Children's Home run by Motivations Activity Projects Ltd in Sandwell

Unique reference number SC457013 Inspection date 16/05/2013 Inspector Carole Moore Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Date of last inspection 23/11/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

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.

p.2

Brief description of the service

The children's home is privately owned. Care is provided for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

p.3

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

p.3

Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

p.3

Overall effectiveness

This is the home's first inspection since re-registration by Ofsted in November 2012. The effectiveness with which the home provides care and promotes positive outcomes for young people is good. Young people’s views are actively sought and welcomed by staff and young people do feel they are contributing to the development of the home. Staff are very child-centred and take a real interest in promoting young people's well-being. They enable young people to have access to all relevant opportunities so they are likely to have an improved future. Young people like living at this home. They get on well with the staff and know they want the best for them. They feel safe and protected from harm, and as a result their self-esteem and self-confidence have improved significantly.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

Leadership and management are both well-respected and there is comprehensive and rigorous monitoring of all records which informs the Regulation 34 reports and the development plan. This helps ensure that good standards of care are maintained.

p.3

Overall effectiveness

As a result of this visit, two recommendations have been made. Shortfalls are identified in formally obtaining the views of young people, parents and professionals in the development of the home and including the independent reviewing officer's telephone number in the young people's guide.

p.3

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

p.4

Recommendations

 ensure that the views of the child, the child's family, social worker, independent reviewing officer are sought regularly on the child's care (NMS1.4)  ensure the young person's guide includes how a child can contact their independent reviewing officer. (NMS13.5)

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s progress and on-going development are good. Young people’s individuality is recognised, and their academic, emotional and physical needs are well supported. Young people are supported to develop a positive self-view. Their emotional and social behaviour is improving. This allows young people to face problems, share their feelings and enables them to begin to manage stress.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s health is promoted. They are visiting their doctor, dentist and optician regularly. This ensures that no health difficulties are going undetected. Young people are also able to access the in-house clinical psychologist to address any emotional health difficulties. Young people eat healthily and take exercise and they usually follow the advice of staff so that they live healthy life styles. For example, one young person is being supported to give up smoking.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

All young people can access the company’s education placement which provides an individual programme of education tailored to their needs. This is used to gain access to mainstream education. Young people aspire to achieve well and express positive attitudes towards the importance of education. Their attendance levels are good. They are making good progress towards integration into mainstream schools. One young person commented, ‘I am really looking forward to going to high school next term.’ Those young people who attend mainstream school are really well supported by staff and communication between the home and school is good.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are consulted and their participation is good. All young people attend a one-to-one meeting, known as their young people's house meetings, about the running of the home. Here, they get to openly discuss their views on the menus, activities, behaviour, complaints and any specific requests. In all cases, staff promptly feedback to young people the outcome of any discussions and conversations. As a consequence, young people’s views are valued, listened to and heard. This enhances their feelings of security and self-worth. They also play an active part in their reviews so they can influence decisions about their care and future.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people keep good levels of contact with family and friends. All young people’s contact arrangements are fully detailed and agreed in their care plans. The safety of young people and their welfare is always promoted. Young people benefit from direct face-to-face visits and telephone calls. As a result, this helps to maintain continuity of all relationships in young people’s lives in order to maintain their identity.

p.4

Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are encouraged to acquire practical skills around the home such as keeping their rooms tidy, helping with the cooking and generally looking after the environment. None of the young people are yet working towards a pathway plan in preparation for leaving the home as they have not reached the required age for this.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people have good relationships with staff and get on reasonably well with each other. They feel that staff really care about them and have their best interests at heart. Young people can talk to staff about any worries or concerns and know they will be taken seriously. One staff member said, 'The young person has come on leaps and bounds since moving here and is more than happy to talk through any grumbles or concerns.' There have been no formal complaints because when young people express their views, they are listened to and acted upon. Regular young people's meetings are just one forum where they voice their opinion; they also do this in key worker sessions or informally through talking to the staff or manager. They gave several examples of where their wishes and feelings have influenced the running of the home.

p.5

Quality of care

Care planning and implementation is sound. All young people have personalised care and placement plans as well as positive handling plans and staff are implementing personal monitoring charts to measure the changes and where they are making progress. Staff ensure young people feel included in the decision making process. For example, encouraging young people to understand their overall plans so that they have a clearer understanding of what is being asked of them.

p.5

Quality of care

The staff are particularly good at facilitating contact between young people and their families, even when their relationships have had some difficulties in the past. Parents feel well supported and appreciate the contact they have with their children and with the staff and manager.

p.5

Quality of care

Some young people do occasionally go missing from the home. In all cases, the home and staff take appropriate steps and actions. Young people are learning to understand the importance of not taking unnecessary risks that may cause them harm. More recently, there has been a decline in the frequency of young people going missing from the home. This is attributed to young people now realising that the home is not prepared to accept this risky behaviour. As a result, young people’s safety and welfare is improving.

p.5

Quality of care

Young people routinely enjoy a good range of activities, and again dedicated staff time enables them to access some good opportunities such as going to the cinema, the gym, going swimming and on holidays. Young people’s cultural background and personal identity are positively addressed in both daily living and care planning and their rights are respected and promoted.

p.5

Quality of care

The arrangements to support young people's health and well-being are good. Staff work in partnership with outside agencies to ensure their overall needs can be met. Medication is given a high priority by staff and the training provided to them; has meant they have a thorough understanding of the reasons why medication is required, the side effects and the importance of good records.

p.6

Quality of care

Staff have had a significant input into promoting improvements in education. Other professionals recognise and value this. For example, a stakeholder commented: 'Staff are working hard to achieve mainstream education for young people who have not been in education for some time.' The staff facilitate learning within the home if the young person is not attending a placement and encourage young people to complete pieces of work so as not to disadvantage any learning opportunities.

p.6

Quality of care

The home is located in a residential area with easy access to public transport and health and leisure facilities. There is a good sized garden to the rear as well as a further games/education room that young people can access. Internally the home is kept in a good state of repair and decoration. There is also a chill-out room which the young people are currently redesigning to suit their needs. Overall, the accommodation provides a pleasant, comfortable and homely environment.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

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

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are clear that they feel safe in the home, and also demonstrate this by their relaxed and happy demeanour around staff. Comprehensive policies and decisive action help ensure their safety, for example when young people go missing from the home.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Risk assessments are thoroughly completed, and seek to allow young people to take reasonable risks while offering good degrees of protection. Staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding and are highly protective of young people.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Physical restraint has not been used with the current group of young people. Behaviour management is based on core house rules and individualised expectations. It focuses on rewarding good behaviour, and records reflect this with more rewards than sanctions. This strategy is highly effective in that young people’s behaviour is less challenging over their time in the home. This means they are better-equipped for participation in everyday life. Young people say that, 'Rules are reasonable.'

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Currently, young people do sometimes engage in dangerous or risk-taking behaviour. However, the home has had some good results with young people who previously put themselves at risk by going missing on a regular basis. This means that young people are less at risk of significant harm. There is excellent liaison with the local police. The manager has a very robust understanding of safeguarding practice. Although there have been no incidents of concern, staff receive regular training to support their knowledge and ensure they know what to do if they are concerned about the well-being of a child in their care.

p.6

Safeguarding children and young people

Staff recruitment is carefully planned to ensure young people's safety and well-being. All recruitment is carried out at the head office and is robust ensuring the home is confident that the staff are suitable to work with vulnerable young people.

p.7

Safeguarding children and young people

The home environment is safe and secure, with all the necessary health and safety checks being reviewed at appropriate intervals.

p.7

Leadership and management

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

p.7

Leadership and management

This is the home's first inspection since it was re-registered by Ofsted in 2012. The home's Registered Manager is passionate about improving outcomes for young people and has a clear understanding of the service's strengths and areas for improvement. He continues to update the home's development plan to reflect the on-going actions in place to improve standards of care and outcomes for young people.

p.7

Leadership and management

There is a practical and achievable development plan in place which is routinely updated. The manager has good systems in place to routinely oversee practice and his suggestions for improvement are clearly evidenced and taken forward. The staff group is a stable one and no agency staff are used. Staff value supervision, both formal and informal, and are very positive about training opportunities. They comment that requests for particular courses are usually actioned, for example training in dealing with autism and self-harm. This means they are better able to meet young people's needs.

p.7

Leadership and management

Communication is good. All staff are fully informed of any changes relating to either the young people or the operation of the home through regular handovers, team meetings, the electronic systems, and the daily diary. The staff work well together and see themselves as a good team. The staff team is diverse and includes people from a variety of backgrounds. All are either enrolled on the relevant diploma course or are working towards it. Additionally, assistant managers are about to undertake the relevant leadership diploma, to further develop their managerial skills and competencies and to make them more effective.

p.7

Leadership and management

The home’s quality assurance programme is good. Monitoring, both internal and external, is rigorous and effective in driving improvements. Consultation systems have not yet been developed to include formal consultation with young people, parents, and stakeholders. Both the registered manager and deputy manager undertake the quality assurance and these have provided a good analysis of the current systems and these will feed into the six monthly report to Ofsted. This is indicative of a service which wants to continually assess, develop and improve its practice so that young people have better outcomes.

p.7

Leadership and management

Partnership working is very positive. A number of stakeholders commented on the good communication and positive relationships. A social worker said that, 'Staff had responded really well,' and another, 'I get good comprehensive weekly reports.'

p.8

Leadership and management

The home’s Statement of Purpose accurately reflects the practice and ethos of this service. It provides a good account of how young people will be cared for in the home and the expectations of staff to meet young people’s needs. There are two child-friendly young person's booklets written according to the age and level of understanding of the young people and they provide a really good picture of what the home provides. However, the telephone number of the independent reviewing officer is not yet included in these booklets.

p.8

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.

p.9

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.

p.9