Children's Home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Unique reference number SC356868 Inspection date 06/12/2012 Inspector Debbie Foster Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 05/03/2012 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

This children's home, run by a local authority, provides up to 5 long-term placements for young people, aged from 12 up to 17 years of age on admission.

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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 benefit greatly from being looked after by a very experienced staff team who are preserving and show determination to address welfare, education and safety issues. Staff are passionate and committed to caring and supporting young people in a nurturing environment that enables them to move forward in their lives. Young people overall, talk very positively about the care they receive and the progress they are making.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people enjoy strong, trusting relationships with staff, which make them feel safe and secure and motivates most of them keeping safe. The progress young people are making is dependent on the length of time they have lived at the home and the life journey they have previously experienced. They are protected from harm by the practices the staff implement. Outcomes for young people are adequate as a result some young people's risk taking behaviour and limited educational and training progress.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people say that they feel valued, listened to and respected by staff. Some young people said that they like their home, but currently there are times when they don't want to be there, due to the behaviour of other young people living with them. Care planning is individualised. Staff are committed to helping young people to mature into young adults, equipping them with the necessary skills to care for themselves, and having self-confidence and belief in themselves. Young people are consulted about and involved in decisions affecting their lives. Staff have built strong links and work in a coordinated way with young people, their families and relevant professionals. This ensures the young people receive the right support and it assists them to make progress in their lives. The home is effectively managed. The manager and staff team is committed to ensuring young people are provided with a good standard of care. Staff are well

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Overall effectiveness

trained and receive good support through supervision and regular staff meetings.

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Overall effectiveness

The shortfalls identified during this inspection relate to aspects of some risk assessments not being specific enough. Independence work undertaken with young people is not always routinely taking place in line with the plan of care and does not always demonstrate clearly the progress young people are making. The monitoring reports on the matters in Schedule 6 have not been compiled at six monthly intervals and sent to Ofsted. The behaviour of some young people is adversely affecting others for periods of time.

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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 each child’s placement plan is monitored by a key worker within the home who ensures that the requirements of the plan are implemented in full. In particular, recording and reviewing all the progress young people are making in line with their independence plans, detailing on frequency and competence of cooking and eating a balanced diet, budgeting tasks and other identified areas, making the necessary changes where required (NMS 25.2)  ensure that the home has a clear written policy on managing behaviour that all staff understand and apply at all times. In particular, ensure that risk assessments are specific in terms of the type and frequency of monitoring required and that they clearly set out the boundaries in place for individual young people (NMS 3.3)  establish a system to report upon the previous six months monitoring of the matters listed in Schedule 6 in order to enable the provider to identify any trends

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Recommendations

and issues of concern so that they can continually improve the quality of care at the home. A copy of every report should be sent to Ofsted within twenty eight days of completion (NMS 21.2 and Volume 5, statutory guidance, paragraph 3.14)  ensure young people's views, wishes and feeling are acted upon, in the day to day running of the home. In particular, that the behaviour of some young people living in the home does not continue to adversely affect other young people resulting in them not wishing to return home. (NMS1.1)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are adequate . Young people who have lived for some considerable time at the home have built very strong and sustained relationships with staff. Other young people who have more recently moved into the home are beginning to form positive relationships. They are at the start of their journey where they will emotionally benefit from consistency in their lives. Some young people recognise their own emotions and have learned how to express these positively; others are still to benefit from this. As a result, some young people gain good knowledge and understanding of their own backgrounds, they adapt well to new situations and their view of themselves is positive. Other young people are still on a journey to achieve this.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are supported well overall to develop healthy lifestyles and this includes young people attending routine health appointments. This has brought about improved health outcomes for most young people. The home has regular support from the young people's mental health team, which is supporting and assisting to address individual’s emotional well-being. A balanced and health diet is promoted but this is not always achieved for some older young people who cook for themselves. This could affect health outcomes. Work is ongoing in relation to assisting some young people to understand some health risks, which includes smoking and substance misuse.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are at varying stages of attending education or under taking apprenticeships. While a number of young people have finished full time education, they are not participating in further education or work. Some young people are thriving and are doing very well in apprenticeships and others are at the start of their journey to be reintroduced back into full-time education. Progress in education for those with a history of non-attendance is adequate with young people making small steps forward to achieve personal goals. Young people are being supported to get to school on time by staff providing transport when required. However, for the majority of young people, their attendance in education, training or work is not good and this is affecting their ability to achieve.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people have positive contact with family, friends and significant others. Staff have assisted young people in building back strong links with their families. This promotes their identity needs and sense of belonging. A young person said, 'Oh, I see me mum all the time.' Staff understand the benefits of contact and build positive relationships with parents. This ensures improved communication and understanding between all parties, which is in young people’s best interests.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are supported by staff to practise independence skills including: cooking, domestic tasks, processing their own laundry, manage their money, and keeping their bedrooms clean and tidy, appropriate to their age and understanding. Young people said 'I can cook but do get a take away a few times a week as I'm busy, after work,' another said 'I'm a good cook but I'm not so good with budgeting my money, it’s really hard to buy all your food with eleven pounds each week.' There are gaps in young people's independence skills, relating to eating healthily, cooking on a regular basis, and budgeting which they will require to live independently. Young people's independence plans indicate the areas the staff are working on to support them. However, these do not always demonstrate how often this work is being undertaken nor clearly shows the progress young people have made over a period of time. Therefore, this does not ensure young people have the necessary

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Outcomes for children and young people

skills in all areas to be able to flourish and care for themselves independently as young adults.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people living in this home benefit immensely from an experienced staff group that demonstrate through a child focused approach their commitment to addressing young people's care and safety needs. Staff say, 'We are a really committed staff team, who care about the young people who live here and we work hard to help them move on in their lives after a difficult start.’ Young people benefit from the warm relationships staff build with them and this is demonstrated in the good rapport between them. Staff have a great understanding of each young person’s needs and what approach works best when working and caring for them. Young people confirm this saying, 'The best thing about living here is the staff, they are always there for you, they listen and help you to sort things out' and 'The staff have helped me a lot since I came to live here.’

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Quality of care

Young people confirm that their views are sought and acted upon. Staff provide opportunities for daily group discussions and one-to-one key worker sessions. Young people participate in their own reviews to give their views and opinions about their own futures. There are also regular young people's meetings. Quality assurance monitoring includes opportunities for young people to comment upon the care they receive at the home.

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Quality of care

Young people say that they are confident to complain and understand how to do so. Any complaints received are taken seriously and clearly recorded to reflect the action taken by the staff and the outcomes.

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Quality of care

Admissions to the home are planned; this is to assist in the manager in ensuring that the needs of the existing young people are taken into account when referral decisions are made. Young people do visit the home before they move in, to meet people and get information about the home. Staff find out about young people's differences, routines, likes and dislikes, strengths and needs. Staff are fully aware of young people's assessed needs and the quality of written placement plans overall is good because they clearly outline how young people's needs will be met. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of difference and they teach young people to do the same. Statutory case reviews take place within the required timescales to inform relevant people of the progress made by young people.

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Quality of care

Staff recognise the importance of good health for young people. They support and encourage young people to attend routine appointments with dentists, doctors and opticians and have health assessments. Detailed care work with young people takes place to address health concerns and requirements. Such as: sexual health, smoking, immunisations and substance misuse. Individual support services involved in the health and behaviour for the young people are in place. For example, young people who need it have access to psychological services, which promotes their emotional well-being including the looked after children’s nurse for health advice and a drugs awareness agency. Arrangements for dealing with medication are safe and all staff have received up-to-date first aid training to help ensure that young people receive emergency treatment if required.

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Quality of care

The staff work in a determined manner to ensure that appropriate education placements are sourced quickly in order that that they can continue to attend and achieve. However, this is currently having mixed success for young people. Young people receive constant encouragement, support, praise and incentives for attendance. Staff are determined and persevering to ensure regular attendance for each young person in their educational and training placements. Immediate action has been taken by the staff to address short falls and re-engage young people in educational placements. Strenuous efforts are made to rectify any barriers to bring a positive way forward for young people. Young people are well supported to maintain daily routines to benefit their education. Contact between the home and educational placements are frequent. The staffs’ close communication and support of other professionals working in education helps to increase the young people's time in the

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Quality of care

provision and their long-term achievements over time.

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Quality of care

The young people live in a home that is well located near to shops, health services and other local amenities. It is on the main bus route to allow easy access to the town centre and surrounding areas. The interior and exterior of the home are in a good state of structural and decorative repair. There are a number of homely touches and photographs that reflect the events and activities that young people have enjoyed with staff. There are spacious communal areas where young people can relax and enjoy watching television, listen to music or play electronic games. The home also has a dining area to facilitate staff and young people enjoying a social evening meal together. Communal areas downstairs have recently been decorated. There is a good maintenance and repair programme for the building, furniture and equipment and any damage is repaired promptly. Young people are encouraged to take pride in the quality of their living accommodation by helping to keep the home

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Quality of care

clean and tidy and by personalising their own rooms. One young person did say they were upset about the actions of two other young people living in the home, as they have been damaging decoration, furnishings and spitting in the home, which they found very upsetting.

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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 say they feel safe because staff care and always offer them good advice and support on safety matters. As a result, keeping young people safe is integral to daily practice. Some young people have made good progress in ceasing or reducing risk taking behaviour, while others still have some high risk taking behaviour. Safeguarding procedures are robust and staff are well trained. Risk assessments are used as working documents by staff, who clearly understand young people's known risks and vulnerabilities. In most instances risk assessments are in good detail. However, on occasions they are not always specific; such as, the detail of monitoring timescales for young people when involved in high risk behaviour and the specific detail of what 'consistent boundaries,' are for the staff to implement.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people do not regularly go missing from home, but when they do, staff always take the right action to minimise the risks and secure young people's safe return. For example, staff will routinely contact and check out young people’s whereabouts and check on known addresses. They undertake direct work with young people to address this risk taking behaviour. As a result this has been successful and this behaviour has significantly reduced for young people. Staff work effectively with the police to ensure a proportionate response is taken, based on the individual concerns and the level of risk.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say 'Staff explain rules and are fair with us.' Staff respond positively to young people and remain calm through challenges. They effectively use their relationships with young people to help them manage difficult and challenging situations, supporting young people to learn alternative ways of expressing their feelings. Consequently, sanctions are minimal and there have been no instances where young people have been physically restrained since the last inspection. Some young people respond well to the structure, boundaries and the strategies that the staff implement. Some young people are not responding consistently to the rules and boundaries put in place to support them. However, staff continue to work with these young people and other professionals to bring better outcomes for them in this area.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected from bullying. They say 'Bullying is not happening,' and 'It's not allowed.' Staff have a good awareness of the anti- bullying policy and state that although no bullying is currently happening, they closely monitor young people and respond to inappropriate behaviour. As a result this assists in preventing bullying behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from living in a safe environment. Staff make sure that the home is kept safe by doing regular health and safety checks and making sure that equipment is serviced. They also practise the home's fire evacuation procedure and test the system on a regular basis. Young people also participate in fire evacuation so that they know what to do in the event of a fire or other emergency situations which helps to keep them safe.

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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 home is effectively run by a suitably qualified and experienced manager who is registered with Ofsted. The staff team have a wealth of experience and have the necessary skills to care for young people living at the home. Staff state that they work well as a team. A staff member said 'We are a committed to our work and share the same child-focused goals for the young people.' This assists them to constantly strive to promote positive outcomes and keep young people safe. The home meets the aims and objectives of its Statement of Purpose, and young people, their families and social workers are clear about the services the home provides. The management team provides effective leadership and guidance for staff to assist the service to continue to improve and bring better outcomes for young people. They have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. This is reinforced by the monitoring systems the provider and manager

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Leadership and management

routinely undertake, which evaluates the home’s records, quality of care and take appropriate action to address any identified shortfalls.

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Leadership and management

Action has been taken to address the recommendation made at the last inspection. Staff are undertaking and recording direct one-to-one sessions with young people in line with their placement plans.

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Leadership and management

Young people are receiving good quality care from an experienced and competent staff team. The staff are appropriately qualified. Staff confirm they are well supported and that they are encouraged to develop and improve their performance through regular supervision and training. For example, staff routinely undertake mandatory training including safeguarding, behaviour management and first aid. Additional training in mental, sexual health and drugs awareness enables staff to further meet the individual needs of young people in their care.

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Leadership and management

Young people's care records and other written documentation are of a good standard overall. They clearly outline young people's identified needs, how these needs are going to be met. Young people know they can have access to their records which helps them understand their histories and future plans.

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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 and the evaluation schedule for children's homes.

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