accommodation for young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It provides emergency short- term residential accommodation for a maximum of five young people, of either gender. Placements are for a maximum of 12 weeks, other than in exceptional circumstances. During this time plans are made for a return home, or another placement will be made and initiated.

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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 outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people receive outstanding levels of care, support and guidance leading to making significant progress in improving their behaviour, education and personal development. Positive and meaningful relationships between staff and young people help improve feelings of poor self-esteem and self-worth. Staff are positive role models and provide a pillar of support, enabling young people to express their difficult and challenging emotions in a calm, safe and trusting environment.

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Overall effectiveness

Comprehensive and individualised care plans are in place, which are very well understood by staff and are under constant review. This ensures the specific and changing needs of each young person are known and responded to extremely well. Young people confirmed that they are very satisfied with the quality of care they receive and that they are always consulted about any changes to their care plan. The safeguarding culture embedded in the home keeps young people as safe as possible, while greatly reducing their risk-taking behaviours.

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Overall effectiveness

The promotion of equality and diversity is threaded through all areas of practice at this home and is second nature to the staff team who have day-to-day contact with the young people. Each young person is appreciated, valued and recognised for who they are as individuals.

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Overall effectiveness

An extremely competent Registered Manager ensures the robust monitoring procedures which are in place are considered regularly and in great detail, to inform practice. No breaches of regulation were identified.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding. Young people receive excellent levels of care and make considerable progress as a result, given their starting points on admission to the home. Highly individualised support helps them develop their life and social skills, gain confidence, improve self-esteem and their life chances. Young people form excellent attachments with staff and are able to express their difficult and challenging feelings, in an environment in which they feel safe. This helps them to manage their feelings more positively and begin to understand the complexities of their lives. A social worker said, 'The staff group are well established and they all work well together. There are consistent boundaries in place and the young person in placement is respectful of those boundaries and is doing remarkably well.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's health care needs are clearly identified and the appropriate services are put in place to enable these needs to be met. Young people attend routine health care appointments, are encouraged and supported to take part in a range of leisure activities, to promote healthy exercise and healthy lifestyles. Where specialist health care services are required, for example support from Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), staff ensure that support is in place. This enables young people to receive appropriate specialist services.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people can contact their family and friends whenever they wish, in line with their placement plan. Staff support young people to maintain positive and healthy relationships with family members if appropriate to do so. Young people feel that contact arrangements are made with their interests in mind and fully contribute to the decisions about this. The home is suitable for young people to meet with their family privately. As a result, young people have a sense of identity and belonging.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people receive excellent and carefully thought out support to develop their independent living skills in line with their age and abilities. They are involved in planning menus, budgeting and shopping as well as contributing to the daily running of the home. This increases the chances for young people towards being able to live independently.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Education is seen as a priority in the home and young people have excellent support at school or college. Their achievement is exceptional taking into account their starting point at the time of placement. Education and support staff work closely together. This creates an ethos and culture in the home that helps to transform the attitude and approach of young people toward their education. Young people, who have previously disengaged from education, are now learning academic and practical life skills.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

All young people are cared for in accordance with their highly individualised placement plans, which are developed by the home. The opportunities for exploring young people's emotional and psychological health are central to care planning processes. Staff liaise closely with placing social workers, young people and their parents to ensure that they are detailed and reflect the current needs of the young person. These plans contain comprehensive information about all aspects of care, safety and well-being, and include any that arise from their culture or religion. These plans are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that any changes in needs are clearly recorded and implemented. They also identify progress that young people make. Young people say that they feel that they have input into their plans and say that they receive recognition and praise for their achievements. One young person said, 'I have made a lot of progress here and I feel really proud of myself.'

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Quality of care

The quality of communication between young people and staff is excellent and ensures that any problems are resolved at an early stage. Young people confirm they are aware of how to make a complaint. The manager spends time with young people in order to consult with them, to make sure that they are happy and content. There have been no complaints made by young people to the home since the last inspection.

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Quality of care

Staff support and encourage young people to take part in a range of activities. This includes visits to parks, cycling, tobogganing, bowling and trips to the cinema. Individual activity plans are in place to enable young people to follow specific activities that they wish to take part in and there is also opportunity for all young people to take part in activities together. For example, a young person stated that he had visited a theme park with other young people from the home and said, 'We all had a really great time.' These measures enable young people to develop interests as well as learning to plan and share leisure time.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from living in a very healthy environment. Healthy lifestyles are promoted and young people are encouraged to eat a wide range of healthy foods. The home has an organised programme which includes cleaning, shopping, mealtimes and bedtimes, which is known and understood by young people and staff alike. These routines cater for each young person's individual needs and promote their learning about the importance of healthy lifestyles.

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Quality of care

Education is highly valued and actively promoted by staff at the home. All of the young people attend school, further education or vocational training. Staff encourage and support young people to achieve good educational outcomes by supporting them with their homework, maintaining excellent communication links with schools. This means there are very good attendance rates and excellent educational achievements given the starting point of each young person when they move in. The achievements of young people are encouraged and celebrated.

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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

Overall there are excellent arrangements in place to safeguard young people. Young people say that they feel very safe at the home. All staff have undertaken child protection training and have an in-depth understanding of the homes safeguarding procedures. The Registered Manager ensures that all the relevant agencies are informed of any safeguarding issues. This ensures that strategies and plans can be developed in the event of any concerns being identified.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Protocols have been agreed with the local police in respect of instances where young people leave the home without permission. There is a clear distinction between unauthorised absence and going missing, carefully risk assessed for each individual. Staff work tirelessly to reduce such behaviours with young people, who have a history of going missing. Staff actively encourage and support young people to keep them informed of their whereabouts. In the event of a young person missing from care, the staff endeavour to establish the young person's whereabouts by continually ringing the young person's mobile and liaising with police. This keeps them as safe as possible and communicates to them that they have somewhere they belong. Although there have been a number of missing from care incidences, these have decreased over time. Comprehensive monitoring and recording systems are maintained for all missing from care episodes and this enables appropriate support to

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Safeguarding children and young people

be provided to young people who are at risk of this.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff successfully assist young people in managing their behaviour and no restraints are recorded. Young people are encouraged to discuss their feelings and are confident in the staff team who listen and help. Young people are involved in setting behaviour management incentive targets. They are rewarded when their objectives have been met, for example through the use of monetary rewards. Sanctions imposed relate to the loss of privileges. The methods being used are proving effective in the management of young people's behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated where appropriate to ensure they continue to promote the well-being of young people. This ensures that all risks are managed and that the young people are assisted to take part in activities with acceptable levels of risk.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff discuss bullying with young people and are aware of the signs and symptoms to be aware of. The young people say that bullying is not a problem at the home but they discuss it in young people's meetings and are aware of the impact that it can have. All young people spoken to said that they would be able to discuss it with staff and felt confident that it would be addressed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Rigorous recruitment procedures in line with the regulations ensure all checks are completed before a staff member is assessed as suitable to work with young people. This ensures that young people are cared for by appropriate adults with a full employment history. The premises are maintained in a safe condition. The staff conduct fire drills regularly and all staff and young people know what to do in the event of an emergency. Additionally, there are good systems within the home to ensure that any risks to young people are identified and controlled. This means that the home is a safe place for young people to live and staff to work in.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The home is managed to an exceptional level with a consistent and highly effective management team providing excellent leadership. A social worker commented most positively on the overall running of the home and the significant progress made by young people. The needs of young people are central to care practice, with all decisions focusing on their best interests, for example the provision of musical equipment and support to help young people learn how to play instruments. The Registered Manager is vastly experienced and clearly understands the needs of young people and the support and guidance staff require to meet these needs. She is aware of the most up-to-date legislation and guidance. Staff morale is high. Young people benefit from a culture that is creative, energetic and centred around their needs.

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Leadership and management

The comprehensive training programme ensures all staff receive excellent training and development opportunities. Young people benefit from an experienced and competent staff team who are deployed effectively to meet their individual needs. Staff are extremely positive about the management support they receive. This stems from the quality of the induction process through to ongoing formal and informal supervision arrangements. Young people receive care from a staff team who are themselves highly supported and enthusiastic about their roles.

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Leadership and management

The exceptionally high standard of report writing and record-keeping ensures the past, current and future needs of each young person are known, reviewed and planned for. All young people are enabled to participate in their reviews of care and to express their views easily. Extremely detailed reports are provided for statutory reviews with minutes of reviews being held on file. All documentation conveys an up- to-date and accurate picture of each young person's life in the home and the impact the care they receive is having on them. Such records are stored securely so confidentiality is maintained.

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Leadership and management

The home offers care and accommodation for young people in line with its Statement of Purpose. The aims and objectives of the home are understood by authorities who place young people in the home. The Registered Manager regularly considers the running of the home to maintain and excellent standard of care practice delivery. Internal monitoring arrangements are rigorous and visits by an independent visitor, who reports monthly on the standard of care being delivered, are very effective. This means the quality of care that young people experience is under constant scrutiny and improvement. A social worker reported that the home is highly effective at working with them and supporting the young people, commenting, 'Communication is excellent and I receive regular updates on the progress and achievements of the young person. Staff contribute effectively to the young people's reviews by providing comprehensive

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Leadership and management

reports prior to the reviews and attending review meetings.' Significant events are notified promptly to the appropriate authority. This means that incidents are dealt with appropriately and in consultation with other professionals.

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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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