Children's Home run by Break Charity in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC025718 Inspection date 14/01/2013 Inspector Louisa Bayley Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/09/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home provides accommodation for up to five young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home is owned by a registered charity that also owns a number of other children's homes and a residential family centre.

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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 inadequate progress .

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Progress

The home was judged as good overall at the full inspection in September 2012 with three requirements and recommendations for improvement being made. The home has failed to address one of the requirements and one of the recommendations. Additionally, a number of shortfalls have been identified which have had an impact on the quality of care provided for young people.

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Progress

The manager has addressed two of the requirements and two of the recommendations raised at the previous inspection. There is now a system in place to ensure Ofsted are notified of significant events in the home, within appropriate timescales. The manager has updated the records of checks and vetting of staff, reflecting their suitability to work with children and young people. This contributes to promoting young people’s safety. Staff now ask young people for their views following incidents of restraint, giving them the chance to discuss and reflect on the way they have been managed. Staff have not met the recommendation to ask young people for their views regarding sanctions and consequences for their behaviour. Records of restraint do not include the measure used. Additionally, staff do not consistently record measures of control and discipline, such as, switching off the power to children’s bedrooms.

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Progress

This means there is no way to monitor the effectiveness or appropriateness of the measures used. Some of the records that have been made are incomplete, lacking signatures and staff names. As a result, records do not provide a full view of an individual’s care and it is not possible to assess whether they are being treated fairly and appropriately.

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Progress

Monitoring of the quality of care in the home does not provide for consultation with young people or placing authorities. As a result, the manager has not identified issues arising for young people. Additionally, a lack of clear and effective procedures to monitor and control the activities and care in the home has led to inconsistent practice within the staff team. This has had an impact on young people, who feel unfairly treated. They gave an example of the staff locking internal doors so young people do not have access to the ground floor of the home over-night.

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Progress

The fire evacuation procedures in the home are not adequately risk assessed. The fire risk assessment does not account for the front door and ground floor internal doors being locked over-night. Additionally, staff have not made young people who are new to the home aware of the fire evacuation procedures. This has the potential to compromise young people's safety in the event of a fire.

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Progress

Young people who are new to the home have not received the Young Person’s Guide. This means they do not have basic information such as how to make a complaint, expectations of the home, or detail about the staff team. This has a negative impact on young people as they do not feel welcome or settled.

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Progress

Young people benefit from a warm, homely environment, which is well decorated and maintained. Young people’s bedrooms reflect their personal taste. There has been on-going improvement to the home, which makes young people feel valued.

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Progress

Staff are proactive in chasing relevant placing authorities for missing documentation for young people. This has been an issue for the home, leading to a lack of relevant information to guide care planning for individuals. Despite this, the manager writes a care plan based on available information and makes consistent attempts to obtain placement plans.

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Progress

The staff work hard to engage with a wide range of professionals, to support young people’s development and meet their needs. A young person gave an example of requesting a specific professional, who had retired. The manager successfully arranged this, demonstrating a willingness to listen to the individual and act upon his request.

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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

(2001) supply a copy of the children’s guide to HMCI and, on admission to each child accommodated in the home (Regulation 4 (5)) 21/02/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, discipline or restraint in a children’s home, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include all matters set out in Regulation 17B (3) (Regulation 17B (3)(c)(e)(f)(h)(i)) 21/02/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) provide adequate means of escape (Regulation 32 (1)(b)) 21/02/2013

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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 practicable, children accommodated there, are aware of the procedure to be followed in the case of fire (Regulation 32 (1)(e )) 21/02/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the system referred to in paragraph (1) of Regulation 34 provides for consultation with children accommodated in the home, their parents and placing authorities. (Regulation 34 (3)) 21/02/2013

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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 there are clear and effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home. This includes the financial viability, any serious incidents, allegations, complaints about the provision and the quality of the provision. Children in the home are regularly involved in contributing to monitoring the operation of the home, and their views and any concerns are seriously taken into account (NMS 21.1)

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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.

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