Children's Home run by Oakley House Children’s Home Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC447457 Inspection date 16/05/2013 Inspector Rachel Ruth Britten Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 21/11/2012 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 setting is a children's home for up to 3 young people, with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private company.

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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

The home is new and has recently become fully occupied by young people. It provides an adequate quality of care to them. Staff are warm, enthusiastic and promote improved outcomes for each one. Individual plans and records for young people are adequate. However, there are many on-going changes to staff and the management arrangements. These changes hold back the development of knowledge and consistency in practice. They also disrupt best use of existing individual care plans and recording systems. Nevertheless, young people hold generally positive views about the quality of their care in the home and their relationships with staff.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are safe and feel safe living in the home because staff and managers have a good understanding of safe care and safeguarding practice. Leadership and management in the home is adequate, but there are inconsistencies in management practice; insufficient consultation and inclusion; little use of findings from early monitoring activity and weaknesses in staff support and team work. As a result, the quality of care is only adequate. Nevertheless, responsible individuals understand the current weaknesses of the home and have the commitment and capacity to address these issues effectively.

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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 that a written record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response and the outcome of the investigation (Regulation 24 (5)) 15/06/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that notifications of any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 are made without delay to those persons listed in column 2 of the table. This relates specifically to notifying Ofsted of serious accidents, illnesses and suspected involvement in child sexual exploitation (Regulation 30 (1)) 15/06/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the system for improving the quality of care in the home provides for consultation with children, their parents and placing authorities. (Regulation 34 (3)) 15/06/2013

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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

 regularly review incidents of challenging behaviour, examine trends & issues emerging from this to enable staff to reflect and learn for future practice. This includes review of missing from care and self-harm incidents (NMS 3.21)  ensure that the children's guide includes how each child can contact their independent reviewing officer (NMS 13.5)  ensure that staff members who are placed in charge of the home have substantial relevant experience of working in the home and have successfully completed their induction and probationary periods (NMS 17.5)  ensure that the written report of visits carried out under regulation 33 are lodged timely in the home for managers and staff to read and respond to (NMS 21.8)  ensure that managers and staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities. Ensure that the level of delegation and responsibility of the manager and staff, and the lines of accountability, are clearly defined (NMS 21.4)

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Recommendations

 ensure that all staff understand the nature of records maintained and that there is an effective way to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping, taking action when needed (NMS 22.1)  ensure that information in records is clearly expressed and helpful to children when they access files now or in the future and that children are actively encouraged to read their files and add personal statements. (NMS 22.5)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are adequate . Young people are confident to talk about their backgrounds and experiences with staff and visitors. They are able to describe the ethnic origins of their parents and grandparents and have made some choices about how to engage with the customs and religious beliefs associated with these. Young people are making some progress too in understanding their needs and behaviours and how their social relationships and interactions influence their future chances. Staff spend time talking and discussing things with young people and model polite, respectful attitudes. They encourage young people to cook, eat, enjoy outside activities and have house meetings together. As a result, young people are choosing to adopt better routines and are slowly developing appropriate social behaviour and relationships with adults and peers.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy generally good health. They have good opportunities to play sport and take part in outdoor activities, including horse riding, rugby and army cadets. They also receive appropriate medical attention whenever they are unwell or have an accident. Young people are well supported with their emotional and psychological health through regularly seeing, or having the opportunity to see, counsellors and advocates, sometimes continuing with the counsellor they saw while living in a previous home. This helps them to express their thoughts and feelings and understand the impact on them of their past experiences. However, young people and the home are not in regular contact with their independent reviewing officers and managers do not know their contact telephone numbers or pass them to young people in their guide to the home. Nevertheless, young people are confident to contact their social worker or complain to leaders and managers of the home if they

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are able to express their views and wishes about the home and how it is run. Young people sometimes choose to meet staff separately from other young people for their weekly meetings when they establish their food and activity choices for the forthcoming seven days. They have also given questions for new staff being interviewed so that their own wishes and ideas about good staff have some influence on who is employed to work with them. However, young people express some disappointment about sudden staff changes in the home, especially in respect of their key workers. Furthermore, they do not presently have daily access to the home's manager to share their views and feelings about this.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The educational achievement of young people is satisfactory, given their starting points and length of time in placement. Some young people are attending school very well and have clear career plans which they are actively working towards, while others are being actively encouraged and helped to find a college course which develops their skills and interests. Young people also benefit from a strong focus on a family atmosphere where housework is shared and personal hygiene and good presentation is encouraged. As a result, young people use their time positively and make a contribution to the home and their locality. This has included writing letters of apology to neighbours when there was a disturbance to the peace. As a result, young people are gaining practical and life skills which prepare them for adult life. Young people benefit from appropriate contact with family, friends and other people who are important to them. Staff facilitate regular home visits for young people

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Outcomes for children and young people

where this is appropriate and ensure that young people can keep in touch by phone and internet as appropriate. Family and friends are also welcomed at the home and staff encourage and assist young people to make friends locally if possible.

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Quality of care

Overall, young people enjoy sound relationships with the present staff group and respect one another's personal space and different interests. Young people enjoy a comfortable, well-furnished and spacious living area. House rules about wearing slippers and eating together promote a relaxed and homely feel for them. Young people's behaviour is improving and they have an adequate understanding of boundaries because staff set rules and expectations clearly and respond appropriately to anti-social behaviour.

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Quality of care

Young people are cared for in line with their placement plans and are helped to understand why it may not be possible to act upon their wishes in all cases. Young people also know how to make a complaint and feel able to do so through their social worker or the home's manager and responsible individuals if they are present. However, information in records is not written clearly enough or easily accessible and well used alongside young people. As a result, young people are less aware of the agreements, targets, sanctions and plans that are made to help them progress. Young people's progress and levels of engagement in the home are held back by this because staff miss opportunities to use records productively in their work with young people.

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Quality of care

Staff support and encourage young people to engage in activities and attend school and college. Staff also ensure that young people attend all appropriate professional physical and emotional health appointments and receive relevant treatment. Staff and managers maintain adequate contact with social workers, therapists and the existing team around each young person to promote consistency of care. Staff are appropriately trained in first aid, physical intervention and positive behaviour management so that they can provide sound and safe care.

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Quality of care

However, staff turnover means that staff in charge of shifts in the home have had insufficient experience of working in the home and have not completed their induction and probationary periods. In addition, staff do not all have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities or the recording systems and lines of accountability. For example, accidents, medication, pocket money and shift handovers are recorded inconsistently and some tasks are not completed in a timely way due to poor planning. Similarly, the manager is only available on a few days per week at present and the deputy manager is new to the home and works on a shift basis. As a result, young people receive adequate, rather than good levels of consistency. Despite this, young people have sufficient staff to support them at all times, including at night. Arrangements with some staff to use their own vehicles as well as the home's car facilitates activities and appointments which satisfactorily

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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

Young people report that they generally feel safe in the home and outside it. They can identify the adults they would talk to if they felt unsafe and show confidence in raising concerns with staff and registered individuals during day-to-day interactions. Staff and managers devise and practice positive and proactive behaviour management strategies which are individual to each young person. Most staff are aware of the triggers that lead to loss of control and the indicators of anxiety which young people experience; they are able to reduce these using their personal skills and empathy.

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Safeguarding children and young people

However, insufficient time is given to reviewing incidents of challenging behaviour and the effectiveness of interventions and sanctions either alongside young people or as a staff group. This means that staff do not reflect and learn sufficiently to inform future practice. In addition, opportunities are missed to help young people gain insight afterwards into the risks they have taken and the impact of these on their safety and the safety of others. Nevertheless, young people do benefit from clear boundaries and from staff's positive joint working with social workers, police and local authority safeguarding teams. As a result, offending and risk taking behaviour, including going missing; vulnerability to alcohol and drug misuse and sexual exploitation are reducing. For some young people this represents significant progress within the space of a few months.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are very rarely restrained and any instance of using restraint is only to prevent injury to people or serious damage to property. There have been no recent incidents of the use of restraint and serious incidents necessitating calling the police are few. Young people are followed, searched for and protected in line with protocols if they go missing and staff respond positively to them upon their return. Staff and managers also demonstrate a commitment to ensuring that young people are not criminalised unnecessarily and that risks are minimised in the home without creating an institutional feel. They have created an atmosphere of acceptance, tolerance and calm in the home where staffing levels and time spent with young people provide safety and security without any forms of electronic surveillance and minimal locking of doors. As a result, young people are physically safe and appropriately secure in

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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 provider meets the aims and objectives in the statement of purpose and young people, staff and the placing authority are clear about the services and facilities provided by the home. The provider has also ensured that all the requirements and recommendations from the last inspection the home were adequately met. The home is well resourced and staffed to enable the needs of young people to be met. Similarly, the providers use robust recruitment procedures to ensure that staff and the manager are suitable to work with children. Young people benefit from these positive aspects and also from the high quality contribution of the responsible individuals who constitute the provider.

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Leadership and management

Recent staff changes and a significant reduction in the manager's time in the home hold back effective leadership in the home. For example, monthly monitoring activity by the manager and monthly regulation 33 visitor reports are not being lodged in the home in a timely way or used effectively to share findings with staff. In addition, the manager's monitoring activity does not presently include clear consultation with young people, parents or placing authorities. Furthermore, monitoring activity itself is failing to identify some shortfalls in recording practice. For example, a complaint made by a young person to her social worker has not been recorded in the home's complaint record and some elements of a neighbour’s complaint have not been included with the record of actions taken about the complaint. Similarly, some notifiable accidents and missing from home incidents where sexual exploitation was

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Leadership and management

suspected, have not been notified to Ofsted. These shortfalls have not adversely affected young people because safeguarding and other action has been appropriate. However, shortfalls hold back the effectiveness of monitoring activity and the resultant opportunities to develop practice and improve care.

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Leadership and management

Providers and managers have developed some good relationships with other agencies, including police, youth offending, counselling and safeguarding workers. They ensure that necessary reviews and meetings are attended by appropriate staff and that prepared reports are informative and timely. All staff receive appropriate supervision and core induction training, for example, regarding physical intervention, health and safety and first aid. Records are stored securely and contribute to an adequate understanding of each young person's life. However, recent staff turnover and the reduction in hours in the home for the Registered Manager mean that the quality and adequacy of practice and record keeping is developing inconsistently. Lines of accountability have become unclear. Young people continue to make adequate progress, but the quality of care and leadership and management are only presently adequate.

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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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