SC 040491

Unique reference number SC040132 Inspection date 29/04/2013 Inspector Guy Mammatt Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 18/12/2012 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 children's home is run by a local authority and provides short breaks for children with autism. At any one time it provides regular, short-break care facilities for a maximum of four children. Children stay for varying lengths of time and frequency, depending on their assessed needs.

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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

The short break residential service for children and young people delivers highly personalised care for the individuals that attend. It is child centred and provides outcomes focused positive opportunities for all that attend. Young people have outstanding outcomes; they take part in an extensive range of activities for fun, social interaction and meeting their sensory needs. Young people have an excellent relationships with the staff team and very much enjoy staying at the home.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is well maintained, providing a comfortable, accessible environment for the young people to use. Young people are fully involved in their care and receive good opportunities to express their wishes and feelings.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people and families using the home have full confidence in the service and feel safe. Young people do not engage in risk taking behaviours and any conflict is effectively managed by staff with a proportionate response. Serious negative behaviour is rare as staff proactively engage young people in their interests. Restraints and negative consequences are infrequently used. The behaviour management policy requires updating to ensure it corresponds to the children’s home regulations and not the Department for Education.

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Overall effectiveness

Leaders and managers understand the strengths and weakness of the service and continually strive to implement positive change. They work well with outside agencies to ensure their feedback and actions are put to good use in the best interests of the child. The Registered Manager is required to maintain a record at the service of the satisfactory vetting details for all staff including agency staff. This is to ensure that all staff working at the home has undergone the necessary clearance checks before commencing employment. The Responsible Individual is also required to ensure the monthly monitoring reports carried out by an individual are submitted to HMCI within the required timescale.

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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) prepare and implement a written policy which sets out the measure of control, restraint and discipline which may be used in the children's home (Regulation 17B (1) (a)) 31/05/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure full and satisfactory information is available in relation to staff in respect of the matters specified in Schedule 2 (Regulation 26 (3) (d)) 31/05/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that a copy of the report required to be made under paragraph (4) (c) is supplied to the HMCI. (Regulation 33 (5) (a)) 31/05/2013

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making exceptional progress in developing their skills and confidence. They are also accessing a wide range of enjoyable experiences. Young people regularly receive excellent developmental opportunities. This is despite their limited time at the service. This ensures that young people attending the service make outstanding progress towards their individualised outcomes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people of all communication abilities actively participate in daily choices and more complex decisions about their care. This promotes their independence as well as ensuring that they feel their opinion is valued.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have a good understanding of their key health and developmental issues. As a result, young people act accordingly in public places and do not participate in behaviour that may impair their health.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have excellent attendance at school and are all registered with all the necessary health professionals. These matters are taken care of by the family and the local authority. Young people have good access to specialist services while using the service. This helps their emotional development and their understanding of their background.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people using the service are confident and feel secure in their time away from home. They enjoy spending time with their peers and access an extensive range of stimulating opportunities together. This ensures that they are able to develop their social skills as well stay in touch with the latest trends and fashions.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people very much enjoy attending the service and have good relationships with the staff team. Staff act as positive role models for social interaction and provide opportunities for the young people to develop and have fun with.

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Quality of care

Staff place the well-being of all young people at the centre of their practice. Staff are proactive and creative in findings ways to support the young people during their stay at the service. This has beneficial effects for the young people when they return to their homes. Parents state that they see an improvement in the young people’s ability to overcome difficulties in their life following thorough support from staff at the service.

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Quality of care

Exceptional care adds considerably to young people’s experiences and development during their stay. The service provides a wide range of additional experiences including peer social interaction and engagement into the community. Young people are able to access opportunities that would not always be available to them in their family home.

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Quality of care

Staff frequently engage young people in a variety of consultation exercises. They effectively communicate with all young people using the service regardless of their ability. Staff demonstrate that seeking the views of young people is not a one-off situation; it is an assortment of events using a range of methods and activities. Effective use of talking mats and social stories ensure young people exercise choice during their stay as well as increasing their social understanding.

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Quality of care

High quality individualised care planning ensures that young people’s diverse needs are met during each stay. The care plan includes a security and monitoring assessment for each young person. This ensures their individual needs are met while respecting their privacy wherever possible.

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Quality of care

The service displays an excellent ethos in managing young people’s behaviour. Staff adhere to risk assessments in place to ensure the young people are sufficiently supervised. This minimises any potential conflict and the need for physical intervention; as staff recognise this would escalate the situation rather than help it. The home provides a very active and stimulating environment for the young people. An extensive range of toys, musical instruments and games are available to use, both indoors and outdoors. Young people very much enjoy attending this service and tell people close to them they would like to attend every day if that were possible. Staff encourage young people to try new experiences to ensure that they the most of their time at the home.

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Quality of care

The service provides a healthy environment where great attention is taken to ensuring the medical and nutritional needs of all young people are met. As a result young people receive excellent health promotion during their stay.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are not at risk of harm and do not engage in damaging, risk-taking behaviour. Parents state that they are very confident their children are in safe place during their stay. Bullying is effectively managed and is not an issue at the service. The anti-bullying information used throughout the home is to a high standard. Staff ensure supervision levels are always appropriate to minimise the opportunity for any discriminatory behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service encourages young people to have as much freedom as possible while respecting their differences and the need to keep everyone safe. Young people do not go missing from the service and sanctions are infrequently used. The staff at the home actively engage the young people in enjoyable activities to promote positive behaviour and safe play.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The use of physical intervention is rare and has not been required for almost one year. A good approach to the individual’s preferred-handling strategy is included in the young people’s care plan. Their care plans regularly state that ‘no handling strategy is used, as the young people would find it stressful and it would escalate the situation’. Staff are instead instructed to manage the environment and remain with the young people. This ensures each incident is dealt with in a calm manner and promotes the individual’s well-being.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The behaviour management policy at the homes is incorrect as it states that restraint can be used to maintain good order; this has not been part of the homes actual practice.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff recruited by the provider undergo the necessary checks and vetting processes to ensure they are suitable to work with children. Agency staff that are used by the service are required to show their credentials before starting work. However, the home does not maintain a record of their vetting information to ensure full and satisfactory clearance information is available for all staff that work at the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The environment is physically safe and appropriately secured taking into account the needs and characteristic of the young people that stay there. Young people are free to go outside whenever they choose. All the necessary health and environmental checks are carried out at suitable intervals to ensure young people stay in a safe environment. Staff also receive regular guidance and monitoring to ensure they are aware of all the environmental safety factors in place at the home.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

There is a Registered Manager in post; all the requirements and recommendations have been acted on from the last inspection. As a result, arrangements for staff to receive formal supervision at all times of the year are in place and the Statement of Purpose is up to date with the current staff details. The Registered Manager has responded positively to all the recent Ofsted inspections. The service has developed over the last 12 months and has taken on board constructive feedback to positively address cultural practices. Consequently young people’s privacy and independence are now put at the forefront of the home’s practice.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager has an excellent development plan in place which is specific to the service. It is evaluative and contains good reflection to identify weakness and make improvements. The development plan is also focused on the young people who attend the service with the staff skill-set in mind.

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Leadership and management

The service effectively monitors the progress that young people make and are able to demonstrate the difference the service has made. Parents state the service is ‘absolutely brilliant’ and ‘cannot fault the place’.

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Leadership and management

The home has a comprehensive Statement of Purpose in place that sets out clear objectives. The home meets its aim to deliver a service that promotes positive outcomes for vulnerable young people that reduces their risk of harm. The young people’s guide is presented in a suitable format to ensure all service users understand the expectations of the home. This ensures that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the service provided by the home.

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Leadership and management

Staff receive regular supervision of good quality. Staff complete a pre-supervision document to ensure their thoughts are focused coming into the supervision. This also helps to set an agenda for discussion to make sure it is child focused and an effective use of time.

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Leadership and management

Good quality monthly monitoring visits are carried out by an independent visitor. These are used effectively by the Registered Manager to review the quality of care at the service. Copies of the reports are not always successfully received by HMCI, therefore making it difficult for Ofsted to monitor the service.

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Leadership and management

The home has good relationships with the local community to ensure that young people attending the service are not discriminated against. Leaders and managers ensure that all significant events relating to the protection of children are notified to the appropriate authorities. As a result young people stay in a safe home that follows good safeguarding practice.

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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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