Children's Home run by Capstone Care Provider Limited in Nottinghamshire

Unique reference number SC392712 Inspection date 25/04/2013 Inspector Russell Shackford Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 04/09/2012 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 home provides care for up to two young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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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 adequate .

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Overall effectiveness

Overall effectiveness is judged as adequate because young people engage in risk- taking and offending behaviours and there are shortfalls in setting appropriate boundaries, fire safety precautions, staff training and quality assurance monitoring. These shortfalls have a potential, rather than a direct, negative impact on the welfare and safety of young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people’s health outcomes are potentially compromised because, despite good health promotion practice by staff, they continue to engage in risk-taking behaviours such as frequent smoking and sporadic drug use.

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Overall effectiveness

Taking into account their starting point at the time of placement, young people are making good progress towards their desired educational attendance and achievement targets.

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Overall effectiveness

Unreasonable physical restrictions on normal movement within the home are used, such as the frequent and routine locking of internal doors which leads to an institutional feeling within the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people confirm that their views are genuinely sought and acted upon. The staff encourage them to make decisions about their lives and influence the way that the home is run.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are well aware of young people's assessed needs. The quality of written placement plans is good because they clearly outline where necessary how young people's needs are to be met. Young people say that they are confident to complain and understand how to do so. Any complaints received are clearly recorded to reflect the action taken by the staff and the outcomes.

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Overall effectiveness

Effective support is in place to help young people learn skills that they will need later in life.

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Overall effectiveness

The staff are experienced, and sufficient in number. All staff have received training appropriate to the needs of the young people accommodated.

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Overall effectiveness

There are shortfalls in the quality assurance monitoring processes required to maintain and improve the quality of care in the home. Poor fire safety practice potentially compromise the safety of people in the home.

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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) take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, in particular cease the practice of wedging open doors which are designed and fitted to contain fire in the home (Regulation 32 (1) (a)) 25/04/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention. (Regulation 32 (1) (d)) 31/05/2013

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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 that staff are familiar with written guidelines on their health and safety responsibilities, in particular about fire safety in the home (NMS 10.7)  ensure that physical restrictions on normal movement within or from the home are not used unless this is necessary to safeguard children and promote their welfare and development, in particular by ceasing to routinely lock internal doors to control young people's activity and movements (NMS 10.4)  ensure that the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated throughout (NMS 10.3)  ensure that there are effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home (NMS 21.1)  establish a system to report upon the previous six months monitoring of the matters listed in Schedule 6 in order to enable the provider to identify any trends and issues of concern so that they can continually improve the quality of care at

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Recommendations

the home. A copy of every report should be sent to HMCI within twenty eight days of completion. (Volume 5, statutory guidance, paragraph 3.14)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are adequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making sustained progress because of the focused and committed support they receive from staff. Young people benefit from the discussions and stimulating interactive activities that staff use to build relationships with them. Opportunities to talk with staff enable them to develop their confidence and build emotional resilience. As a result, young people gain good knowledge and understanding of their own backgrounds and their future care plan. They adapt better to new situations and their self-view is increasingly positive.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's health needs are effectively identified and services are provided to meet them. Young people keep appointments with the doctor, dentist and optician and they take some degree of responsibility for managing their own health. Young people make choices about their food and enjoy planning, shopping for, cooking and eating healthy, nutritious meals and snacks. They have contact with specialist health workers to promote good physical health and emotional wellbeing. However, young people’s health outcomes are potentially compromised because, despite good health promotion practice by staff, they continue to engage in risk-taking behaviours such as frequent smoking and sporadic drug use. This does not support good outcomes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's education attendance is good and improving from their starting points. One young person has an education package tailor-made to give him the best opportunity to go on to study at college. Taking into account both their attainment and progress from the starting point of their placement, young people are making good progress towards their desired educational achievement targets. School leavers are supported well to consider further education or employment options. Young people say, 'Staff try hard to help me find employment or further education so that I can earn money and be independent.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from clear contact arrangements, understanding when they will see significant people, which helps them settle in and enjoy seeing their friends and family. Young people say, 'Staff have helped me to keep in touch with people that are important to me and I feel good about my relationships with them.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

The organisation has its own incremental life-skills programme for young people. This is implemented according to the level of maturity and understanding of the individual. It can be adapted to focus upon priority areas such as budgeting and planning to ensure that young people are ready to take on further life skills tasks. Young people are given help and support with travel, social skills, healthy eating, budgeting, clothing care and shopping. Therefore, young people receive care which prepares them well for adulthood.

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Quality of care

Young people say that they enjoy very good relationships with staff in the home. There is good rapport between them. One young person said, 'I get on really well with all of the staff, it's one of the best things about living here.' The collective opinion of the staff was, 'One of the best things about this home is the very good relationships with the young people. They are good young people and we are proud of them.' However, physical restrictions on normal movement within the home are used, for example, the frequent and routine locking of internal doors which leads to an institutional feeling within the home. Staff say that this practice, introduced to manage the challenging behaviour of some young people, has remained as the normal routine. Staff agree that this is no longer necessary.

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Quality of care

Staff are pro-active and challenging when seeking out appropriate education provision for young people. Staff actively encourage young people with their school attendance. Contact between the home and school is frequent and effective, enabling staff to support young people successfully with homework or personal targets. Staff are enthusiastically supportive of young people's career aspirations, helping to create opportunities for work experience such as painting and decorating and music production. This helps to ensure that young people feel that their economic wellbeing is valued and supported.

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Quality of care

Young people confirm that they are consulted and included in decision making about their lives and influence the way that the home is run. Acting on young people's choices has resulted in improved internet access, activities, food and personalising bedrooms.

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Quality of care

Young people say they know how to complain and are confident to do so. There is also good, clear information in the children’s guide. Staff provide information and contact details of independent advocate services. Complaints are clearly recorded to reflect the action taken by the staff and the outcomes.

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Quality of care

The home's referral system enables the manager to fully assess young people’s needs prior to admission. Young people can visit the home prior to admission which helps to them move into the home in a planned and sensitive manner.

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Quality of care

Assessed needs are clearly identified within the home's good quality placement plans. This helps staff to consistently deliver individualised care and support to young people. Statutory case reviews take place within the required timescales and inform relevant people of young people's progress. Young people receive very good individualised support that is appropriate to their needs. A notable area of strength is the ability of the manager and staff to quickly and successfully support young people to engage with other support agencies.

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Quality of care

Young people pursue their particular interests and are enthusiastically supported and encouraged by staff to engage in a variety of leisure activities such as gym, boxing, football and song writing. The staff have established good links and relationships with community based activity providers. Young people also have access to a computer and a good range of books, DVDs and games for education and entertainment purposes.

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Quality of care

The young people live in a home that is appropriately located near to shops, leisure, education and employment opportunities. It is on a main bus route to the nearby city centre. The home’s location and transport links support young people's ability to develop independence skills that will equip them for adulthood. The interior and exterior of the home are maintained in a reasonable state of structural and decorative repair. Investment and refurbishment work is on-going and it is highlighted as a priority within the home’s development plan. The garden is well maintained and safe. Staff described plans to involve young people in growing vegetables to demonstrate the value of home grown food.

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Quality of care

Good policies and practice around the storage, handling, administration and disposal of medication safeguards young people's welfare.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff teach young people about risks and how to keep themselves safe. Consistently well-written risk assessments inform staff of the action to take to minimise any identified risks. Staff have links with the local safeguarding service from whom they can seek advice if necessary. The manager also considers the use of additional local resources, such as the community police and therapeutic services, to further support young people. An information display area has details of local safeguarding agencies that young people can access for independent advice and information.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Good safeguarding systems and procedures support staff in the event of any allegation or suspicion of abuse. The manager and staff have received child protection training which includes elements of child exploitation and internet safety. Staff demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding procedures; because of this are able to promote and protect young people’s safety. Strategies implemented by staff are successful in preventing bullying as young people say there is no bullying at the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There is good written guidance for staff to follow in the event of unauthorised absence and young people going missing. This is supported by individualised risk assessment records. On the rare occasions that young people have been missing staff have taken effective action to secure their safe return. Behaviour management plans reflect the individual needs of the young people well and outline strategies for staff to follow. Staff consistently implement these to good effect. As a result, there is little use of physical restraint and sanctions. Sanctions are relevant, reflect the age and understanding of the young people and are reviewed regularly for effectiveness. All staff have received up-to-date training in the provider’s policy and authorised physical restraint techniques. Behaviour management records are sufficiently detailed so that patterns and trends can be identified and action taken to better support young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Not all staff have received up-to-date fire safety training. This compromises their ability to minimise the risks to young people in the event of a fire at the home. Regular fire safety checks, general checks and maintenance arrangements contribute to a safe environment. However, the fire safety precautions are not adequate because staff frequently and routinely wedge open doors designed to contain fire in the home. This potentially compromises the welfare and safety of people in the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All staff are appropriately recruited. Their suitability to work with young people is assessed by the recruitment checks completed, including the completion of a check with the Criminal Records Bureau.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

A Statement of Purpose is available which informs professionals and members of the public about how care is provided at the home. The children’s guide provides a user- friendly summary of the Statement of Purpose and this is appropriate to the age and understanding of the young people. Young people receive a copy of it before they move to live at the home and this informs them of what to expect if they choose to live there.

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Leadership and management

A core staff team, supported when necessary by relief staff, provide consistent care to young people. Staff receive good quality induction training before commencing work with the young people. This familiarises them with the home's written guidance which, with the exception of health and safety guidance, is implemented in practice.

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Leadership and management

All staff have completed an appropriate course at level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People as well as completing training in other child-care related topics. As a result, young people are looked after by staff who are well trained, competent and supported to meet their needs.

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Leadership and management

The manager monitors and reports on the administration systems of the home. However, the recordings are brief in detail and do not fully evaluate practice. For instance the shortfall in fire safety is not identified as an issue or reported on. There is no clear evidence that the children accommodated in the home, their parents and placing authorities have been consulted as part of the process. It is therefore not evident how their views influence service development. These shortfalls have not had a detrimental effect upon the quality of care or outcomes for young people but do impact on the home's ability to demonstrate how it intends to improve practice.

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Leadership and management

A summary report on the quality of care during the previous six months has not been completed or supplied to Ofsted as required. The regulator is therefore unable to monitor the conduct of the home in the interim period between inspections.

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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 the inspection of children's homes.

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