Children's Home run by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in Blackburn with Darwen

Unique reference number SC360599 Inspection date 26/10/2012 Inspector Helen Walker 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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Brief description of the service

This is a children's home owned and run by a local authority. The home provides short break accommodation for children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Brief description of the service

The home can accommodate up to four children and currently provides a service to approximately 44 children and their families. The Adolescent Support unit has two main functions. The first is to provide short and long-term intensive community- based support. The second is to provide short break care from Friday evenings to Tuesday mornings only.

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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

Overall, the staff provide an outstanding level of care at the unit and the outcomes for young people are excellent. Young people and their families receive an exceptional level of individualised support from staff. The service is flexible and resourceful to support young people to remain cared for by their families.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit significantly from this flexible service which enables them to make progress in many aspects of their lives. Young people are exceptionally positive about the care they receive and enthuse about the staff who look after them. Young people have access to a wide range of activities and opportunities to participate in new interests and hobbies. Young people are keen to talk about new experiences such as fishing and the devotion of staff to enable this to happen.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from a dedicated, competent and consistent staff team who know them well. Parents and professionals consider young people are kept safe and that the service is a real success. Staff are highly skilled in working with young people and their families which are often difficult and challenging times. The unit is warm and welcoming which enables trusting relationships to develop. Staff have a clear understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. Young people say they feel safe, are heard and have many opportunities to give their views about care in the unit.

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Overall effectiveness

The manager provides very effective management of the unit and continues to improve outcomes for young people. This is supported by comprehensive monitoring systems which help to ensure the excellent standards of care are maintained.

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Overall effectiveness

One recommendation has been made as a result of this inspection. This relates to the maintenance of bedroom furniture.

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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 the home provides a homely environment that is well maintained; in particular, with regard to young people's bedroom wardrobes. (NMS 10.3)

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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

The unit provides an exceptional level of support to young people and their families at times of crisis to prevent family breakdown. Young people access short periods of care at the unit during these periods. Additionally, staff provide outreach work to both young people and their families. Young people significantly benefit from their stay at the unit. The staff are proactive in helping young people maintain meaningful relationships and a home life with their families. A social worker comments that staff are 'absolutely fantastic' when dealing with families where there are strained relationships and say they can't speak highly enough of them.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff work effectively to address the issues relating to family breakdown. This has resulted in a 94% success rate whereby young people have remained with their families. This is an excellent outcome for young people. Young People said 'It's well good' and 'I'm pleased I come here, the very best about it is sleeping here and you meet new friends'. Parents and carers said the service is 'great' and 'It's much needed as children who use this aren't in care and it means they can stay at home with their families'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people using this service live with their parents or main carers who retain overall responsibility for their child's health care needs and education. However, staff positively promote young people to lead a healthy lifestyle and support them to gain in confidence and self-esteem. A wide range of health promotion agencies are involved with the unit. This means young people have first-class access to guidance and information about many health matters, for example drugs and alcohol misuse. The majority of young people using this service attend school regularly. Staff have an unquestionable commitment to ensure young people attend school and they value education for young people's future and life development.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are delighted at the opportunities they are given to participate in activities both in the home and the wider community. Staff are enthusiastic in caring for young people and take time to introduce them to hobbies and interests they might not otherwise have the chance to sample. This includes young people's introduction to cooking and craft time in the home. Also learning to fish and playing football in the locality. Young people were thrilled to talk about their fishing experiences and trips to places of interest. They say staff are always concerned about their welfare and they really enjoy their company. Young people have extraordinarily strong connections to their caseworker at the unit and comment on their real dedication to support them and their family. A young person said about their caseworker 'they always give me a big hug, they're amazing'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff provide excellent support to help develop young people's independence and social skills. They gain confidence in a range of practical skills whilst at the unit. During the inspection young people were confident in helping make a wonderful wholesome evening meal, set the dining table and clear away afterwards.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from really positive and warm relationships with staff. They receive care from a consistent and experienced staff team who promote a relaxed, caring and attentive atmosphere in the home. Young people are enthusiastic about the way in which staff look after them and they say they look forward to their stay at the unit. Social workers and parents comment on the excellent, child-centred way in which young people are introduced and settle in the unit.

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Quality of care

Young people's needs are carefully assessed and ongoing reviews help to ensure an appropriate intervention programme is in place. This means young people have highly individualised care and support that is tailored to meet their needs. The staff spend a great deal of time chatting to young people informally and more formally with one-to-one meetings. Young people are actively listened to and their views are important to the staff. They said 'my caseworker is the best' and 'staff treat you right' and ‘they are not cross with anyone'. This level of care helps young people to feel valued.

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Quality of care

Social workers are enthused about the very positive 'can do attitude' of staff and find them to be extremely flexible in their work and 'great with the young people'. Young people, their parents and professionals confirm that their views are actively sought to improve the quality of service. Young people said they trust staff and feel confident to talk to them if they feel unhappy or have any issues of concern. Staff were seen to manage young people's emotional upset with sensitivity and genuine care for their welfare. A parent said that they and their child enjoy their involvement with the unit. Young people said they have excellent staff support to help them access a wide range of activities and to develop their interests and hobbies. This includes lots of fun and learning events such as football stadium tours, singing lessons, visits to the local ice cream parlour and walking in the countryside. Members of the staff team

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Quality of care

have particular interests in sporting activities and this has been a tremendous benefit to some of the young people. For example, a young person with little understanding of English was introduced to football and as a result has now gained a place at the academy of a well-known football club.

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Quality of care

The unit is spacious, very homely, welcoming and comfortably furnished. Housekeeping is to a very high standard and the house is well maintained. However, some of the bedroom wardrobes are not equipped with a hanging rail and one is not accessible for young people to use.

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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

Young people are looked after by an extremely competent staff team who understand the need to keep them safe. Young people say they feel very safe and that staff give them sound advice about looking after themselves in different situations. This includes the use of social networking sites and socialisation in the community.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people's welfare is effectively promoted and staff are dedicated to providing them with safe and secure care. Safeguarding agencies say they are confident about the home's child protection arrangements and their ability to deal with these matters. Parents and professionals said they consider that the staff work hard to protect and keep young people safe from harm. Partnership working with multi-agency safeguarding teams enables staff to deliver sound advice and guidance relating to keeping safe. Lots of effort is put into creative group and individual sessions at the unit to promote young people's awareness of these matters.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Bullying is not an issue at the unit. Through careful planning and awareness of young people's vulnerabilities, the mix of young people is thoroughly considered so that they do not present a risk to others. There are few instances of young people going missing from the unit. Young people said they enjoy their stay and therefore have no reason to go missing. Staff fully understand their duties and responsibilities relating to young people who go missing from the unit.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff follow comprehensive and thorough risk assessments to assist them to manage the young people's behaviours. This helps to ensure that risks are properly addressed and managed. Positive behaviour is an accepted part of staying at the unit as young people want to engage with the service. A professional said staff provide 'clear and consistent boundaries' to young people. There have been no incidences of physical intervention or sanctions since the last inspection. Young people said staff are 'very fair' with them.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Robust health and safety procedures enable staff to maintain a safe and secure home environment for young people to live comfortably.

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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 manager is suitably qualified and experienced. This assists her to provide excellent leadership and very effective management of the unit. The manager is also manager of another children's home run by this provider. She therefore has a wide range of duties in addition to her manager role at this home. To support her in her work there is a competent deputy manager at the unit. There were no requirements or recommendations made at the last inspection.

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Leadership and management

The staff team have extremely good support from the manager in relation to their work and professional development. A staff member spoke highly of the manager and described her as a 'good team manager who brings out the best in people'. Staff are appropriately trained and all have a suitable childcare qualification. This assists them to meet the needs of the young people in their care. Young people look forward to their stay and say they get on really well with staff and enjoy their company. A young person said ‘I like the staff because they care about me'.

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Leadership and management

Young people are looked after by an enthusiastic and motivated staff team who understand their individual needs and provide them with consistency of care. They are dynamic in their outlook which helps young people and their families to remain together. A parent said they have excellent relationships with staff. Professionals highly praise the level of staff communication both with them and with parents. They said 'Staff are very approachable and they go the extra mile.' This results in very successful working relationships for the benefit of the young people.

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Leadership and management

The manager is forward thinking and is fully aware of the unit's strengths and areas for development. This means that opportunities to improve the quality of care and outcomes for young people are recognised. They ensure that the service is run in accordance with the home's Statement of Purpose. A comprehensive range of monitoring and consultation systems help to ensure that young people receive an outstanding level of care. Staff support young people to engage and contribute to their file records. The records are in very good order and are stored securely.

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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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