Children's Home run by Child First Limited in West Sussex

Unique reference number SC044259 Inspection date 30/05/2013 Inspector Kevin Whatley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 03/12/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is run by a private organisation. It is registered to accommodate up to five young people of either gender who have emotional and behavioural difficulties and who are unable, for the moment, to live in a family setting. The home aims to support young people to return to family, move to foster carers or to move on to independent accommodation.

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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

Young people living at the home expressed a range of views including some very positive opinions of staff and the standards of care they receive. For these young people their progress has been considerable most notably in significantly reducing the level of risk they used to place themselves in. Other young people are less complimentary of the home, with strategies to reduce their most negative behaviours having less of an impact.

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Overall effectiveness

Placement plans detail how staff should meet the individual needs of young people which are followed in practice. However, risk assessments and behaviour management plans do not always accurately reflect some of the risks they pose to others.

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Overall effectiveness

The home encourages learning and although attendance rates for some young people are mixed, other young people make very good progress in vocational courses. Young people live in an environment which offers them suitable space, facilities and comfort, although some damage had been caused.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is suitably managed with the strengths and weaknesses of care provision being identified and responded to. Staff receive good induction and training opportunities and feel supported in carrying out their tasks.

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Overall effectiveness

Five recommendations are made as a result of this inspection. These relate to the need for assessments to accurately reflect the risks young people may pose to others and for young people to routinely have their views recorded when they receive sanctions. There is also a need to continue to review the effectiveness of behaviour management strategies including the use of restraint. Finally the home needs to ensure all recruitment processes are followed and for damages to the living environment to be repaired in good time.

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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 the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated; in particular that damage caused to bedrooms doors are repaired without delay (NMS 10.3)  ensure the home has a clear written policy on managing behaviour, which includes supporting positive behaviour, de-escalation of conflicts, discipline, control and restraint; in particular ensure that any assessment on young people accurately reflects their level of risk (NMS 3.3)  ensure where any sanctions, disciplinary measures or restraint are used, young people are encouraged to have their views recorded in the records kept by the home (NMS 3.18)  ensure the home continues to regularly review incidents of challenging behaviour, examines trends or issues emerging from this, to enable staff to reflect and learn to inform future practice (NMS 3.21)  ensure the home has a record of the recruitment and vetting checks which have

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Recommendations

been carried out on those working there, which includes any gaps in employment (NMS 16.3 (d))

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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

Outcomes for young people are adequate. Some young people make good progress at the home, notably given their poor starting points. Other young people make less progress particularly in regards reducing their negative behaviours. Young people are supported to value the importance of a positive self-view, although not all of them have been able to develop significantly in this area. Those that do have benefitted from substantially increasing their levels of confidence and self-esteem.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people provided a mixed response to what life is like at the home. Some say, 'This is the best place I have lived at', and, 'I don't want to leave', while others expressed more negative views. Young people have their health needs suitably addressed, although attempts in assisting them to lead healthier lifestyles are less effective. Support is provided to ensure young people attend routine medical appointments at doctors or outpatient clinics. The emotional needs of young people are considered as part of overall care planning. Where necessary, external resources are sought, such as supporting young people with anger management issues. Young people who smoke or who were admitted with histories of drugs misuse are encouraged to consider the risks involved. However there has been limited impact in reducing such behaviours.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people live in a culture where they are expected to engage in worthwhile learning or education. Attendance rates by young people at the organisation’s own school are varied. This ranges from almost full attendance for some to low attendance for others. The home ensures that young people, who would benefit more from education elsewhere, have this provided. This has resulted in some young people making considerable progress in their general learning and more particularly in vocational courses. In this instance young people are becoming better prepared for taking on future employment.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are given good support to keep in contact with family and friends, with arrangements made clear within care planning. Parents noted that communication from the home is, 'very good', and, 'we always know how (name) is getting on'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have opportunities to address their independent living needs. This includes programmes where they are supported to live on a budget, go food shopping and cook for themselves. Staff support young people who are planning to move on to semi-independent living, which includes visiting possible future placements.

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Quality of care

A number of young people share positive relationships with staff and make good progress as a result. These young people spoke positively about staff and the care they receive from them. Other young people are more ambivalent in their relationships with staff and make less progress. Young people who have developed meaningful relationships with staff have considerably reduced their challenging behaviours. In contrast, some young people struggle to follow staff advice to behave appropriately. Interactions between staff and young people during the inspection were predominantly open, relaxed and respectful.

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Quality of care

Young people are clearly able to express their views easily and do so openly. More formal meetings normally take place weekly with menu and activity planning an obvious way in which young people contribute their opinions to the running of the home.

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Quality of care

A detailed programme of care planning and reviews ensures that young people have their specific needs identified and planned for. Such plans match the overall aims of the placement and incorporate specific cultural needs; staff follow these in practice. Reviews of care take place regularly, with a good standard of reports being provided for statutory review meetings. Young people are supported to express their views, both through their attendance and written contributions. Parents and social workers stated that they are kept regularly informed of the progress of young people, such as through weekly reports.

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Quality of care

Young people are offered a variety of activities. These include visits to the local cinema, going bowling, go-karting and fishing. Young people with specific interests, such as horse riding, have been given extremely good support to pursue them. These young people have clearly benefitted from the therapeutic aspects of the activity and the regularity of them.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from living in an environment that offers them a good standard of accommodation. Communal areas are comfortable being appropriately decorated and furnished. Young people are able to personalise their bedrooms, with some taking pride in keeping their rooms tidy. Most areas were well maintained, however, one young person’s door had damage to it caused by other young people which was still awaiting repair.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Strategies to reduce the risks young people may present to themselves or others have a varied level of success. For some, programmes of intervention have led to markedly improved outcomes, including considerably reducing the occasions they run away from care. However for other young people the approach in managing their challenging behaviours has been less productive. In these instances they have engaged in offending type behaviours including assaults on staff and thefts from the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

In the past few months staff have called in police assistance to manage some incidents of challenging behaviour. Staff work hard to reduce the amount of times these incidents occur, with the regularity of such behaviours recently declining. Bullying is not identified as a problem in the home. No young person raised concerns that such behaviours were commonplace. Suitable staffing levels further reduce the risks that any incidents would go unnoticed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

A suitable approach toward safeguarding ensures staff know what to do in the event of concerns arising. The home's policies and procedures are comprehensive with staff displaying a good understanding of child protection matters. When issues arise contact is made with the relevant safeguarding agencies.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has an appropriate recruitment process which includes completing the necessary checks for prospective employees before they commence work. In general this process is carried out robustly, however one shortfall was identified whereby a short gap in employment history had not been confirmed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The approach towards assessing the problematic or risk taking behaviours of young people is inconsistent. For the most part each young person has a detailed risk assessment and behaviour management plan which highlights their challenging behaviours. Reviews of assessments and their effectiveness occur regularly, while specific incidents are reviewed by the management team. However, one risk assessment did not accurately reflect the levels of behaviour exhibited, notably physical assaults on staff.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All staff are trained in the use of physical restraint. The number of occasions when staff use physical interventions is reducing. Some young people expressed concerns that some situations had not required the need for them to be restrained. Records confirmed that incidents involving restraint had been necessary due to the levels of aggression, violence and damage being caused to property. The management team review all incidents of restraint and seek to identify patterns or trends, such as young people potentially targeting certain members of staff.

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Safeguarding children and young people

A suitable sanctions policy and procedure is in place which is implemented in practice. Young people are made aware of the consequences of their actions and when appropriate are given sanctions for inappropriate behaviour. Records clarify the reasoning behind any sanction, although the views of young people are not always recorded.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Health and safety is given an appropriate priority to ensure the living environment is safe. All routine tests and checks are completed including fire fighting equipment and alarms. The servicing of gas and electrical appliances occur routinely.

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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 Registered Manager is experienced and is mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. In response to a period of particularly unsettled and challenging behaviour, additional experienced senior staff have recently been deployed in the home. This has resulted in further enhancing the overall running of the home by adding strength to the care staff team and improving the effectiveness of programmes of care. Comments from parents and social workers, generally praises the managerial approach of the home and the commitment put in by staff.

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Leadership and management

Staff display a keen understanding of the needs of young people in their care and receive good induction and training opportunities. Since the last inspection staff have received training in first aid, safeguarding, medication and report writing and boundaries and good practice. A number of new staff have been employed in the past six months and those spoken with said the induction process was, 'excellent' and supported their learning. Staff receive regular formal supervision and say they feel, 'well supported and guided' to carry out their tasks. The home is monitored well, both from within and externally. The Registered Manager completes regular reviews of care, while monthly inspection visits take place as required. The subsequent reports provide an objective review of care and conduct of the home. The standard of record keeping is generally appropriate with a majority of documents conveying the past, current and future needs of each young

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Leadership and management

person. As previously noted some shortfalls were identified in regard to risk assessment and a lack of consistency in evidencing the views of young people.

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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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