Children's Home run by Channels and Choices Limited in Kent

Unique reference number SC408584 Inspection date 29/05/2013 Inspector Ann-Marie Born Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 14/01/2013 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 registered to provide care for up to three young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. Education in line with the national curriculum is available at an external school maintained by the home. The home is run by a partnership 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 good .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make exceptional progress in a number of key areas, notably: education attendance and achievements; reducing challenging behaviours and developing an understanding of their early life experiences. An independent visitor stated, 'He is very safe there and it is definitely the right place for him. He has a future there.'

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are extremely positive about their care, support and day-to-day lives in the home. The staff team know the young people in their care well and maintain a focus on young people's needs. Staff have high aspirations for young people's futures and are genuinely motivated to help young people succeed. A particular strength is the commitment to maintaining and expanding good contact between young people and their families. A young person said that the home should receive 'the highest (grade) you can because they are the best.'

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Overall effectiveness

The acting manager provides effective leadership and sets high standards in the temporary absence of the Registered Manager. Strong care planning ensures young people's needs are clearly identified and achievements acknowledged and celebrated. Good monitoring processes ensure that strengths are built upon and any weaknesses or patterns of concern are recognised and addressed. However, improvement is needed in ensuring all young people receive prompt feedback following any recorded episodes of bullying.

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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 that children receive prompt feedback on any concerns or complaints raised and are kept informed as to progress. (NMS 1.6)

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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 make exceptional progress in developing a positive self-view and emotional resilience. Strong, effective care practices enable young people to form sustainable attachments with staff and each other. These positive experiences allow young people to make sense of early negative life experiences, have faith in themselves and build trusting relationships. Consequently young people make significant improvements in all aspects of their lives, which they themselves recognise. A young person said, 'I can care for myself now and I can talk to people and make friends.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outstanding practice ensures that young people’s holistic health needs are identified in strong care planning and are robustly addressed in practice. Young people demonstrate good awareness of their health needs and progress in key areas in their health plans. Excellent therapeutic facilities ensure that young people’s emotional and psychological needs are met. As a result, young people develop an understanding of how past life experiences have impacted upon their development.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Education is highly valued and as a result young people achieve excellent personal goals such as achieving full-time attendance in school. Consequently young people state that they 'love school'. They maximise opportunities, gain on lost time, achieve positive results and have aspirations for their future. A social worker commented, 'Educationally he is making real progress. His target is level six which it wouldn’t have been without their (the staff) support.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from rich opportunities to make a positive contribution to their home and community. For example, planning activities, sharing household chores, and participating in the recruitment of staff and appraisal. Young people enjoy day- to-day family activities of walks, parks, shopping trips, playing cards and games, thus promoting positive experiences of family life. In addition, they are provided with opportunities to socialise and learn from inclusive leisure and educational chances. These include active engagement in local clubs, sports and holidays. Young people take evident pride in their involvement in local sports teams and drama groups and the fact that they have now progressed to a level where they are able to attend these activities unsupervised.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Ample occasions arise for young people to share their feelings, as staff are constantly at hand to support them to express concerns, anxieties and worries. The acting manager and staff team fully understand each young person's cultural heritage, family histories and experiences; which enables tailored responses to any fears and worries. Young people thrive within this caring, warm environment and further develop personal and social responsibility.

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Outcomes for children and young people

A key strength of the staff is helping young people maintain significant relationships. Staff have excellent relationships with young people's family members. Contact arrangements are fully promoted with all people who are significant to young people. Young people fully benefit from the security, stability and sense of consistency this provides; both now and for their longer-term relationships and support in adulthood. A social worker stated, 'what (contact) he has is so important for him' and a family member said, 'He’s made big progress, they’ve given him responsibility and brought him on. Contact is brilliant.’

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people, their family members and professionals are consistently positive about the excellent support and care young people receive from the experienced, motivated staff team. Nurturing, enthusiastic staff members genuinely care for and respect each young person. They recognise when young people's anger and frustration at past life experiences is directed towards them. Staff respond skilfully with sensitivity to enable young people to express their emotions safely, allowing positive, caring relationships to be maintained.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from, and recognise, the strong commitment and high aspirations staff hold for them. As a result, relationships between young people and staff are excellent, young people make lasting friendships with each other and are fully supported to make good progress. One young person said, 'I now look smart. I have made friends and they are friends who like me. The staff like me too and I like them because I can talk to them' and another, 'Staff are always there to listen to me and they understand me and they know me.'

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Quality of care

Young people receive unswerving care in line with exceptional individual placement and day-to-day care plans. Needs in relation to young people's cultural identity and beliefs are comprehensively addressed in care plans and once identified, followed through in practice. Young people benefit from reviewing their care plans together with their key workers enabling them to recognise and actively build upon social skills, leisure activities, achievements and progress. A young person wrote, ‘I read my plan and understand and was happy that (name) read it with me’. As a result, young people's increased confidence in their abilities empowers them to develop further skills and bolster their sense of self and well-being.

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Quality of care

Listening to young people's views and feelings and consulting and negotiating decisions are integral to daily practice. Young people use the complaints system, daily residents’ meetings, key-work sessions and simple conversation with staff to express their wishes and feelings. As a result, young people learn negotiation skills and confidently express themselves both verbally and in writing in the knowledge that what they have to say will be heard and valued. Another young person wrote, ‘I am very happy’.

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Quality of care

The monthly Regulation 33 monitoring by the visiting officer offers further opportunities for young people to comment upon the quality of their care. Any cases where it is not possible to act upon young people's wishes are sensitively explained to them. For example, not being able to have a swimming pool in the back garden. Consequently, young people's confidence in their social skills, belief in their ability to communicate and feelings of self-worth are validated. An independent visitor commented, 'communication is very good. He is very settled and happy there.'

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Quality of care

Close and persistent liaison with specialist agencies ensure young people receive additional assessed interventions, including psychological health services. Staff maintain close links with all professionals involved with young people. They effectively challenge any shortfalls in delivery to ensure young people receive the full support they need, as good parents would, and build productive working relationships. As a result young people feel secure and make significant progress in their ability to understand and demonstrate compassion and empathy. A psychotherapist wrote, 'his placement has been and remains the most stable time in his young life. It is as if the staff and the house have become surrogate parents in a place of safety and growth’.

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Quality of care

Education is highly valued and there are excellent links between the home and education staff, creating a range of opportunities. As a result young people feel cared for and important. A young person said, 'they are really interested in what I do there (school) and they know my teachers and so I think I am able to learn more.'

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Quality of care

Young people thrive within a culture that enables and encourages them to participate in a range of inclusive activities both within the home and in the community. As a result, young people build social and life skills while making friends and having fun.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy living in a detached, comfortably furnished home in a quiet residential neighbourhood. Young people choose decorations and take evident pride in personalising their bed rooms. The home's lounge, dining area, games room and garden are spacious and well used by the group. Young people enjoy planting flowers and hanging baskets in the garden together with staff, which further enhances their sense of belonging. One young person said he particularly liked 'being able to work in the garden. I like all of the flowers I have grown.'

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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 feel safe in the home where safeguarding is a priority. Young people's welfare is very important and central to practice. Young people are fully supported to learn how to keep themselves safe and learn about the risks and potential risks, that their behaviours and actions may lead to. A young person said, 'It is the best care home I have been in because I feel really safe here.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people do not report any bullying apart from occasional 'name calling' and staff are proactive in addressing any bullying behaviour before it becomes a problem. However, recording of incidents do not comprehensively detail outcomes and whether young people are satisfied with the conclusion. Therefore young people are not receiving a full response and opportunities for them to learn from the experience are being missed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Sanctions are relevant and have been negotiated and agreed with the young people. For example, to complete an essay on lying and the consequences of lying. Any sanctions imposed are reviewed regularly for appropriateness and effectiveness. A young person wrote, ‘I am not going to do it again’.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Strong, individual behaviour management strategies contain clear details for staff to follow when managing young people's behaviour. Staff are positive role models for young people and positive behaviour is promoted at all times. Young people learn how to express anger and frustration in productive ways. The incidence of restraint lessens as they become more confident in their abilities to express themselves. Young people are safeguarded by good procedures which ensure their views are captured following any incident of restraint, so that they can learn from the experience. One young person said, 'I think I am making loads of progress and I don’t get as angry as I used to, so I don't need to be restrained like I did. They always talk to me and make sure I am alright after a restraint so I feel safe.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are safeguarded by robust locally agreed protocols which ensure that staff would know what to do if there were to be a missing episode. Young people feel safe and secure in the home and there have not been any episodes of missing with this group of young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are safeguarded by the development and use of excellent recruitment procedures. All references and past employment are thoroughly checked and the human resources manager evidences all actions on the files. As a result, young people are protected from being cared for by people who may pose a risk to them.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people's physical safety is assured by good health and safety procedures. Established systems for the routine checking and servicing of all fire equipment and other appliances are followed within requisite timescales. Regular practice evacuations, including at night-time, ensure that young people know how to leave the building safely and quickly in case of an emergency.

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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

The deputy manager of this home is currently 'acting up' as manager due to the temporary absence of the Registered Manager. The acting manager is efficient, experienced and capable and is well known to the young people. This ensures continuity of care for young people. The acting manager has observably positive relationships with the young people in her care and all speak very highly of her.

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Leadership and management

The acting manager maintains a close overview of each individual young person and the running of the home. This includes using the young people’s monthly progress sheets effectively to plan further services and address any short comings. As a result, young people's progress is monitored and the demonstrable differences the home has made to young people's outcomes are identified. This promotes high standards while contributing to young people's experience of being valued. A young person's relative stated, 'They are doing a wonderful job, they are brilliant. He’s made big progress; they’ve given him responsibility and brought him on.'

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Leadership and management

Although there were no recommendations or requirements made at the previous inspection, the acting manager has ensured positive developments have continued. For example, instituting the daily residents meetings and using a 'Topics Board' to promote discussion and young people's knowledge of current affairs. As a result young people build confidence in their abilities to share their opinions and develop listening skills.

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Leadership and management

Local authorities, parents and young people receive full, comprehensive information about the service to be provided in the home's Statement of Purpose and children's guide. This ensures young people are appropriately placed there by promoting opportunities for success. Young people, their family members and professionals all report the significant impact living in the home has had on young people. This is further evidenced by strong individual monthly progress reports which young people can see now and will support them in later life.

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Leadership and management

Regular monitoring of the home's operations ensures quality of care continues to meet young people's needs. Clear knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses are identified. The acting manager uses information gathered as part of the monitoring processes, including the physical environment, to inform development within the home and ensure the safety of young people in her care. In addition, the acting manager works closely with senior management to ensure that comprehensive development plans are updated regularly to improve care for young people.

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Leadership and management

There has been a high turnover of staff in the last few months, including a temporary manager and then the promotion of the acting manager in the Registered Manager’s absence. However, the company has maintained high staffing levels to continue to meet the needs of the young people in their care. Staff have worked hard to ensure that disruption for young people has been kept at a minimum. All staff report that they receive good levels of support and supervision in order for them to continue in their roles. Staff are trained in all core areas and a strong training plan covers identified needs and refresher courses. Young people are cared for by staff who are trained to meet their needs. Young people did not express any concern at the staff changes. They spoke positively about being involved in the induction process. A young person said that 'staff were very supportive of each other and welcoming. They taught each other how to do the job when they first came and

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Leadership and management

Young people are protected by multi-agency decision making as the acting manager communicates with and notifies agencies, including Ofsted, of any significant incidents. Comprehensive records provide a clear view of young people's day-to-day lives and progress. Records contribute to young people's understanding of their development now and for the future. Records are securely kept and diligently maintained.

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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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