Children's Home run by Progress Children’s Services Ltd in Sandwell

Unique reference number SC437486 Inspection date 05/06/2013 Inspector Elizabeth Barrett Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 19/02/2013 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

This service offers short breaks for up to five children and young people. The service is available to children and young people with a learning disability, a physical disability and/or sensory impairment. This service is delivered and managed by an independent provider that operates other social care services.

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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

This short-breaks service offers good quality warm and nurturing care for young people. The staff team offer a level of care that helps young people to develop and form appropriate attachments. Young people enjoy staying at this service and are positive about the care given by the staff. They make good progress in terms of their social development and outcomes are much improved in this area.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make progress in achieving positive health and well-being, exploring their developmental potential and learning how to enjoy their lives. They experience positive relationships with staff and other young people through organised activities.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are consistently developing their knowledge and skills and this ensures they are responsive to the differing needs of each young person. They are committed to promoting positive behaviours and provide individual support that encourages young people's privacy and dignity.

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Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager and team work hard to make sure the home is managed in an effective and efficient manner. However, one requirement and two recommendations have been made to improve monitoring, practice and outcomes for young people.

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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) maintain in respect of each child who is accommodated in a children's home a record in permanent form which includes the information, documents and records specified in Schedule 3 relating to that child, is kept up to date; and is signed and dated by the author of each written entry. (Regulation 28(1)(a)(b)) 05/07/2013

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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 where a child requires it the guide is available when appropriate through suitable alternative methods of communication, e.g. Makaton and pictures, tape recording, translation into another language (NMS 13.6)  ensure visits of the home carried out under Regulation 33 include relevant checks set out in regulations and guidance, and provide sufficient information relating to the evaluation of the homes care practices. (NMS 21.7)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from good relationships because the strong bonds they make with their carers enhance their social experience, and improve communication and life skills. Young people enjoy new sensory experiences through using the service’s recently opened sensory room. Varieties of activities enable young people to explore sight, touch, and sound. One parent said their child is increasing in maturity, independence, and sociability because he is encouraged to participate in new and widening experiences.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people continue to enjoy their short breaks and activities are tailored to meet their needs and wishes. Young people's health and welfare needs are met to enable them to achieve good overall progress. For example, following information sharing with families staff have adopted a flexible approach to meal times. New foods are introduced to expand individual diets and promote healthy eating. Mealtimes are social occasions which help young people to develop positive attitudes to both food and themselves.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The health of young people is promoted through consultation with families and increased opportunities to participate in a variety of fun physical activities such as visits to play centres and the local park. Young people’s personal care is efficiently supported through organised routines that promote self-care and independence.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff work closely with schools to support effective transition, communication and learning for young people. Information is also shared to ensure behaviour management methods are compatible. This means professionals are working together with parents to promote positive safe care and support educational outcomes for young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are encouraged to make a positive contribution to the service and make good progress with their individual communication with others. Young people use sign language, symbols, and objectives of reference to provide feedback and to support active participation in their own care and day-to-day activities of the service.

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Quality of care

Young people receive good quality care because staff are motivated and committed to increasing their own skills and knowledge in providing short-break services. Parents comment that the home is welcoming and friendly and say staff support young people with their individual complex needs. Staff deliver care that is fair and non-discriminative to ensure young people experience and explore opportunities that improve their life chances.

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Quality of care

Staff show good awareness of young people's needs and respond to these in a consistent and caring way. Methods of communication are clear within short-break care plans to support young people's involvement with their own care needs. This ensures young people use their communication preferences to encourage the development of appropriate relationships. The introduction of a home to short-break diary promotes information sharing between parents and the service and supports consistent transitions for young people. A parent commented that her child is getting into a good routine of short breaks and he 'absolutely loves it.'

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Quality of care

Young people use individual communication systems and staff work alongside parents and schools to promote familiarity and security of practice. Improvements are made to the service’s communication systems and all staff are now trained in the use of sign language and pictorial exchange systems. Observation at this visit demonstrated staff using Makaton to communicate with a young person about a preferred choice of activity, ensuring young people’s independence remains at the centre of care practices.

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Quality of care

Effective short-break plans are in place and regularly reviewed. Important information about health, dietary needs, and individual care preferences are highlighted. This includes choice about the gender of a carer when providing intimate care, and behaviours that may indicate a young person’s need for privacy. This means young people are cared for with dignity, and in line with personal care needs.

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Quality of care

Young people's health needs are supported through active consultation and information sharing with parents and other health professionals. Medication is administered, recorded, and audited by staff and managers that are aware of the safeguarding responsibilities towards the care of the young people. Young people's views on their particular food likes and dislikes along with foods they are unsure about are regularly reviewed.

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Quality of care

Recent improvements to the décor and furnishings provide a warm and welcoming environment. Young people’s bedrooms are personalised with young people choosing furnishings, pictures, and soft toys in advance of their stay. Various activities and games are available in the home. The garden is secure and accessible to young people and there is good access to local facilities. This further promotes the development of young people.

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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 are protected from harm because staff are aware of their responsibilities in keeping young people safe. Staff promote young people’s safety because they recognise the physical and emotional disabilities that have potential to make them vulnerable.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff receive training on safeguarding children and this is completed in relation to young people with learning difficulties. Staff say they feel confident about reporting concerns both within their organisation and to outside agencies. Risk assessments are robust and reviewed regularly and this means the likelihood of accidents is reduced.

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Safeguarding children and young people

This service actively promotes nurture and good behaviour and young people enjoy their short break because they are encouraged to take reasonable risks as part of their growth and development. Risk assessments provide the necessary support required to ensure safe inclusion and participation during activities such as bathing, medication administration, and outdoor pursuits.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Positive behaviour is encouraged because staff give lots of praise and expressions of approval. The quality of planning and frequency of routines mean young people are clear about expectations during their stay and this helps to reduce incidents of challenging behaviour. The use of sanctions considers the learning and understanding of each young person and includes verbal reinforcement, moving to a calm place with increased supervision. Staff only use physical restraint as a last resort. As a result, young people interact positively with staff and each other and learn to manage their behaviours appropriately. Staff complete the recording of incidents in a timely manner. However, there are shortfalls relating to signatures and times on a minority of incident and related records. For example, information is missing on some accident reports and medication records. There has been no impact on young people resulting from these

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Safeguarding children and young people

shortfalls. However, a lack of detailed recording has the potential to affect the quality of safe care provided to young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff provide good supervision for young people when outside the home to minimise the risk of them getting lost or running away and to support community-based activities. Young people have not gone missing from this home since the last inspection. Staff vet all visitors before they enter the home and staff recruitment follows robust verification checks to ensure young people are protected from harm. The home has good health and safety regimes, which ensure that fire precautions and equipment servicing are conducted routinely and within timescales set by the relevant regulations.

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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 Registered Manager is fully committed to the welfare and development of young people. The strong and visible leadership positively promotes a good care ethos and enables staff to understand their roles and responsibilities.

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Leadership and management

One recommendation made at the last visit is met. Significant improvements are made to the physical environment and resources of the service. However, the recommendation made relating to record keeping is not fully met. While improvements are made to the monitoring of records, the quality of records varied in some areas with shortfalls identified at this inspection. Therefore a requirement is made to ensure all records provide clear details and are consistently signed and dated.

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Leadership and management

The service meets the expectations of the Statement of Purpose and the manager’s on-going evaluation of the quality of care provides information on patterns, trends, and practice changes. Young people are sensitively introduced to the service and support is adapted to individual needs. Staff also visit the young person where possible before an overnight stay occurs. This ensures young people are prepared for their stay at this service. However, the children’s guide is not accessible to young people with specific communication needs to enable them to fully understand the care they can expect to receive from this service.

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Leadership and management

Suitable staffing levels enable carers to spend time meeting the individual needs of the young people. Staff receive a variety of relevant training and development opportunities and are able to put learning into practice. All staff are supported through performance appraisals and monthly supervision. Staff state that they can raise issues and concerns with the manager and colleagues. Staff comment positively on the improvements made to this service by the manager of the home. The Registered Manager ensures all records are stored correctly. There are regular arrangements for the internal monitoring of the home and issues and concerns are well-managed. However, external monitoring reports provide limited evaluative detail of care and operational practices. As a result, feedback is not robustly provided and ,therefore, does not assist to the continuous improvement of this service.

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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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