Children's Home run by Wakefield Council in Wakefield

Unique reference number SC062573 Inspection date 20/06/2013 Inspector Nicola McEvinney Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 10/01/2013 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 is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to seven young people, of both genders with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The main aims are to support young people to move back home with their families or successfully move to independent living.

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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

All the young people are positive about the care they receive. Some say ‘it’s excellent here’. They enjoy warm and nurturing relationships with the staff that care for them.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are safe and they confirm that they feel safe.

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Overall effectiveness

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and the weaknesses of the home. There is a development plan in place to address the weaknesses and to work with other agencies to provide young people every opportunity to engage in their education.

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Overall effectiveness

Requirements and recommendations identified during this inspection relate to the administration of medication; the monitoring of the administration of medication; ensuring young people have the necessary skills to move to independent living; ensuring young people’s views are recorded following any sanction or restraint; to verify references for new employees and to ensure records are up-to-date. None of these impact significantly on young people’s welfare or safety.

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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 any medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed (Regulation 21 (2)(b)) 01/08/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish and maintain a system to monitor the matters set out in Schedule 6 particularly the administration of medication. (Regulation 34(1) and Schedule 6 24.) 01/08/2013

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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 young people develop practical skills, including shopping, buying, cooking and keeping food and develop financial capability, knowledge and skills (NMS 12.1 e and f)  ensure young people are encouraged to have their views recorded in the sanction or restraint record following a measure used (NMS 3.18)  ensure telephone enquiries are made as well as obtaining written references (NMS 16.1)  ensure there is a system in place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping and take action when needed (NMS 22.1)

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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 variable. Most young people benefit from the secure attachments that they have built up with the staff team and are developing self- confidence. Some young people have benefitted greatly from the stability of their placement, although for a few young people it has been necessary to transfer them to other placements, so that they needs could be fully met.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s health needs are addressed. All are registered with appropriate medical services. There are good links with the looked after children nurse who speaks highly of the support the staff team give to the young people on health related matters. For example, those young people who have missed a number of inoculations are supported to have these done. However, young people’s health can be compromised by shortfalls identified in the recording and administration of medication.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are afforded life opportunities by the staff team’s tireless efforts to encourage school attendance. Nevertheless, despite all staff attempts a few young people’s school attendance remains sporadic. This lack of willingness to engage limits the young people gaining academic achievements.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from accessing local community facilities. For example, they attend the local gym; some individuals play rugby league with local teams and occasionally they go to the local water park.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from having their contact arrangements set out in their care plan; although, they are of an age where they organise their own arrangements. Friends are made welcome in the home which promotes young people’s friendships. The home supports young people to maintain positive relationships with parents; particularly where some young people choose to spend much of their time with their family.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from having the opportunity to learn independence skills; for example, by preparing meals; keeping their personal space clean and undertaking their own laundry.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy warm and nurturing relationships with the staff team. Young people say, ‘it is amazing here, staff really care about me and they do their best.’ Relationships between the young people are friendly and supportive to one another.

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Quality of care

Young people’s well-being is promoted by ensuring that they have a say in how they are to be cared for; one young person said, ‘I feel I was very much involved in the decision making.’ Their views are sought in all areas of how the home is run. For example, they have a say in what activities they wish to participate in; on how they want to have their bedroom decorated and what menus they want to have.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from ensuring they know how to make representation if they are unhappy about the care or the service they receive. For those young people who were prolific complainants staff have worked with them to enable them to learn negotiating skills. This teaches them to understand compromise which promotes their well-being.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from having individualised placement plans setting out their care needs with guidance in place on how these needs are to be met

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Quality of care

Young people are supported by having individual crisis management plans in place that identify triggers for unwanted behaviours; they include guidance to assist staff to prevent the escalation of unwanted behaviours. Young people say that they speak to staff, informing them of how they present when they start to lose control. ‘I know they will support me to maintain control to stop me getting into trouble.’

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from accessing a range of services to help meet their needs and to promote their well-being. For example, an education support officer supports young people by helping them to identify an education package that will suit their needs and help them on education issues. The looked after children’s nurse is a regular visitor to the home supporting young people on a range of health uses including sexual health and contraceptive advice. Drug and alcohol services support young people where necessary to decrease any substance misuse. The youth offending service supports young people who are involved in the criminal justice system. The children and adolescent mental health service attends team meetings offering consultation to staff to support them to manage the emotions and behaviours of the young people. The leaving care service supports young people to prepare for transition to adulthood and this will continue after they have left the

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Quality of care

Although young people’s attendance at school is variable staff work very closely with the education support team. An intensive package of support is provided for young people to encourage them to access their education. This has had some success resulting in some individuals school attendance improving and others attending for revision and exams.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy a range of activities. For example, going to the cinema, fishing, the gym and some young people have musical ability and are learning to play the guitar and the keyboard.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy living in a well maintained home. All areas are pleasantly decorated and furnished to a good standard providing a homely environment for the 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 safe and they say that they feel safe. Any indication of any bullying behaviour is quickly addressed by staff to ensure young people feel secure.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected by a staff team who have good awareness of safeguarding issues and are proactive in ensuring vulnerable young people are kept safe. The incidence of young people going missing has greatly reduced. There are good systems in place to ensure staff know their responsibilities of what action they should take when a young person fails to return to the home when expected.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has constructive links with a worker linked to the police who is responsible for children who are sexually exploited. He is to work with the home to update protocols and to offer training to a couple of staff members in order for them to be specialists in this area. This individual is also offering training to young people to raise their awareness of this issue and to help them to keep themselves safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The young people enjoy living in a settled home, the incidence of restraint is rare but there are a number of appropriate sanctions. Although young people sign these records they are not encouraged to make comment on the measure used. Nonetheless, young people consider that staff treat them fairly.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected by the home having overall good recruitment processes. Nevertheless, checks do not extend to making telephone enquiries on all references to secure verification. This shortfall limits the robustness of checks that help ensure only suitable people are employed in the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected by individual risk assessments that identify potential risks and the implementation of agreed strategies to minimise the danger.

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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

There are new management arrangements in the home with the manager having made an application into Ofsted to be registered. This manager is an experienced individual with an awareness of the strengths of the home as well as the weaknesses and has taken steps to address these. A team plan has been produced with clear aims and set targets to ensure that the home continually improves.

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Leadership and management

The placement of some individuals in the home without all available information being presented resulted in young people and the staff team being put at risk. However, the organisation had a lessons learnt review following the breakdown of the placement to identify how a re-occurrence could be prevented and to ensure appropriate placement decisions are made.

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Leadership and management

There is a comprehensive Statement of Purpose in place informing interested parties what they can expect from the service. On admission young people are provided with a guide informing them what they can expect from coming to live in the home.

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Leadership and management

The home enjoys good working relationships with social workers and reviewing officers who consider that the home offers stable placements for young people. They have effective links with the local police community officers who know the young people living at the home; this promotes their welfare.

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Leadership and management

The home is visited monthly by a regulation 33 visitor who monitors the quality of care provided. In addition, the manager completes regulation 34 reports to monitor the delivery of care. However, issues identified in the administration of medication were overlooked in the regulation 34 reporting process. This does not ensure that there are robust monitoring systems in place. However, young people are consulted during this process to ensure that they share their views on the care provided.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from living in a well-maintained home where all health and safety checks are carried out regularly. This ensures that young people live in a safe home.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from being cared for by an experienced, well trained and caring staff team who offer a nurturing environment and provide good quality and safe care.

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Leadership and management

There are some shortfalls in recording systems. For example, the school attendance log was incomplete. This does not give ready access to staff to monitor the situation.

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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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