Children's Home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Shropshire

Unique reference number SC020630 Inspection date 28/01/2013 Inspector Rachel Ruth Britten Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 10/09/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is a two-bedded children's home providing services for young people between 10 and 18 years of age who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is run by a private company and education is provided on site for young people of school age by a qualified tutor.

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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 satisfactory progress .

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Progress

Since the last inspection the children's home has maintained the high standards of care which contributed to its full inspection grading of 'outstanding' in September 2012. Young people continue to progress towards independence and are doing well in regard to their education. The home has also thoroughly addressed the single recommendation about evidencing independence work that was raised at the last inspection. The Registered Manager has completed rigorous consultation, monitoring and reviewing of the setting during the four month period since the last inspection. She has clear targets in place which are derived from this work. These aim to support continuing focused work in the home to ensure that young people continue to achieve the best outcomes. The Registered Manager has very recently been seconded to another home within the organisation and the deputy manager is now acting manager. However, the day of the inspection was the acting manager’s first

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Progress

day back from a period of extended leave. She is therefore not yet familiar with the home's current targets and priorities for work with young people. In addition, small gaps are identified during inspection within the staff vetting information kept in the home.

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Progress

Young people are exceedingly settled in placement and staff are working effectively with them towards living independently. They are budgeting and cooking ably, with an improving focus on healthy lifestyles. Young people are also sustaining their college placements and studies. They are receiving good support to keep to routines and to cope with relationships with peers in the community. This includes advice about bullying and appropriate use of mobile phones and social networking. As a result, young people have managed to continue their college studies and hope to secure qualifications. Similarly, young people are managing their family contacts, relationships and free time as well as they can, despite various difficulties which staff support them well to overcome. As a result, young people feel prepared for adult life and are reasonably confident about their individual future plans as they move on

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Progress

Staff in the home are maintaining high quality care for young people. New staff are undertaking appropriate child care training and demonstrate good rapport with, and understanding of, each young person. They also balance young people's deep-seated emotional and behavioural difficulties sensitively with their need to prepare for adult independent life. The absence of some details about staff vetting checks does not impact on the quality of care provided. This is because robust vetting checks of each member of staff's suitability have been made and all required information is available at head office to confirm this. Staff are committed to taking every opportunity to guide, advise and support young people with issues relevant to their care plan. To this end, all staff now undertake key sessions with each young person. Staff utilise their individual flare and style to work with young people. Some identified pieces of

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Progress

priority work, such as, young people experiencing caring for a 'virtual baby' and re- visiting learning about bullying and social networking, have been slower to complete. Nevertheless, records of key sessions are shared with young people and this reinforces their learning and progress. Staff demonstrate enormous care and concern for young people and act supportively towards them in their contacts with peers, relatives and professionals.

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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 the children's home has a record of recruitment checks which includes the outcome of Criminal Records Bureau disclosures and who carried out the check. (NMS 16.3 & 16.4)

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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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