Children's Home run by Care and Management Services Ltd in Birmingham

Unique reference number SC419229 Inspection date 05/11/2012 Inspector Robert Hewston Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 16/05/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is operated by a private company and provides care for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress .

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Progress

At the last inspection in May 2012, the overall rating for the service was judged as good, with two recommendations set within the inspection report. Since that time, the children’s home has demonstrated significant improvement in the quality of care, outcomes and leadership and management for young people. The service has appropriately addressed the recommendations raised at the previous inspection.

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Progress

The home was recommended to improve the reports of the monitoring visits conducted in line with Regulation 33, to include comments from young people, parents and social workers. Action was immediately taken by the organisation. All reports now have good details of discussions with the young people, parents and other external professionals. The reports also identify shortfalls within the home. This information has assisted the manager in improving staff awareness of robust record- keeping and the importance of clear link-working records.

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Progress

Information about young people is recorded in a more meaningful manner. Link- worker sessions outline the discussions that have taken place and young people are encouraged to sign the entry. Young people have a greater say in what is recorded about them and have the opportunity to say if they agree or not. Staff have received training in the importance of good record-keeping to show how young people are listened to and respected. Consequently, young people feel valued and are more involved in the decision-making processes.

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Progress

Checks of the records held are completed in line with Regulation 34, and, like the external monitoring visits to the home, these include consultation with young people. Reports, of the checks made, provide an overview of the home’s day-to-day practices, with responses made to any actions set.

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Progress

The manager is further developing a new framework, for monitoring and quality assurance activities, to enable outcomes to be more effectively measured. Young people benefit from the support they receive from staff in respect of their education. For example, staff question why young people are excluded from school and act as advocates to assist them back into full-time education.

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Progress

Young people benefit from well-planned and consistently implemented daily routines and structures. Staff say that handovers are much improved, with all staff motivated to provide a good quality of care to all young people. Further work has been done to ensure that young people are consulted about the running of the home through regular house meetings, key-working and one-to-one sessions. Young people confirm that the rules of the home are fair, sanctions are rarely used and that behaviours are mostly responded to positively.

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Progress

The home has a revised and detailed Statement of Purpose in place, which accurately reflects the changes in the staffing of the home. The children's guide is current and young people spoken to say that they discuss this thoroughly with staff during their admission process. Young people say that they are aware of how to make a complaint and access the children's rights officer.

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Progress

Staff have attended numerous training courses since the last inspection. These include person-centred care, behaviour management and link-worker recording. Staff say this has been a valuable exercise for them and has enabled them and the Registered Manager to consider the behaviour management strategies in place for each young person. Consequently, behaviour management strategies are now better personalised to each young person's needs. Young people are involved in setting goals for their behaviour management plan.

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Progress

The areas for improvement in the new development plan have already been implemented; in particular, the importance of recording key-working sessions, the roles and responsibilities of shift leaders and the cleanliness and décor of the home.

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Progress

The current manager of the home was appointed to the role from within the organisation, and is in the process of registering with Ofsted as the manager for this service. Additionally, the manager is in the process of completing the Level 5 Diploma in management to meet the management requirements.

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Progress

The home makes a positive difference to young people's lives and provides them with the tools and opportunities to achieve positive outcomes. Since the last inspection the home has maintained and improved the quality of provision and outcomes for young people. Young people have good relationships with staff and are kept safe from harm. Care is personalised and takes account of the individual needs of each young person. They benefit from the familiar surroundings and a strong team of 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

 Appointees to the role of registered manager who do not have the management qualification must enrol on a management training course within six months and obtain a relevant management qualification within three years, of their appointment ( NMS14.3)

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011).

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