Children's Home run by Destiny House in Harrow

Unique reference number SC038906 Inspection date 25/06/2013 Inspector Muhammed Harunur Rashid Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/03/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home provides care and accommodation for up to eight young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private organisation.

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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

The outcomes for young people and the quality of care provided by the home are good. Young people benefit from care and support from a qualified and caring staff who are dedicated to their roles.

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Overall effectiveness

Care planning and staff practice are personalised to meet individual needs of young people. Young people make good progress in relation to their starting points across all aspects of their welfare and development. For instance, they make good progress in promotion of health, education, learning various life skills for adulthood and make significant progress in relation to their behaviour.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people have positive views about the quality of care in the home and of their relationships with staff. Young people feel safe and secure within a nurturing environment that offers them opportunity to grow and develop.

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Overall effectiveness

The home has effective monitoring systems in place to review the quality of care that young people receive and identify any areas where outcomes for young people may be improved. However, this inspection found weakness in safeguarding and leadership and management. To address these, the home must ensure that all staff update their knowledge and skills further in safeguarding areas and the home effectively address young people's missing from care incidents with their placing authorities to prevent further occurrences.

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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 the home arranges a meeting with the responsible authority to consider what action should be taken to prevent a child going missing in future (NMS 5.9)  ensure that staff are equipped with the skills required to meet the needs of children and purpose of the setting, and training keeps them up to date with professional, legal and practice developments and reflects the policies, legal obligations and business needs of the home. (NMS 18.1)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people receive individualised care which is consistent with their care plans and which enables them to feel secure and achieve good outcomes. Young people have made good progress in developing a positive self-view and understanding of their backgrounds. They develop their self-awareness relating to personal presentation, such as, personal hygiene, wearing appropriate clothing and caring for their hair and skin.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good health and live in a healthy environment. They enjoy a variety of dishes that reflect their diversity and preferences. They are registered with doctors, dentists and other health professionals. This enables young people to access health professionals. Young people keep physically fit, for example, through attending the local gymnasium and participating in sports.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make significant progress in relation to their behaviour. The home celebrates the achievements made by young people with praise and recognition. Young people build positive relationships with staff who promote responsibility and trust. Young people are happy at the home.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make a positive contribution to their home and wider community. At the home they pursue their individual interests and hobbies. Staff ensure that young people have access to local community resources, for example, through visits to the library, bowling and cinema.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Through the support of staff and regular attendance at their education, young people make good progress and achieve in their education. At home, young people are able to practice their writing and spelling; staff assist them with this and spend time reading to them.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people learn important life skills. For example, they learn to look after their own personal space, go shopping, cook meals and manage their money. Young people are able to choose the clothes and personal requisites that they buy and have these needs met. Young people benefit from having contact with their family and friends, enabling them to develop and improve their relationships. They are encouraged to visit and are welcomed at the home. Young people are able to cook a meal with their relatives and eat together.

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Quality of care

Young people’s care needs are effectively and comprehensively assessed. Each child or young person has an individual care plan in place. Guidelines are in place about individual aspects of care for each young person; this ensures that staff have a consistent approach in providing care. Consistent monitoring enables staff to evaluate young people’s progress regularly. This process positively contributes to statutory reviews.

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Quality of care

Young people’s views and wishes are listened to. They are consulted in various ways, for example, through key working sessions, house meetings and looked after children’s reviews. Staff periodically send questionnaires to young people and their parents to request feedback about the service they receive. Young people also have access to independent advocates to further promote the expression of their wishes and feelings.

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Quality of care

Young people know how to make a complaint. They say that there was no reason to make any complaints as staff always listens to their concerns. A young person’s relative who was interviewed over the phone said that ‘the child is happy living in the home and the quality of care is good’.

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Quality of care

The home maintains links with health professionals such as the children and adolescent mental health service and the looked after children’s nurse who carries out health assessments and provides support and guidance for young people and staff.

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Quality of care

Young people are able to pursue their particular interests, develop confidence in their skills and are supported by competent staff to engage in leisure and educational activities.

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Quality of care

Education is promoted and good links are in place between the homes and children’s schools. Staff further support children by attending educational reviews.

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Quality of care

Staff encourage and support young people to develop independent living skills. Staff support them to look after their personal space. Young people have opportunities to be involved in house shopping and preparing at home. Staff support young people being able to travel independently and with buying various items for themselves

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Quality of care

The home is appropriately located, designed and maintained. Young people enjoy homely accommodation, decorated and furnished and maintained to a high standard. Young people can choose the decoration of their bedrooms and carpets and can also purchase household items.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say that they feel safe in the home. The home has an updated child protection and counter bullying policy in place. There are no issues with bullying.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people’s welfare is protected through the application of the home’s safeguarding policy, risk assessments and reporting procedures. However, all staff have not attended refresher child protection training yet; although training is booked for September 2013.

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Safeguarding children and young people

A small number of incidents in relation to missing from care have been recorded and this has reduced over time and most episodes relate to a failure to return on time. Staff follow the agreed procedures when a young person goes missing from care and report all incidents to relevant professionals. However, staff do not always arrange meetings between the young people and their responsible authorities to consider the reasons for them going missing. This misses opportunities to agree a multi agency approach to prevent young people from going missing in the future; to check that the welfare and safety of young people is being fully promoted; and to confirm that the placement is suitable and safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people have positive relationships with staff. This forms a good basis for staff to provide an environment and culture that promotes and supports positive behaviour for young people. There are agreed measures by which to deal with unacceptable behaviour, such as the use of appropriate forms of sanctions which young people think are fair. Sanctions are fair and effective and have resulted in improved behaviour. Staff did not impose any restraint since the last inspection.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people have positive relationships with staff. This forms a good basis for staff to provide an environment and culture that promotes and supports positive behaviour for young people. There are agreed measures by which to deal with unacceptable behaviour, such as the use of appropriate forms of sanctions which young people think are fair. There has been no restraint since the last inspection.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The recruitment processes and procedures are good. Staff are vetted thoroughly before starting work to ensure that children and young people are protected from coming into contact with unsuitable people. However, the home has not recruited any member of staff since the last inspection.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a safe environment. Fire drills are carried out regularly and at different times of the day and night. The checks and tests on fire equipment are fully up to date. Gas and electric appliances are tested by the relevant professionals. The manager has good oversight of systems within the home.

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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 home has a well written Statement of Purpose that reflects its practice and functions. Children, young people, parents, staff and the placing authorities are clear about the aims and objectives of the home. Children and young people are provided with a user-friendly children’s guide.

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Leadership and management

The home has made progress since the last inspection, with all the requirements and the majority of the recommendations for improvement having been met. Staff ensure that young people’s care plans reflect the detailed, specific needs of them and these are well met.

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Leadership and management

Updated safeguarding policy and procedures are compatible with the local Safeguarding Children’s Board and staff are aware of the correct procedure to follow and the Registered Manager completes Regulation 34 reports in order to monitor the quality of care and sends the reports to the relevant authorities. Although two members of staff have been completed their refresher child protection training, others are yet to complete the training.

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Leadership and management

There is a strong and consistent commitment to improve equality and diversity in practice. Staff are provided with equality and diversity training. Staff provide a service tailored to meet the specific individual needs of children and young people that take into account all aspects of diversity. Staff are well equipped to meet children and young people’s holistic needs. Staff encourage and support children and young people to make personal choices and to access community resources.

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Leadership and management

There are clear and effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home. The Registered Manager completes her comprehensive reports detailing the effectiveness of the monitoring of the matters required by Regulation. The home is adequately resourced. Managers understand the strengths and the weakness of the home and have a business plan in place to address shortfalls.

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Leadership and management

Appropriate staffing arrangements are in place to meet young people’s assessed needs. Young people are supported by the qualified and experienced staff. Rotas show there is a balance of gender and cultural backgrounds of staff whenever this is possible. The general competence and experience of staff helps them to work with young people who have complex needs.

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Leadership and management

Staff say that they are well supported through regular supervision and annual appraisals. Regular staff meetings, daily handover and effective shift planning systems promote good communication and contribute to the smooth running of the home.

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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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