Children's Home run by Lincolnshire County Council in Lincolnshire

Unique reference number SC042967 Inspection date 31/10/2012 Inspector Stephen Halliley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 12/03/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is managed by a local authority and provides longer-term care for up to six young people. The home aims to provide young people with care and support for their emotional and behavioural needs.

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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 living in this home make significant progress in all aspects of their lives. They develop positive relationships with staff and a range of peers and this improvement in social skills is especially noteworthy. Young people achieve well educationally and are supported to successfully attend college or work placements.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are safe in this home and report that they feel safe. Supporting young people to safely manage their behaviour is strength of this home, resulting in a significant reduction in self-harming behaviour.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people's views are very important to staff in this home and influence the way the home is run. All young people feel listened to and valued by staff as individuals and this has a very great impact in improving their self-esteem.

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Overall effectiveness

Care is highly individualised and clearly focused around meeting young people's specific needs. Robust and regularly updated risk assessments are used to allow young people to take managed risk appropriate to their age and understanding. Links with external agencies to support the quality of care and care planning is a clear strength of this home. This use of additional expertise ensures staff provide high quality care to young people and are fully able to meet their needs at all times.

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Overall effectiveness

The home has shown improvement since the last inspection in many areas, most notably staff development and finding alternative strategies for working with young people. As one social worker says, 'I am very happy with the work they do with some very difficult young people.' Shortfalls are in relation to recording restraints, notifying all appropriate authorities of significant events without delay and the involvement of young people in fire drills. Minor shortfalls are also identified with regard to young people being aware of how to contact the Children's Rights Director and the frequency of supervision for all staff.

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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 of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline in a children’s home, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose of which shall include-confirmation that the person authorised by the registered person to make the record has spoken to the child concerned and the person using the measure about the use of the measure (Regulation 17B (3) (h)) 30/11/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that if, in relation to a children’s home any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 take place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table (Regulation 30 (1)) 30/11/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that the persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children accommodated there, are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 32 (1) (e)) 16/11/2012

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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

 ensure the children's guide includes how a child can contact the Children's Rights Director (NMS 13.5)  ensure all staff have access to support and advice, and are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff. (NMS 19.4)

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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

Young people make exceptional progress in all areas of their lives while living in this home. Progress in education, social skills, independence and the ability to self- regulate their behaviours is profound. One carer commented, 'He has calmed down a lot since he moved there and they are excellent with him.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people develop a very positive self-view and are very aware of their backgrounds and their place in their families. They form and sustain meaningful, positive relationships across a range of peer groups and with the adults who work with them. This self-awareness and improved social awareness leads to young people developing increased emotional resilience and maturity, benefiting them when they make choices about their futures and make the transition to adult life.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's physical health is supported by good access to health professionals when required and by appropriate staff interventions when they are unwell. Young people's emotional and psychological health is good and is exceptionally well supported. They have ready access to a number of external professionals to help address their individual, complex needs. This planned, focused work helps young better understand themselves and their feelings and emotions.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people are positively engaged in education or work placements and attendance levels are very high. Extremely close collaborative working between the home, schools, colleges and the work placement supports young people’s achievements.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make a positive contribution to the home, for example through involvement in decoration, planning activities and holidays, and cooking. They have also been involved in creating a counter-bullying pro forma and helping the home to draw up a ‘participation charter’ which was ratified by the local authority participation team. This ensures they feel involved in how the home is run and helps improve their independence skills. Within the wider community, young people are involved in the ‘Youth Parliament’, attend youth clubs and a drama group. This involvement ensures they are accepted in the wider area and make a positive contribution to the local community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Contact with families and friends is important to young people. Young people are very well supported in this area and all contact meets individual need and is in line with care plans. Young people have also made very positive friendships in the local community. They attend parties and youth clubs with their friends and friends visit them in the home. This positive approach to broadening young people's social inclusion further enhances their sense of self-worth and belonging.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are very well supported in the transition to independence and adult life. This includes producing CV's, finding voluntary work, undertaking apprenticeships and contributing 'board and lodgings' from their earnings. This supported approach ensures that young people have a staggered introduction to working life, including having to pay bills. One social worker said, 'I am very happy with the support the young person got with his apprenticeship and there is a detailed transition plan in place in which he and I were heavily involved.' Life skills are also developed within the home so young people will be able to budget, prepare meals, travel independently and do their laundry when they move on from the home. This balanced, focused and person-centred approach to independent living gives young people a very good starting point in adult life.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy warm, respectful and meaningful relationships with staff. One young person commented, 'I was in another home before coming here. That was awesome but this is home. I get on very well with all the staff and have good strong relationships with them because I have known them for so long.'

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Quality of care

Young people are very aware of how to make a complaint, including who they can go to outside of the home if they feel the need to do so. They are also clear that should they make a complaint to the Registered Manager this will be dealt with quickly and appropriately. This open complaints procedure and swift response to complaints ensures young people feel they can raise concerns and that these will be taken seriously. Young people feel their views are taken into account in the day-to-day running of the home and also in areas such as choosing destinations for the summer holiday. This ensures young people feel involved and that their opinions count in the care they receive.

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Quality of care

Care plans are highly individualised and give staff very clear guidance on how to work with young people. The care provided is fully in line with the targets, goals and timescales set out in their care plans. Staff have detailed knowledge of young people's backgrounds and future plans and this supports the quality of care provided. One social worker said, 'He has an excellent key worker who knows him well…… and I am quite happy with the service and the quality of care being provided.'

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Quality of care

Young people's physical health needs are very well met. Aside from regular health checks, the staff also provide innovative activity-based challenges to help keep young people healthy; one of these is the 'Channel swim challenge'. This involved staff and young people swimming a combined distance equal to crossing the English Channel, by a given date. Young people became very involved in this and met the target with ease.

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Quality of care

Support for young people's emotional wellbeing and psychological health is particularly strong. A dedicated Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service worker is attached to the home who provide input to staff meetings and training in working with young people who self-harm. Additionally, the home use specialists, for example, to help provide advice on working with other aspects of self-harm and inappropriate sexualised behaviour. This approach ensures staff are well trained to meet the emotional and psychological needs of young people in a consistent and appropriate manner. It also helps young people address aspects of their behaviour in a manner appropriate to their individual need and level of understanding.

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Quality of care

Staff regard the education of young people as an extremely important factor in their lives. They actively support young people's achievements by helping with homework. Additionally they discuss with young people what they feel their educational needs are. This has led to tutors working with young people in the evenings and weekends to provide additional support for examinations and course work. This helps young people achieve to the best of their ability and to maximise the opportunity to leave education with good qualifications. The Registered Manager also understands the importance of young people being in the right educational provision to support their learning.

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Quality of care

Young people have access to a very wide range of stimulating activities. This ensures they are afforded equality of opportunity and do not miss out on life experiences or new opportunities because they are looked after. Activities include football, youth clubs, paintballing, swimming, badminton and holidays in this country and abroad. Young people are actively involved in planning their activities and this ensures activities have value and relevance to young people's lives. Young people took the opportunity to go to the Olympic Park while it was being constructed and this led to some additional activities over the summer based around Olympic competition. Social workers report that, 'The home are exceptionally good at encouraging young people to socialise and getting them involved in community-based activities.'

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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

Young people feel safe in this home and their safety is a primary concern for the staff team. Staffing levels are high, ensuring good levels of supervision of young people. Activities are thoroughly risk assessed and all young people take reasonable risk commensurate with their age and understanding. This allows them to be safely involved in age-appropriate activities without an impact on their independence. A range of health and safety checks are regularly carried out in the home to further support young people's safety. Young people are talked through emergency procedures when they arrive in the home and the home carries out regular fire drills to reinforce this procedure. However, two young people have not been involved in a formal fire drill since arriving in the home, although action was taken to address this during the course of the inspection.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Bullying is not highlighted as a concern by young people in the home and instances of bullying are infrequent. The home has developed a very robust system for recording and responding to bullying which ensures full support for the target of the bullying and addresses behaviour with the perpetrator.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people rarely go missing from this home. When they do, there are clear procedures for staff to follow including following local police protocols. Records show good work to try and facilitate a quick return for the young person and discussion with them when they return. This helps staff understand the reasons for a young person going missing and helps the young person find a different way to manage their feelings in the future.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Positive behaviour is promoted at all times in this home. The focus on rewarding positive behaviour and addressing negative behaviour further helps young people develop appropriate social skills and boundaries. It also supports young people in regulating their own behaviour and reduces instances of self-harmful behaviour. One carer commented that, ‘They are a different person because of the work they have done, they have stopped running away and the level of self-harm is nothing like it was.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

Restraint is used only when absolutely necessary to protect young people or others or to prevent serious damage. Records are well written and give a clear understanding of the event. However, recent records do not indicate that young people have been spoken to about the restraint following its use. This prevents young people from potentially understanding why they were held and from discussing alternative strategies to manage their behaviour in future. Additionally, there is little recording of staff being spoken to following their involvement in a restraint.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home follows extremely rigorous and detailed recruitment and vetting procedures for staff. This ensures young people are protected from the possibility of abuse by people who are working with them. Visitors are required to sign-in and adults who have not been subject to vetting checks are chaperoned at all times. This provides further protection for young people from possible harm by adults visiting the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All staff have a very thorough awareness of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding young people. This includes what they should do if an allegation or disclosure is made to them or if they have concerns about the safety of young people. Issues raised are dealt with promptly and in a sensitive and supportive manner.

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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

This home is well managed by a dedicated and experienced Registered Manager. Two senior staff are on long-term sick leave but the manager has worked diligently to ensure this has had minimal impact on the young people or his staff team. The home has a comprehensive Statement of Purpose in place and clearly meets the aims and objectives set out in this.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. A thorough development plan is in place to address weaknesses and strengthen the service provision. For example, the senior staff shortages are identified as an on- going weakness yet used as an opportunity to delegate some management tasks to less senior staff as part of their professional development. Strengths identified include a long-standing highly trained staff team and the exceptionally strong links the home has with external professionals. The home has evidenced improvement through updating training courses, developing a more robust shift handover and mentoring all staff to be able to work to the next level of their role.

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Leadership and management

In-depth monitoring of the home by both the Registered Manager and an external visitor is carried out on a monthly basis. Regular summaries of the manager’s monitoring are also completed. While these summaries show consultation with young people and stakeholders, there is no evidence of consultation in the monthly monitoring of the home.

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Leadership and management

Staff describe the management of the home as: 'Strong, directive and he has incredible vision. He is always encouraging staff and driving us to find fresh ideas to move the home forward.' There is a thorough training plan in place which ensures all staff receive regular updates to their training and that all mandatory training is within date. This enables staff to work with young people in a safe, proficient manner leading to the development of a competent and highly skilled staff team. Staff say they receive regular, good quality supervision. This is the case for many of the staff, but for others there are extensive gaps in records of supervision sessions.

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Leadership and management

Records are held securely in a locked cabinet in the staff office. These are detailed records of a young person's stay, and should a young person wish to see them, they would get a clear picture of the time they spent in the home.

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Leadership and management

Significant events relating to the protection of children are notified to Ofsted by the Registered Manager. However some recent events have not been notified to young people’s placing authorities to keep them fully apprised of what is happening for young people in the home. Additionally, some recent reports have not been sent through until several days after the event occurred.

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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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