Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Warrington

Unique reference number SC456942 Inspection date 29/05/2013 Inspector Pamela Nuckley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 15/02/2013 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, run by a private company, provides care and accommodation for one young person with 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

This is an established home which has recently been taken over by a large private company. The Registered Manager and stable staff team remain in post.

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Overall effectiveness

Outwardly, it appears that young people are doing well in all areas. They speak positively about their home and the care that they receive. However, some young people receive home tutoring and as such are socially isolated. Furthermore, this and the lack of clearly recorded progress makes it difficult to evaluate the quality of the outcomes.

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides suitable and well-planned care. Young people are encouraged and supported to understand the importance of maintaining good health. There are good links with other specialist agencies that provide useful advice and guidance to staff and young people about the dangers associated with some lifestyle choices. The staff work closely with other services to meet the range of young people's needs.

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Overall effectiveness

Good safeguarding practices are in place and safety concerns around the young people have significantly reduced. A young person’s social worker commented on the home’s efficiency, good communication skills and the home being proactive in instigating meetings in order to keep young people safe. This coupled with the positive comments from young people, shows that the shortfalls identified within this report are not currently impacting on young people or the care given.

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Overall effectiveness

Areas for the home's development include ensuring that: young people’s education progresses; staff celebrate educational achievement; staff understand and follow the relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children; unopened food is covered and labelled accordingly; staff receive an appraisal; all local authority documentation is correct; room searches are undertaken in line with the home’s policy.

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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 staff understand and follow the relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children (Regulation 16 (4) (b)) 31/07/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the registered person promotes the educational achievement of children accommodated within the children's home. (Regulation 18 (1)) 31/07/2013

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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 that avoidable hazards are removed. This is specifically in relation to ensuring that opened food is stored, covered and labelled (NMS 10.3)  ensure that the home carries out room searches in accordance with the homes guidance (NMS 3.6)  ensure that the educational achievement of children is actively promoted. This is specifically in relation to ensuring that educational achievement is celebrated within the home (NMS 8)  ensure that all staff have their performance individually and formally appraised at least annually (NMS 19.6)  ensure that records are clear and up to date. This is specifically in relation to ensuring that the local authority placement plan contains the correct information. (NMS 22)

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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 say that they enjoy living at this home and describe the home as safe, friendly and homely. They say that staff are approachable, listen to them and are concerned about their welfare. They say they are included in all aspects of their care. Therefore, young people say that their views, wishes and feelings are actively sought and that they influence the running of the home. Individual consultation sessions provide young people with the opportunity to share their views on how they wish to be cared for, and for staff to address issues such as their safety.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from clear contact arrangements. Young people's contact arrangements are fully included in their placement plan and any restrictions clearly identified. Staff provide transport to and from venues. This ensures the safety of young people and means that they can keep in touch with people who are important to them. Young people say that staff fully understand the emotional impact contact can have on them and staff respond sensitively to their needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have made good progress in education from their starting points and maintain excellent attendance. They are currently undertaking a variety of exams. However, not all young people have had the opportunity to attend the company’s school despite them asking to attend it. While home tutoring is provided and young people are doing well, delays in decisions the local authority needs to make and the home’s concerns about safety issues have delayed this being progressed; this means not all young people are afforded the same educational opportunities as their peers.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff encourage young people to eat healthy foods and snacks. Young people have the opportunity to go shopping with staff and are able to choose items for the menu and weekly treats. The staff are aware of individual young people's likes and dislikes to ensure that they enjoy the food served. However, opened food within the fridge is not covered and labelled. Therefore, there is a potential risk for cross contamination and this does not ensure young people eat healthy food.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are learning that there are consequences for their actions. The home has a reward scheme in place to encourage positive behaviours. Young people say that staff always discuss the risks of unacceptable behaviour and that they realise it is their choice to follow this guidance or not. The home's risk assessments identify negative behaviours and the course of action staff should follow in the event of these. As a result, there has been a significant reduction in risk taking behaviour and staff are working hard to reduce other risks.

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Outcomes for children and young people

An activities programme has been developed to provide a range of opportunities for young people to develop new skills, with support and encouragement from staff. However, young people are reluctant to engage within the community or with their peers. Staff continually try to engage with the young people, but some of them are resistant to this.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are encouraged and supported to attend routine appointments with dentists, doctors and opticians and, where appropriate, encouraged to take some responsibility for managing their own health needs. Young people receive additional support from a variety of professionals, especially around their emotional health. One young person said ‘I have low self-esteem but I am working on this and other safety issues with several people and I am getting more confident. I feel I have really matured.’ This shows that young people are being given the opportunities to develop a positive view, develop emotional resilience and explore their background.

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Quality of care

Young people say that relationships with staff are good and are based on respect, trust and honesty. Young people say that their behaviour has improved because of these good relationships. Young people are helped to develop socially acceptable behaviour by the use of praise and the implementation of boundaries. Young people know what standards of behaviour are expected and this has resulted in young people demonstrating an increasingly mature and responsible approach to how they conduct themselves.

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Quality of care

Young people say that they are fully aware of the home's complaint procedure and other independent services that they can contact if they had any concerns. One young person said, 'I have made a complaint in the past and I was happy with how the manager dealt with it.' Young people confirm that small concerns are acted upon quickly and that staff take all concerns seriously. This ensures that young people are listened to and can influence the care that they receive.

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Quality of care

Young people at this home have completed their own in-house placement plan. Therefore, staff understand and take into account their views on how they wish to be cared for. However, a local authority placement plan and care plan are significantly out of date. For example, the documents refer to the young person’s last placement address and they have been in placement for over a year. As a consequence, the authority does not provide a clear plan for the young person's future and the plan does not detail the progress the young person has made.

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Quality of care

Young people access suitable medical and health services to meet their needs. Young people say that the home has provided them with information on health services. Staff have been really proactive in ensuring that young people receive independent help and advice around their sexual and emotional health. Young people have been able to reflect on this and have significantly reduced the concerns adults had for them in the past. One young person said, ‘I am learning why people were concerned. I respect myself more now and feel more mature.' The health care planning documents are adequate and are completed with the young person to get their views on how they see their health. This means that young people are aware of their health needs and staff can assess how young people view and understand their health.

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Quality of care

The home’s procedures for managing medication are put into practice to ensure young people’s welfare is promoted and protected. Staff are trained in first aid and handling medication. They have a clear understanding of the home’s procedures and a detailed knowledge of each young person’s medication. Medication is securely stored. Staff make sure that young people only have medication specifically for them and take it in line with the prescription instructions. The individual needs of young people are identified, and specialist needs are met by external support as necessary.

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Quality of care

Currently young people are home tutored. Staff support young people to be ready for their day. Personal education plans inform the staff of the support required at the home to help young people achieve their education targets. There is space, resources and facilities at the home to enable the completion of homework. However, there is no evidence within the home that staff celebrate achievement within education. This does not ensure that young people receive recognition for the good progress they have made.

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Quality of care

Activity records show that young people are offered a range of activities, hobbies and opportunities to ensure they are not socially isolated. Staff say that young people refuse all opportunities presented to them but they continue to try and engage young people. One young person said ‘staff are always on at me to go out but I prefer to stay in. I have tried the local youth centre and stuff but I did not like it. I do go to the cinema now and again but I like to do my own thing.’

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Quality of care

The young people live in a home that is located near to shops, leisure facilities, education and employment opportunities. It is on the main bus route to the nearby town centre. The interior and exterior of the home are in a good state of structural and decorative repair. There is a good maintenance and repair programme for the building, furniture and equipment, and any damage is repaired promptly. One young person is in the process of adding decorative items to their room in keeping with the colour scheme. The home is clean and there are homely touches throughout.

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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 they feel safe and are safe at this home. The home has clear policies and procedures to safeguard young people. Any investigations or suspicions of harm are dealt with without delay, fairly and consistently in a way that supports both the person making the allegation and the person who is the subject of the allegation. Staff demonstrate that they understand their role and responsibilities in protecting, recording and following policies and procedures in most safeguarding issues. The manager and staff have received child protection training which includes elements of child exploitation and on-line protection. A social worker commented on the excellent progress the young person has made in keeping themselves safe. She said, ‘the young person has really matured and the concerns that they did present with have significantly reduced. This is down to the hard work staff have done in ensuring that they understand the risks and building excellent relationships with the

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Safeguarding children and young people

young person which has enabled them to talk openly.’ Good risk assessments are in place detailing individual needs and agreed strategies to support and protect young people. They are updated and reviewed regularly.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff praise young people when they do well and reward them. Staff assist young people to learn to manage their behaviour and solve problems. Physical intervention of young people has not been used in, or by the staff of this home. Staff are trained in the provider’s de-escalation policy and authorised intervention techniques. This ensures that young people will be held safely if required to do so. Recording systems for sanctions show that staff are reasonable in their approach when applying consequences. Young people confirm that they are consulted and involved in any sanction and have the opportunity of reparation. This shows that young people have the opportunity to redeem themselves and understand that there are consequences for their actions.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff know and implement the home's procedure promptly when young people are missing from home. Staff search the local area and try to contact young people to find out where they are. They liaise effectively and quickly with the local police and other professionals and maintain detailed records of the event. Although the home has the local missing from home protocol in place, some staff are not sufficiently aware of the protocol or the relevant classification categories within the protocol, such as when to report a young person as missing from home, or when absent without authority. This means that police response times may be compromised. Otherwise, the home's good procedures promote the safety of young people who are missing from home and the number of incidents of young people going missing has reduced. Young people report that staff try to discourage them from going missing through providing them with advice and support. They say they are responded to

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a home that provides physical safety and security. They confirm that staff respect their privacy and confidential information about them. Young people say that staff always knock on bedroom doors and wait to be invited in. However, during this inspection a young person raised a concern in regards to a room search. The home’s recording does not follow their own policy and procedure. For example, it does not give a clear reason for undertaking the room search and does not show whether the young person was present. Therefore, this impacts on young people’s right to privacy.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a physically safe environment. A good range of health and safety procedures, risk assessments and preventive checks, are implemented, and this protects young people well. Staff carry out regular fire drills, to ensure the premises are safe and young people know what to do in case of an emergency.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Although not fully inspected on this visit, the provider follows a robust recruitment and selection process ensuring that staff working with young people are suitable. Young people say that staffing commitment and stability is a positive aspect of their home that makes them feel safe. There are suitable systems in place to ensure that visitors to the home are suitably checked and supervised to protect young people.

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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 manager is competent and confident. She has managerial responsibility for two other homes. Her time is divided effectively between the homes and there are clear arrangements for cover in her absence. Staff say they are well supported through regular supervision and describe the manager as fair and approachable. They confirm that when they need support and guidance the manager is available and helpful. However, some staff have not received an appraisal of their practice. Therefore, staff have not had their performance formally appraised and this has the potential to impact on their development.

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Leadership and management

The home has a clear Statement of Purpose that sets out the aims of the home and how it will operate. Young people receive a children's guide to the home. Both of these documents contain relevant up-to-date information. For example, the children's guide contains details of the complaints system, the Children's Rights Officer and independent services that can offer help, support and guidance.

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Leadership and management

The management of this service demonstrates a commitment to delivering childcare practice tailored to the individual and personal needs of the young people they look after. Social workers feedback has been that, 'young people are safe' and that the 'young person has made significant improvements in all areas and this is down to the Registered Manager and staff.' However, she also concluded that due to the young person keeping themselves socially isolated that it was difficult to assess whether they could keep themselves safe when in an unsafe environment. In addition to this, the inspector noted a lack of supporting documentation that evidenced the good work staff were doing and the progress that young people have made.

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Leadership and management

Young people are looked after by a staff team that are caring and have the young people’s best interests at heart. The numbers of staff on duty are ample to meet the needs of young people. Most staff have the National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in care and new staff are registered on the new qualification at the start of their employment. This ensures that young people are cared for by well qualified staff. The manager has high expectations of the staff team and is proactive in ensuring all staff receive a full training programme to equip them with specific skills relevant to the young people accommodated.

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Leadership and management

There are various systems to monitor the quality of care given and the operation of the home and young people's views are sought as part of these visits. The manager has systems to monitor, report on and evaluate the administration of the home, to help ensure that any areas of weakness identified are promptly acted upon. Regulation 33 visits by an independent person take place regularly. The home has a development plan in place which includes an improvement agenda. This demonstrates that they want to continue to improve their service, and the outcomes for young people in their care.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are well structured and are held securely. As a consequence, young people feel that their information is held confidentially. Staff and management are well aware of the process and requirements to report significant events.

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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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