Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Unique reference number SC034746 Inspection date 29/04/2013 Inspector Nicola McEvinney Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 22/10/2012 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

The home is owned and run by a local authority. It is registered to look after a maximum of six children who may have emotional and 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

Young people enjoy a good quality of care. They are cared for by a dedicated staff team who offer a caring, supportive and stable environment where young people are making good progress. They say that they feel safe and are safe.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people’s individual needs are identified in their care plan (‘My Plan’) ensuring a consistent approach to meeting needs is maintained. Young people’s engagement with the home and opportunities offered has enabled them to have improved life opportunities.

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Overall effectiveness

All the young people are positive about the care they receive. They have built trusting relationships with the staff team and consider that they are well looked after. They feel that they are listened to about all aspects of their care and how the home is run.

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Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager has a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He has taken steps to address these and is supporting staff to enable them to develop their skills to enable them to enhance the care provided.

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Overall effectiveness

This inspection has highlighted some weaknesses. The visitor who monitors the service does not routinely consult with young people, parents or carers about the care provided. In the building, some bedroom doors require attention. Young people do not have the opportunity to gain skills that they need to make a successful transition to adulthood. References for staff employed at the home are not verified. Personal Education Plans are not in place.

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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) ensure the Regulation 33 visitor interviews, with their consent and in private, young people, parents and relatives as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home, and inspect the premises (Regulation 33 (4)(a) and (b) 31/07/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the home is kept in good structural repair; in particular ensure the bedroom doors are fit for purpose by seeking the advice of the fire officer. (Regulation 31(1)(d) 31/08/2013

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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 young people are supported to prepare for moving into their own accommodation, develop practical skills, including shopping, buying, cooking and keeping food; and develop financial capability, knowledge and skills (NMS 12.1)  ensure telephone enquiries are made as well as obtaining written references for all people working in or for the children’s home (NMS 16.1)  ensure that Personal Education Plans are in place identifying arrangements for young people's education. (Volume 5, statutory guidance, paragraph 2.117)

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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 benefit from the stability of the home. They are forming good attachments to the staff team based on trust and the knowledge that staff care about them. They are developing self-respect and self-control which impacts on their life opportunities as they wish to stay out of trouble and engage in their educational provision.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from the proactive approach of the staff team who quickly access services to help meet the health needs of the young people. They are involved in drawing up the menus and enjoy healthy and nutritious meals. Young people have made tremendous progress in accessing their education. The majority have education placements and on the whole have good attendance. Although there is the occasional problem, young people respond to staff efforts in getting them to their placement. For some young people this is a new departure and this has a significant impact on their life opportunities. Those young people who are excluded from school participate in an educational programme provided by the school and overseen by the staff. The common/educational room is a great asset and young people willingly engage with staff on educational projects. Young people say ‘If we don’t go to school they don’t punish us, their attitude encourages us to

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Outcomes for children and young people

participate upstairs, and we feel valued.’ Discussion with the education support officer confirms that staff work hard in accessing the right provision for each individual and young people are attaining.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from having good contact with significant family members. They are all of an age where they are able to make their own contact arrangements. The staff work well with parents and relatives which impacts positively on the well- being of the young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people do not get the necessary opportunities to help prepare them for independent living. Young people are working through competences to assess their skill level. However, targets are very low and this does not provide young people with the essential skills to prepare them for adulthood.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy good trusting relationships with the staff team who are good role models. Staff have clear expectations which young people respond to. They are confident that staff care about them and know that they can turn to them for support. Social workers speak highly of the support young people receive which has enabled them change negative behaviour resulting in them presenting as socially responsible young people.

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Quality of care

Young people who have left the home benefit from maintaining contact with staff. For example, young people who are within the criminal justice system are regularly visited and are given support to access appropriate alternative placements on their release. These young people say that, ‘I’ve been given a second chance and I know that you will be there for me.’

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Quality of care

Young people have developed skills to manage their behaviour. For example, young people have learnt to walk away from potential conflict and seek staff support to help resolve the situation, whereas previously aggressive and challenging techniques may have ended up in arrest. As a result, young people’s education is not compromised and they maintain their dignity.

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Quality of care

Young people confirm that they feel listened to and have their wishes and feelings considered in all aspects on how the home operates. They are consulted about the décor of communal areas and it is apparent that they respect and value their home. The home has recently introduced the ’My Plan’ which ensures young people’s views are taken into account in all areas of their care. They are encouraged to participate in reviews and if they do not wish to attend the independent reviewing officer will speak to them to ensure their views are considered. Some individuals are active participants in the Youth Council and a young people in care group ensuring the voices of young people are heard by decision makers.

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Quality of care

Young people know how to make a complaint and are confident that their concerns will be dealt with fairly.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit as their individual needs are identified with guidance in place to ensure these are met. Individual daily routines are set out in their plan to ensure that there is a consistent approach to their care. Staff are proactive in ensuring that each young person is treated as an individual. If young people feel that they may be treated differently this is discussed with the group. This helps to promote tolerance and understanding in accepting differences.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from accessing a range of services to meet their diverse needs. For example, a worker from child and adolescent mental health services is a regular visitor to the home. He attends staff meetings and will give individual consultation to support staff in managing some young people’s behaviour. The dietician advises on nutritional needs; the looked after children nurse supports on dietary and other health issues; drug and alcohol workers offer support and advice; and the youth offending team give support to help address criminal behaviour.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from having individual educational packages which they engage in. This has helped them to develop routines and structure to their day and enhance their life opportunities. For those young people not in school, staff supervise school work and occasionally will take them into the city, visiting the local museums.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy participating in a range of purposeful activities. All have a leisure card which enables them to take advantage of the local sports facilities, including swimming baths, athletic stadiums, boxing clubs and gyms. They occasionally go to the cinema, eat out and spend time with their friends. They also enjoy spending time with staff and enjoy a range of board games, walks in the local park and trips out in the homes vehicle. Within the home young people have access to a pool table and some outside fitness equipment and table tennis. Staff are willing participants in spending time with the young people which has resulted in building the good relationships that are evident.

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Quality of care

Young people have responded to the efforts of the staff team to make the home less institutional. The communal areas have had new furniture, curtains, pictures, ornaments and rugs; this creates a more homely environment. Young people are enthusiastic about having the new kitchen. Efforts have also been made to create a welcoming approach to the home by having plants planted in the front borders. However, bedroom areas need some attention.

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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 say that they feel safe and staff, parents and social workers confirm that they are safe. There is no bullying.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are safeguarded by having individual detailed risk assessments in place. These identify potential dangers with strategies in place to minimise the risk. Risk assessments are also in place for the home and activities.

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Safeguarding children and young people

No incidents of young people going missing have taken place in the last two months. This reflects the stability of the home and young people’s commitment to staying safe and not indulging in risk-taking behaviour. However, detailed protocols are in place to advise staff what action should be taken in the event of a young person not returning to the home when expected.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from having individual crisis management plans (ICMP) in place, identifying triggers to unwanted behaviour with guidance in place to de- escalate potentially volatile situations. The team have received training in linking young people’s histories with the way they present. This is taken into account when producing their ICMP to enable them to have a very child centred approach to manage behaviour. The home is enjoying a period of stability with young people responding to the consistent boundaries and expectations that are in place.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected by having mostly good recruitment procedures in place ensuring that only suitable people are employed. However, references are not verified.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home enjoys good relationships with the local community police officers who occasionally visit the home and chat to the young people. This helps to build cooperation within the community. These officers attend staff meetings to make staff aware of their role and current events.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are no safeguarding concerns at this time. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding issues and of their responsibility to take action should if any concerns arise.

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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

The Registered Manager is now permanently based at this site, instead of being the Registered Manager for two homes. This has had a positive impact on the service; he is an effective manager and staff welcoe his regular presence. He has a clear vision in how he wishes to develop the home, identifying individual’s skills and empowering them to take on particular specialisms to enable the team to benefit from their expertise.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager recognises the area of weakness of young people not being sufficiently prepared for transition to independent living. He wants to further develop the ‘My Plans’ and care plans to ensure that they are current working documents.

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Leadership and management

All the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have been met. There is a sufficient number of competent staff employed in the home; the issue of high levels of sickness with some individuals has been addressed. Young people are benefiting from the concerted effort to identify appropriate education facilities which they are engaging with. Young people choose to spend time with staff who they have built sound relationships with. The Registered Manager is in full-time day-to-day charge of this home. There are good gate-keeping processes in place to ensure only young people whose assessed needs can be realistically met are admitted to the home.

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Leadership and management

Although there has been some extensive work undertaken in the communal areas to make it more comfortable and homely, the upstairs bedroom areas require some attention. For example, some bedroom doors which are fire doors have gaps around them which need attention.

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Leadership and management

The home is visited by the provider monthly to monitor how the home operates. However, there is no evidence that the young people, their parents or relatives are consulted during this monitoring exercise and the issue of the fire doors has not been identified.

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Leadership and management

Over recent months the home has stabilised. Social workers, independent reviewing officers, parents and carers all speak positively about how well the young people are doing. One carer said, ‘They are doing real well. They have cleaned their act up and are not running away, and going to education.’ This promotes young people’s wellbeing ensuring that they have improved life opportunities.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from being cared for by a competent staff that are well supervised and have access to training opportunities. For example, staff have received behaviour management refresher courses, basic first aid and safe handling of medicine training. They have also attended training on restorative practice linking with a behaviour management approach to enable them to have a better understanding why young people present as they do.

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Leadership and management

Young people’s records are kept electronically. However, they are not always easy to follow and some documentation is missing, for example, personal education plans. There is a detailed Statement of Purpose in place clearly setting out what services the home has to offer.

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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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