Children's Home run by Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited in Kent

Unique reference number SC023743 Inspection date 26/03/2013 Inspector Kenneth Smith Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Date of last inspection 03/07/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

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.

p.2

Brief description of the service

This privately owned children’s home is part of a large organisation which operates many children's homes in the area. The organisation is also able to provide schooling for children with special educational needs. The home can accommodate up to three young people aged who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. At the time of this visit the home was being used exclusively for boys, but may offer a service to both genders.

p.3

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.

p.3

Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress .

p.3

Progress

At the previous inspection of July 2012, this home's overall effectiveness was judged as good. Since that time the home has maintained very good engagement with young people through many difficulties and challenges. The purposeful support to young people has helped them through this period of their lives and increased their life chances.

p.3

Progress

At the previous inspection a single recommendation for improvement was made regarding emergency admissions. There have been no admissions since that time and a procedure in the event of an emergency placement is now in place. The recommendation is complied with.

p.3

Progress

Young people living in this home have been supported by a strong and very well engaged staff team. Some young people present risks to themselves and others which the staff manage closely and to very positive effect. Staff rise to the challenges presented. They find positive ways to overcome challenging behaviour and continue to engage purposefully with young people.

p.3

Progress

The risks presented by young people have required very close levels of supervision. This has been effective in keeping young people safe and they have been generally accepting of this. However, a consequence of this is that some young people don’t have significant opportunities to learn self-reliance in the community. Any changes to this need to be managed cautiously because of the risks involved. However, the ages of young people mean that they will inevitably acquire unsupervised time in future adult placements for which they need to become prepared.

p.4

Progress

Staffing arrangements typically involve two staff on duty with three young people. This is appropriate to the age of the young people and still affords young people activity time with staff on an individual basis. A range of activities take place including: cycling; cinema; cadets and indoor games.

p.4

Progress

Staff in the home seek to manage behaviour through negotiation and guidance. Some extremely challenging behaviour is sporadically displayed and this has, as a last resort, been managed through physical intervention. Staff are trained for this and its use is rare in this home.

p.4

Progress

Young people are always encouraged to attend and use their educational opportunities. Young people of compulsory school age have reasonable attendance and this is a great improvement on patterns of attendance prior to admission. Young people are helped to secure college places and use these. This has greatly improved the employment prospect for one young person and continues to be an area of staff attention for another.

p.4

Progress

Managers and staff in the home show skill and understanding in slowly building constructive relationships and supporting wider family life for young people despite complex and enduring difficulties. This has included being consistently present in supervised contact and using this to help young people understand their situations. Some family relationships have been sustained that might otherwise have broken down.

p.4

Progress

The home has a thoughtful development plan which shows that the manager considers carefully the full range of issues which she might influence and progress; and plans strategically how to do this.

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

p.4

Recommendations

 encourage children to take responsibility for their behaviour in ways appropriate to their age; in particular explore the use of free time for older children to prepare them for adulthood. (NMS 3.6)

p.4

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.

p.6

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.

p.6