Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Torbay

Unique reference number SC456910 Inspection date 13/06/2013 Inspector Jim Palmer Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 25/02/2013 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 home is registered for up to two young people. It is owned and operated by a national provider of children's services. The home looks after young people who may display complex emotional and behavioural needs. The service has good internal and external links to specialist services to work with young people with those complex needs.

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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

The home works effectively with young people who display a wide range of complex behaviours. The manager provides excellent leadership and staff are skilled at providing highly personalised programmes of care to meet individual young people's specific needs. The quality of relationships between staff and young people are excellent and contribute greatly to successful outcomes for young people. Some young people make significant progress within the home; when this is not the case the home is pro-active in working closely with placing social workers in considering alternative strategies.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people confirm that they have made considerable progress since living in the home. They regard living in the home as highly beneficial to them in developing strategies and skills for being better equipped for living successful adult lives in the future. Staff set clear boundaries for young people and high but achievable expectations. Young people are making good progress in their education, social development and behaviour management. Their health needs are well met, including, when required, access to specialist psychological and emotional support. The staff work closely with other professional agencies and their liaison is good, leading to some placements exceeding expectations.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are provided with regular safeguarding awareness training and are familiar with referral procedures within the home. However, they are less clear about how to make a referral to external child protection teams, including the company’s national child protection lead.

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Overall effectiveness

Leadership and management within the home are good. However there are a number of areas of weakness. These include ensuring that the Statement of Purpose accurately and clearly describes the individual home, and that children, their families and placing social workers are regularly consulted regarding the quality of the service. Staff are not fully aware of the legal status of all young people and are not always pro-active in reminding placing social workers when review dates are exceeded. Not all young people who do not have family contact have been provided with independent visitors or, if required, advocates. Staff are adjusting to new recording systems introduced by the new provider, and some staff are having some difficulty with this. No records of staff recruitment are currently held in the home.

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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) compile in relation to the children's home a written statement, in these Regulations referred to as 'the statement of purpose', which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1. In particular ensure this document accurately reflects this service and is comprehensible to all persons listed in the Regulation (Regulation 4 (1) and (2)) 12/07/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) interview, with their consent and in private, such of the young people accommodated there, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home (Regulation 33 (4) (a)). 12/07/2013

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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 children know their rights to advocacy and how to access an advocate (NMS 1.5)  ensure that staff are clear when consents for medical treatment need to be obtained, specifically ensuring that all consents are signed by somebody with parental responsibility. (NMS 6.5)  ensure that the home has a record of the recruitment and vetting checks which have been carried out on those working for the children's home, which includes all the information listed in (a) to (f) of this standard (NMS 16.3)  ensure that the learning and development programme is evaluated for its effectiveness. In particular ensure that all staff understand procedures should allegations be made by young people (NMS 18.2)  ensure there is a system in place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping and take action where necessary. Specifically, ensure that all entries are signed and dated by the person making the entry (NMS 22.1)

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Recommendations

 ensure that the home contacts placing authorities to request statutory reviews or visits if overdue for any child. (NMS 25.5)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have a good understanding of their background and the reason for their placement. They develop very good relationships with staff and benefit significantly as a result of the consistent support and guidance they receive from staff. Most young people's self-esteem and confidence has increased beyond expectations. As a result, young people are able to express themselves and resolve differences in a more adult and constructive manner than was previously the case. This had led to more positive relationships with family members, and an increased ability to discuss their views and wishes more appropriately with other adults. This will stand them in good stead for resolving conflict in adult life.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Contact with young people's families is promoted by the home, however where regular contact is not possible no advocate or independent visitor is currently appointed.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are aware of the importance of maintaining good health and, despite still having some difficulties in consistently maintaining this, are making significant progress. Staff are highly committed to working with young people to promote a healthy diet, personal hygiene and the importance of attending and maintaining appointments with health care professionals. All young people are supported in accessing medical services, including where necessary psychological and emotional support. Staff liaise closely with specialist health professionals to ensure that they are able to respond to young people's emotional needs. As a result some young people have made exceptional progress.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are positive about their education, and attend school regularly with few absences. For some young people this is a significant development which is providing them with greater and continued confidence in group settings and is increasing their social interaction skills. Some young people are being supported to continue their education, by seeking courses at local colleges when they leave school. This includes supporting young people for whom English is not their first language. Staff are pro-active in promoting the education of each of the young people. One young person has been awarded a significant number of commendations for progress made in school. Others are sitting external exams.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are encouraged to take increasing responsibility for developing the life and social skills they will need to successfully complete the transition into adulthood. Each young person has an informal independence programme, linked to their individual stage of development and personal needs. This programme will become incrementally more structured as they progress. No young people living in the home are care leavers eligible to have pathway or transition plans in place.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Some young people are able to say how they have developed since living in the home and the positive impact this has had on them. Placing authorities and families confirm this.

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Quality of care

Young people are benefitting from the quality of relationships within the home. There is a clear attachment between young people and staff. Young people express their views to each other and staff in regular group meetings and are able to influence the day to day running of the home and the planning for their futures. Young people's views are taking into consideration and they feel their opinions are respected. They are also made aware of the reasons why their wishes may not always be in their best interest. Whilst they may disagree with some conclusions reached, they are always aware of the reasons for those decisions.

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Quality of care

Staff have a very good knowledge of young people's individual needs and work with great skill managing some complex and challenging behaviours. Staff are consistent in setting clear boundaries for young people. Young people are encouraged to have achievable but high aspirations; as a result their confidence and self-esteem have improved significantly.

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Quality of care

Young people regularly meet with key-workers, to discuss their progress and any issues or concerns they may have. These meetings give young people the opportunity to share with staff previous situations and to discuss ways in which they may manage those situations more effectively in the future. This practice has enabled young people to develop both an understanding of their own needs and confidence in determining when and how they want support.

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Quality of care

Young people’s physical and emotional needs are very well promoted by the staff. Staff consistently encourage young people to make healthy life choices, but despite this some young people do not always follow the advice given. However the consistent support and guidance provided by staff enables young people to make significant progress in promoting their own health. Young people are able to access a wide range of specialist support which helps to provide them with a greater understanding of and strategies for successfully managing complex emotional and psychological issues. Excellent liaison between the staff team and a multi-disciplinary group of specialist workers ensures that work with young people addresses and complements specific areas. This is leading to outcomes that exceed initial expectations. Young people's physical health needs are well assessed and recorded and young people benefit from being encouraged to attend medical appointments

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Quality of care

and health checks. Staff are pro-active in promoting young people's health awareness, however not all health consents for young people are signed by somebody with parental responsibility.

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Quality of care

Staff work enthusiastically with young people in promoting their self-confidence and self-image. Young people are encouraged to participate in a range of leisure activities, however not all young people choose to engage in community based social activity. Staff are very aware of individual’s developmental needs and work in a highly sensitive manner in encouraging young people to broaden their social experiences in a manner that is appropriate for them. Staff have a good knowledge of young people's past experiences and the impact this has on their current behaviour. They work effectively in developing relationships with them based on trust and mutual respect.

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Quality of care

On occasions when young people express a difference of opinion with each other staff are skilful at working with them to resolve conflict.

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Quality of care

The home is well maintained and decorated throughout; the kitchen is in the process of being re-furbished. The home is comfortable and homely. It has no features that distinguish it from any other house in the street. Young people are happy with their home and bedrooms and are able to personalise their rooms to their own preference.

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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's safety is strongly promoted by the staff. All young people say they feel safe within the home. Not all young people express feeling safe when in the community. Young people confirm that bullying is not currently an issue but in the past it has been. Staff are vigilant about any incidents of bullying and young people say they have been effectively resolved when they have arisen. The home has comprehensive policies for safeguarding young people and all staff receive regular safeguarding awareness training. However not all staff are clear about how to make a referral should they need to go outside the company's internal referral process.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are diligent about being aware of young people's whereabouts and there are robust systems in place should young people be absent from the home. The home has an agreed protocol with the local police and placing authority and all staff are aware of how to respond should a young person be missing without authority. Should young people become absent regularly, the home is proactive in seeking to manage this with the placing authority in the child's best interests, including assessing the suitability of the placement. Young people are always offered the opportunity to talk about any reasons they may have for leaving the home. Staff are very aware of the potential for missing young people to be exploited. Young people's behaviour is managed by positive reinforcement. Staff are very skilled at praising young people's achievements and appropriately challenging negative behaviours. As a result sanctions are rarely used and the need for physical

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Safeguarding children and young people

restraint is low. When it is necessary to apply these measures they are well recorded and monitored by the manager. Young people are always invited to add their comments to the record. Generally young people are encouraged and supported to develop strategies for effectively managing their own behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

No staff recruitment records are held in the home. Insufficient information was made available during the inspection to judge the robustness and safety of staff recruitment.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans ensure that any risks to young people are identified and well managed. Staff are very aware of the risk factors affecting individual young people. The home has regular health and safety checks. Fire safety and equipment and appliance checks take place regularly in order to maintain a safe environment for 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 staff team are led by a highly experienced manager who is very committed to achieving successful outcomes for young people. The manager and staff provide young people with clear boundaries and expectations.

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Leadership and management

The manager demonstrates a very good awareness of the strengths and weakness of the home, and a realistic and achievable service development plan is in place. There are no complaints recorded since the last inspection; all previous complaints have been well recorded and monitored by managers.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose is very lengthy and does not clearly describe the service provided. It is a generic document and is not sufficiently specific about the individual home.

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Leadership and management

The home has internal monitoring systems in place: the manager and a visiting manager report each month on the quality of the service and the functioning of the home. There are some weaknesses in the external monitoring of the home under Regulation 33, in that some reports lack specific detail and there is little evidence of regular consultation with young people, parents and representatives of the placing authority.

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Leadership and management

Young people are encouraged by the staff to participate in their placement reviews and planning meetings, however not all reviews are taking place within statutory timescales and there is no evidence of the home reminding placing authorities that they are overdue. Young people's individual case files are held in several separate folders. Not all of their records are signed or dated by the person making the entry. Some consents are signed by people who do not have parental responsibility. Staff are not entirely familiar with recently introduced recording systems.

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Leadership and management

The home has good systems for recording significant events and notifying the appropriate bodies so they have proper oversight of them.

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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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