Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Leeds

Unique reference number SC437645 Inspection date 24/04/2013 Inspector Malcolm Stannard Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 22/01/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is owned and managed by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for no more than four young people who have emotional and/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 good .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people at the home benefit from the input of a staff team who are prepared to challenge external agencies to ensure the best possible appropriate service is provided. Particular strengths of the home are the positive and effective relationships between staff and young people, and staff members’ understanding of individual needs. The imaginative and relentless input from the manager and staff means that young people are able to make good progress.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from a high quality of care provision. Staff work positively with young people to help them reach their potential. Young people feel safe at the home and their welfare is protected by the home’s policies and practice. Joint work and training undertaken with local child protection agencies including the police enhances this area of work.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff place the young people at the centre of their work and include families wherever possible. Where young people have indicated that they wish to make significant changes in their lives, staff support and advocate for the young person's choices. Proactive input means that the health and educational needs of young people are constantly promoted and addressed.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good progress in feeling positive about themselves and developing skills which help them to make and retain appropriate relationships. They benefit from excellent personalised and individual work and receive outstanding support to help them understand their individual identity. Some young people have made outstanding progress in learning to manage unsettled behaviour. Young people have not engaged in offending behaviours while in the home.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good health and value the input available from staff in regard to healthy eating and their personal hygiene. They engage fully with external health care professionals, understanding the importance of healthy living. Smoking cessation work is carried out with all young people and has proved to be effective. The number of young people who engage in smoking has fallen dramatically.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from the arrangements in place to ensure they receive appropriate education. They engage with their individual packages and arrangements are now complete which enable them all to attend a mainstream provision. One young person is able to attend education in their home area. Some young people who did not attend school previously for a lengthy period, are now accomplishing and achieving in school. The educational achievement of young people is good when considering their starting point.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are able to engage in appropriate contact with family and friends. This enables them to feel supported during their time at the home. They benefit from the relationships they have been able to build with staff which have enabled them to feel settled in the environment.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people are able to learn skills which will prepare them for future adult life. Some, who are older, are able to receive increased assistance as part of a formal independence package. This enables them to learn how to shop, cook, use public transport over increased distances, and access health services when required. They have also been able to open a bank account and apply for a passport. This means they can be confident that they have the skills to prepare them for independent living.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Regularly updated care plans are available for all young people. They are highly individually structured to reflect the needs and work to be undertaken. Young people are involved in the development of the plans and have a clear understanding of the intention for their future. Staff have a detailed knowledge of young people which means that they receive care which is in line with their individual plan. Focused and meaningful work sessions are held with young people to address the identified needs.

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Quality of care

Excellent advocacy work is undertaken to support young people who have expressed a desire to make major changes in their lives and there is outstanding consideration of young people's cultural backgrounds. Outstanding work is undertaken to ensure that areas of care plans which could restrict young people's progress are discussed with placing authorities and compromises reached. Staff will challenge any barriers to young people's progress and have worked hard in conjunction with external agencies to effectively ensure appropriate educational provision is in place. Positive and frequent communication is undertaken between the schools and staff at the home. The manager and staff place young people at the centre of the homes practice and demonstrate the highest aspirations for them.

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Quality of care

Highly proactive and supportive arrangements are in place to ensure young people are able to access a full range of professional health services. Young people are consistently reminded of the importance of ensuring they attend all appointments and receive practical assistance to ensure they are able to do so. Young people feel confident in discussing issues about their health with staff. Young people’s physical and psychological health needs are identified and access to the support required is facilitated.

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Quality of care

Staff are extremely skilled in forming excellent positive relationships with young people. Where appropriate, they proactively include parents and carers in all work undertaken with young people and the support received has in some cases been invaluable. The relationships staff have with young people mean that they are able to motivate them to display positive behaviour and enjoy appropriate interaction. All achievements, no matter how small, are celebrated and staff are imaginative in the way they engage with young people. The quality of staff input has enabled young people to make considerable progress. Young people speak positively about the support they receive from staff.

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Quality of care

Young people are able to contribute their views on how the home runs on a day to day basis. Regular meetings are held where they can make suggestions freely and they say they always receive a response. Young people gave an example of how they were able to choose the colour scheme for their bedrooms and some were in the process of decorating their room during the inspection.

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Quality of care

Staff undertake some excellent work in supporting contact with families and people important to the young people. Many arrangements have some restriction and involve extended travel. However, staff at the home ensure young people are prepared and support successful meetings.

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Quality of care

Young people are able to access a number of activities and enrichment opportunities. Many of these enable involvement within the local community, including attending a gym and swimming pool. Recently a vehicle has been acquired which increases the chances for young people to access activities. The manager has, however, taken care, to ensure that young people do not become reliant on use of the vehicle by encouraging the use of public transport and walking.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. Individualised risk assessments which are updated regularly are compiled on all young people. These enable staff to be aware of any protective measures required to promote safety and detail who is expected to carry out any actions required. All staff and the manager have undertaken training in child protection and the risks of sexual exploitation. Young people say that they felt safe and that staff explained to them how to keep themselves safe when out of the home. Appropriate child protection procedures are in place which staff know how to implement should this be necessary.

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Safeguarding children and young people

An internal easily accessible complaints system for young people is in place. They are also aware of how to contact people external to the home should they wish to raise any concerns. Staff act as a supportive advocate for young people who have wished to contact the children's rights director regarding matters unrelated to the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The manager and staff undertake some extremely positive work with young people in relation to keeping themselves safe. There are good relationships in place with workers from the police, and coordinators who specialise in the prevention of exploitation of young people. Staff from the home have accessed training provided by the local authority coordinator. This means that staff are able to promote the safety of young people at all times and obtain specialist advice if required.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Some excellent individual work has been carried out to address negative behaviour displayed by some young people, with positive behaviour management strategies consistently used. A range of incentives are available for young people to achieve and they receive encouragement from staff. There is minimal use of sanctions; any sanctions which are used are appropriate and fully recorded. The effectiveness of any sanctions given or incentives gained is reviewed. This enables staff to ensure they only use strategies which have an impact on young people's behaviour. Young people are asked to comment on the recordings. However, often they will choose not to do so.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people who were extremely unsettled when they came to the home are helped to understand their background and to build trust with staff. Staff are fully trained in physical intervention techniques, however, they use diffusion and diversion with young people meaning physical restraint is only used as an extreme last resort. The input from staff and the manager has been effective in seeing a large fall in the use of physical intervention.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The frequency with which young people go missing from the home has been minimised and any occurrences are extremely rare. Those young people who had a history of going missing from their placement prior to living at the home have had no reported absences over a lengthy period. The home’s practice reflects the local missing from care protocol and there is an agreed procedure with local police regarding the reporting and sharing of information.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The welfare, health and safety of everyone at the home is protected by the arrangements in place for the maintenance of a safe building. Fire risk assessments are up to date and regular checks are undertaken on prevention equipment. Regular fire evacuation drills are held including every time a young person is admitted to the home. Regular servicing of gas and electrical equipment takes place.

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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

A Statement of Purpose which has recently been updated clearly sets out the aims and objectives of the home. Young people receive a pack which contains information relating to expectations of behaviour and their responsibilities as well as their rights during their time in the home. This means that everyone can be clear about what to expect at the home.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager leads a team comprised of staff with differing skills and experience in working with young people. Good levels of training are provided following an induction programme and sessions are often relevant to current work being undertaken with young people. Mandatory training is undertaken by all staff covering subject areas such as child protection, physical intervention, first aid and health and safety. This ensures that they are equipped with the required basic knowledge to meaningfully work with the young people.

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Leadership and management

Staffing levels are appropriate to meet the needs and number of young people at the home. The staff team are supported in their work, attending frequent team meetings and receiving formal supervision on a regular basis. All staff hold a formal qualification in caring for young people or are working towards one. This enhances their knowledge and competence.

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Leadership and management

There has been an improvement in the internal and external monitoring of the homes operation. Monthly reports are compiled by the Registered Manager on the operation and quality of care provided. These are then audited by the external manager who also undertakes visits in line with regulation. Young people and staff are able to give their views on the running of the home during these monthly visits. Any areas identified for development or improvement are then discussed in the weekly staff team meeting. This ensures that everyone can then take responsibility to address any shortfall, for example gaps in recording. The Registered Manager produces a report on a six monthly basis which combines the information from all monitoring undertaken during this period. Copies of all reports compiled are submitted to Ofsted as required.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are clear, detailed and regularly updated. They are held securely and confidentiality is maintained. The information contained in the files contributes to an understanding of the young person's life and enables the progress they have made while at the home to be clearly seen. Monitoring of young people’s files enables the manager to evaluate the progress that young people are making. Evidence from these internal audits indicates that some young people have made impressive progress, particularly in managing their behaviour in a short space of time. On some occasions, systems in place mean that information recorded is duplicated. While the duplication of information has minimal impact on young people, it can on occasions be time consuming for staff.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager has a clear vision of progression for the service and keeps up to date with practice development and changes in legislation. The manager is fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision and has instigated some changes. He is able to demonstrate increased interaction with outside agencies which has had a positive impact on young people’s welfare and educational achievement. Recommendations from the previous inspection have been addressed satisfactorily.

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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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