Children's Home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Unique reference number SC426318 Inspection date 06/02/2013 Inspector Louise Redfern Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 01/05/2012 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 privately owned children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two young people, who have emotional and/ or behavioural problems.

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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 make excellent progress in the home and enjoy varied opportunities to engage in activities. As a result, young people improve their social skills and increase in confidence. Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff and each other. They receive highly personalised, well-planned care, taking into account their individual needs.

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Overall effectiveness

The home strongly promotes positive outcomes for all young people. The manager and staff team are particularly proactive and successful in engaging young people in the placement and developing strong attachments. This is because a small and dedicated staff team cares for them. As a result, young people make good progress in relation to their starting points across all aspects of their welfare and development.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people report that they feel very safe in the home. They live in a nurturing, supportive environment that is underpinned with clear and consistent boundaries. Individual needs are well identified with updated plans and strategies in place to address them. There is a strong commitment to ensuring young people develop life skills in preparation for living independently.

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Overall effectiveness

The service is effectively managed. Systems for ensuring rigorous monitoring of the quality of care provided are well established. The experienced manager provides continuous quality assurance to maintain excellent standards and develop improvements in the running of the service. A requirement has been raised to ensure that on the rare occasions sanctions are imposed they are reviewed for effectiveness.

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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, a written record is made including the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 17B (3)(f)) 04/03/2013

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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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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making good progress in the home because of individualised consistent care and support from the whole staff team. As a result, they are forming and sustaining positive attachments with staff and each other, which supports their individual progress in developing emotional resilience.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good opportunities to have contact with family, friends and other people who are important to them. Contact is promoted within the context of an appropriate balance between individual safeguards and risk assessments. Staff continue to make arrangements and support young people practically and emotionally with contact in order to develop and sustain appropriate relationships.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making good progress, in relation to their individual starting points, in developing their independence skills in preparation for adulthood. As a result, young people are empowered and encouraged to develop skills for life in readiness for living independently.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people attend weekly ‘young people’s meetings’, where they share their views on menus choices, activity plans and the development of the home. For example, they have suggested changes that ensure the home is less institutionalised, with information now stored discreetly in the home rather than being openly displayed. Young people enjoy healthy lifestyles by engaging in positive activities, such as going to the gym and visiting local parks. As a result, they engage in positive social interaction with both peers and staff in the local community, which increases their self-confidence, self-esteem and broadens their horizons. Young people are helped to understand their own health needs and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Young people are able to self-medicate prescribed medication safely through robust risk assessments.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good progress with their educational attainment, which is supported by good attendance levels. Young people benefit from routines that enable them to make the most of educational opportunities and be prepared for the school day. As a result, they have recently secured work experience coaching young people in the local community.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people comment ‘I think the home is outstanding, my life has changed dramatically since living here.’ Young people benefit from excellent relationships with the staff team and this promotes a sense of trust and security. A caring environment with clear rules, leads to constructive relationships between staff and young people. One young person commented ‘the staff listen to me, even though we have our disagreements I feel like they are always here for me and want the best for me.’

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from highly individualised support that helps them to build self- esteem, grow in confidence and address challenging behaviours. Young people are systematically encouraged to contribute to their care planning. They are involved in discussions about their behaviour management plans and risk assessments on a regular basis. This leads to young people developing a sense of personal responsibility for their behaviour. Young people benefit from effective engagement with their individual behaviour management plans, which also assist the staff in maintaining consistency. One young person commented, ‘Before I came here I was always going missing and had a really bad temper. Since I have been here, I have changed so much. I really care about the staff and I know they care about me.’

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Quality of care

Young people’s views are regularly sought through daily conversations, weekly consultations, one-to-one sessions and statutory review meetings. Young people feel listened to and can recognise the occasions when their views and choices have been acted upon. The home has a comprehensive complaints procedure in place, which is child focused. One the one occasion when a young person accessed the complaints procedure it was fully investigated and actioned. As a result, young people feel they are listened to and feel confident in raising their concerns.

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Quality of care

Partnership arrangements are extremely effective. Social work professionals describe the staff as, 'excellent at communicating' and, 'skilled in providing a structured environment to manage the individual behaviours of young people’. Regular and thorough multi-agency meetings are held which ensures all professionals have the same information and can continue to offer high quality and consistent care and risk management.

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Quality of care

The home provides a healthy environment where children and young people access the services and support they need to meet their physical, emotional and psychological health needs, both in the home and in the local community. One specialist nurse commented ‘since (young person) has been placed at the home I have seen her health dramatically improve, the staff team have been open to training to support the individual health needs of (young person).’ Young people engage in positive activities such as the local gym and swimming pool. This encourages them to engage in physical activity and provide for positive social interaction in the community.

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Quality of care

Staff consistently and effectively challenge barriers to the full participation of young people at school, in their community and wider society. As a result, all the young people placed at the home have an identified educational placement, which they regularly attend.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from living in house that blends into the neighbourhood and resembles a family home. The house has a homely feel and is decorated and maintained to a high standard. Young people have a strong say in the décor of the home and are encouraged to personalise their individual bedrooms.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is outstanding at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say that they are safe and that they feel protected from any harm. Young people report that there have been no incidents of bullying, but feel confident that any concerns they raised would be dealt with appropriately. Placement plans, behaviour management plans and risk assessments all provide a sound mechanism for responding to young people’s changing needs for their individual safety and protection. Risk assessments enable young people to continue to take reasonable risks, wherever possible, ensuring that they have the opportunity to grow and develop; for example, shopping independently in the local community.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Managers and staff are well trained in safeguarding and the home has extensive policies and procedures in place to underpin effective practice. There are clear safeguarding procedures in place should young people go missing, each young person has shown a significant reduction in the number of missing from home episodes. Through effective monitoring of the incidents, the manager and staff team develop a clear understanding of the reasons why young people do go missing. Young people are supported to understand the risks associated with going missing through regular one-to-one sessions and effective behaviour management plans. The manager has developed excellent links with the local police to promote the safety of young people in the local area. Young people benefit from positive and firm boundaries in the home. As a result, there are no incidents of young people being physically restrained. Sanctions are

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Safeguarding children and young people

rarely imposed and when they are young people are encouraged to reflect on their behaviours. However, the manager does not comment on the effectiveness of the sanctions in order to evaluate if the consequence remains appropriate. This is not currently impacting on young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There is an effective and well-developed recruitment process that includes a comprehensive check on all staff applying to work at the setting. Young people are also encouraged to be part of the recruitment process. The careful selection, recruitment and retention of staff helps young people feel secure and to have a consistent team of staff that know them well. Visitors are checked, vetted and monitored.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Effective health and safety risk management ensures the home is well maintained. The home provides for a safe environment for the staff team and the young people. Young people and staff practice scenario led fire drills. This means, they have a clear understanding of what to do in the event of any number of emergencies.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are outstanding .

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Leadership and management

The home is efficiently and effectively managed by an experienced manager. The service excels at providing young people with structured and effective individualised care that promotes their health, welfare and education and addresses issues of risk management. Young people benefit from the manager and staff being consistent, self-motivated and exceptionally committed. Staff benefit from excellent relationships with the manager. These relationships are built on mutual respect and ensure staff are working in a consistent, motivated and highly professional manner. Young people develop strong relationships with both the manager and staff team, which are based on trust and professionalism. These relationships ensure young people are supported in their care and effectively challenged around inappropriate behaviours. The manager ensures that the staffing levels are sufficient in the home and adapts the rota in order to meet the individual needs of the young people.

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Leadership and management

Monitoring tools are robust and constantly review the quality of care for young people. The manager identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the home and undertakes the actions necessary to improve outcomes for young people. The home has a detailed development plan in place. Staff and young people say they talk about the development of the home and areas for improvement, during team meetings and regular young people’s meetings.

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Leadership and management

The staff team are a group of experienced and culturally diverse professionals committed to improving the outcomes of young people. Their performance continually improves with well-planned team meetings, effective handovers between shifts, annual appraisals and robust and supportive supervisions. At the last inspection one recommendation was raised to improve the appraisal process, as a result all staff receive an appraisal, which now provides for consultation with young people.

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Leadership and management

Good quality records are in place. Records contribute to an understanding of young people's lives and show the progress made by young people. Records are up to date and are stored securely. Young people routinely sign risk management and placement plans. This encourages and enables young people to be part of their care planning and setting goals.

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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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