Children's Home run by 4d Care Ltd in Cambridgeshire

Unique reference number SC064557 Inspection date 08/01/2013 Inspector Rebecca Sharp Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 20/07/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is privately owned. It is registered to look after a maximum of six young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. There are education facilities within the grounds of the home.

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Brief description of the service

The home works flexibly to meet the needs of young people's placement plans as identified by local authorities. The home supports young people to achieve positive moves to independence, supported accommodation or alternative placements.

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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

At the previous full inspection, in July 2012, the overall effectiveness of the home was judged as good. Outcomes for young people and quality of care were judged as outstanding and three requirements were made.

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Progress

This inspection found two of the requirements have been met, however one remains partially unmet. Furthermore, additional shortfalls have been identified. This has led to a judgement of inadequate progress.

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Progress

The management of the home has enhanced their internal monitoring practices by introducing systems to gain feedback on the quality of care from young people, their parents and placing authorities. Consultation questionnaires have been sent to the parents and social workers of the young people at the home. With these enhanced systems in place, a requirement from the previous inspection has been met. However, the effectiveness of this consultation is yet to impact on the running of the home, as the process is still in its infancy. Young people are consulted with on a regular basis through young people’s meetings, key working sessions and daily communication. Their views, wishes and feelings are taken into account with regards the day to day running of the home and the quality of care they receive.

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Progress

Recruitment records include a full employment history for all staff, including an explanation of any gaps in employment. This meets a requirement set at the last inspection. However, further shortfalls were found in this area. Written references obtained are not routinely verified by telephone, and staff’s unique reference numbers from their Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are not kept on file. These further actions would ensure best practice in safe recruitment procedures and aid monitoring of the process. A recommendation has been made as a result of this.

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Progress

External monitoring of the service, by a registered provider visitor, is carried out on a monthly basis. This meets part of a requirement from the last inspection. Staff and young people say they can speak openly to this visitor. However, there is little evidence of this in the report of the visit, to show that their comments regarding the quality of care provided in the home have been considered. These visits have not included consultation with parents since the last inspection. As a result, the visitor is unable to gain a holistic opinion of the service and the quality of care provided. This limits the effectiveness of this monitoring process in improving outcomes for young people. Consequently, this requirement is repeated. Furthermore, the reports of these visits, and reports of internal monitoring at appropriate intervals, have not been sent into Ofsted since the last inspection. Ofsted have therefore been unable to

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Progress

monitor the service effectively. Requirements are made to ensure these reports are sent to Ofsted.

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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) ensure that the person carrying out the registered provider visit shall interview, with their consent and in private, the children accommodated there, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home and supply a copy of the report to Ofsted (Regulation 33 (4) (a) 5 (a)) 11/02/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered person shall supply to Ofsted a report of any review conducted by him for the purpose of reviewing the 11/02/2013 quality of care at appropriate intervals. (Regulation 34 (2)

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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

 improve the homes selection process whereby references are checked to assess suitability by making telephone enquiries as well as obtaining written references; and ensure records include individual's CRB unique reference number. (NMS 16.1 & 16.3 (b))

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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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