Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Unique reference number SC065552 Inspection date 26/07/2013 Inspector Paul Scott Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 18/02/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 8 young people of either gender between the ages of 8 years and 14 years. The home provides support for young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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 outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are provided with a very high quality of care and are making excellent progress. All young people said they enjoy living at the home and could give examples of the progress they have made. Professionals report very positively about the quality of care and the progress young people are making. One social worker said, 'This is a really good service and I would recommend it to anyone. They do some excellent work with some emotionally complex and fragile children.'

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Overall effectiveness

Relationships between staff and young people are very strong. Young people confirm they feel valued and respected as individuals whose opinions and views are listened to and acted upon. They are well protected by a number of robust safeguarding procedures that are integral to staffs’ day-to-day practice. Young people say they feel safe because staff care about their safety and well-being.

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Overall effectiveness

Care planning and care practice is highly responsive to young people's individual needs. Good links with families, social workers and other support agencies ensure young people receive the services and support they need to make good progress in their lives. Staff show an immense commitment to young people. They advocate vociferously on behalf of young people to ensure their rights are upheld and they get everything they are entitled to.

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Overall effectiveness

Leadership and management are strong. Managers and staff are highly motivated and place the needs of young people at the centre of the work they do. Together they are constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of care and outcomes for young people. A number of quality assurance systems are effectively used to monitor all aspects of the service. Areas for improvement are addressed quickly to ensure continuous development of a child-focused service. One social worker said, 'The fact that this service never stands still is real strength.'

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Overall effectiveness

Two recommendations are raised at this inspection. These relate to improving how young people's views are gathered following incidents of restraint and providing staff with formal training in working with young people who display sexualised behaviour.

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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 staff are equipped with the necessary skills required to meet the needs of children living at the home, in particular working with young people who present sexualised behaviour (NMS 18.1)  ensure any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to be debriefed by a responsible adult who had not been involved in the restraint incident and to talk through their experience within 24 hours. (Volume 5, statutory guidance, paragraph 2.103)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make exceptional progress. This is because they are cared for by staff who are skilled at making and sustaining positive attachments that enhance young people’s trust, self-worth and confidence. Staff show a sense of unconditional commitment to young people, providing them with a caring and nurturing environment with clear expectations for behaviour. They encourage young people to talk about their experiences, helping them develop an understanding of their lives. As a result, young people become increasingly resilient and plan positively for their future. The effectiveness of this approach is evident in the excellent progress young people make in achieving their personal goals. One social worker said, ‘I am very impressed with the progress my young person has made in such a short period of time. He has transformed from a guarded, worried individual into a confident, assertive young man who is clearly settled at the home.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are healthy and enjoy healthy lifestyles. They benefit from well- balanced diets and take regular exercise through play. Young people are offered consistently good advice and guidance from staff and show an age appropriate understanding about healthy and safe lifestyle choices. Young people are encouraged and supported to attend routine and specialist health appointments. This ensures their known and emerging health needs are effectively managed. Young people have excellent attendance at school and their achievements in education are very positive. They understand the importance of learning and are making good choices about how to develop their abilities and skills through education. One young person said, ‘My best achievement is the fact that I now go to school and I am doing really well. I do not like school but I know it is important to go if I want to do well.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have good contact with their family and other important people in their lives. Strong links are maintained with families and professionals to ensure contact is appropriate, safe, well managed and is as positive an experience as possible for young people. Positive relationships are consistently promoted and staff creatively use current technology to ensure young people can establish and maintain links with family members, including those living abroad. This proactive approach has proven highly effective in providing one young person with the possibility of returning home to live with his family abroad.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are provided with age appropriate opportunities to develop basic life- skills and become more independent. This includes taking responsibility for keeping the home clean and tidy, managing their pocket money and travelling to the local shops or town.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Staff work in a determined way to develop and maintain positive relationships with young people. These relationships underpin the culture and ethos of the home and are used effectively to encourage the development of socially acceptable behaviour. Staff have high aspirations for young people and act as positive role models to them. As a result, young people find a sense of stability that can be used to constructively plan for the future. One young person said, 'The best thing about this home is the staff. I like the staff and get on well with them. I can talk to most of them about anything and my keyworker is like my best friend.'

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Quality of care

Young people confirm their views are actively sought and acted upon. Staff provide opportunities for regular group and one-to-one discussions, keyworker sessions and young people’s meeting. This ensures young people contribute to the daily running of the home and are actively involved in making decisions about their lives. One social worker said, ‘Staff are very focused on what young people need. They listen to their views and ensure they get what they need and are entitled to.’

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Quality of care

Young people’s care is well planned. There are clear procedures for introducing young people to the home, the staff and other young people living at there. Care planning and staffs’ day-to-day practice recognises young people as individuals with very unique and individual needs. Detailed care plans, that are regularly reviewed and updated, are used as working documents by staff. Good links with social workers and other important people ensure a multi-disciplinary approach is taken to care planning. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘staff are very quick to identify young people’s needs and ensure what needs to be done gets done.’ As a result, young people are making very good progress and achieving improved outcomes. This is because they receive the right support and guidance they need to meet their known and emerging needs.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a healthy environment that actively promotes their physical, emotional and psychological well-being. Staff assess and closely monitor young people’s health to ensure they are aware of, and able to respond to any issues or concerns promptly. Young people are encouraged to eat healthily, take regular exercise and attend medical checks and appointments. Focused keywork sessions are used to provide young people with age appropriate guidance and information about a range of health matters. As a result, young people show an increased understanding of the importance of maintaining a safe and healthy lifestyle.

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Quality of care

Staff promote young people’s education by ensuring the daily routine supports their participation in school. For example, dedicated time is set aside at the end of the school day when staff spend time helping young people with their homework or simply practice their reading. Staff work effectively with education providers to ensure barriers to participation in education are overcome. They maintain close links with education staff to promote consistency and success. Consequently, young people realise the value in attending school and talk positively about the progress they are making with their studies.

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Quality of care

Young people are encouraged to engage in purposeful, risk assessed and age appropriate leisure activities. Staff are quick to identify young people's interests and source constructive recreational pastimes for young people to engage in. As a result, young people develop their individual talents and skills, grow in confidence and become more socially adept.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a comfortable home that is well maintained and suitably equipped to meet their needs. All young people show respect for their home and have contributed to personalising the environment, in particular their individual bedrooms. The home blends in well with the neighbourhood and every effort is made to ensure young people are seen as part of the local community. For example, the home recently invited local residents, young people's families and professionals to a 'big lunch' street party which was held at the home. Young people said, 'This was an excellent, fun day that we all enjoyed.'

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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

Staff give young people’s safety the highest priority. The provider has good safeguarding procedures for staff to follow in the event of any allegation, suspicion of abuse or unsafe practice. An incident that occurred during this inspection was managed effectively and in the best interest of young people. This included consultation with, and referral to relevant safeguarding professionals. Young people say they feel safe, and that staff always do their best to make them feel safe. The home maintains good anti-bullying practices and staff are vigilant to the signs of this. Young people say they are not bullied but if they were, they could talk to staff about their concerns.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All staff are trained in safeguarding and know what to do to protect young people. Detailed risk assessments are used to inform staff practice, ensuring staff know how to safely manage young people’s known risks and vulnerabilities. For example, staff use a number of well thought out strategies to manage and respond to young people who display sexualised behaviour. However, staff have not been formally trained in this area. This means they do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide young people with the emotional support they need to help them understand and modify their behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There is a calm, effective and gentle approach to behaviour management. Staff make good use of individually tailored incentives and rewards to encourage and reinforce positive behaviour. Young people's achievements, no matter how small are celebrated and responses to negative behaviour are proportionate. Young people confirm this and say when sanctions are used, they are fair. The need for physical restraint has decreased significantly. This is because young people are helped to find alternative ways of managing their emotions and frustrations. One young person said, ‘It is ages since I was restrained. When I am upset I am much better at going to my room to calm down.’ On the occasions where restraint has been necessary, it has been used sensitively and proportionately to reduce the risk to young people and staff. Detailed records are maintained in both electronic and hardcopy form. This includes details of the discussion between young people and staff following the

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Safeguarding children and young people

incident. However, this debrief is not done by a person who has not been involved in the restraint. Consequently, young people’s opportunity to raise concern is compromised.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Processes for recruiting staff and volunteers are robust. All staff are thoroughly checked and vetted to ensure they have the right competencies and are safe to work with vulnerable young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a safe and secure environment. They are protected by a range of health and safety procedures, risk assessments and routine checks. Regular fire drills are undertaken and the manager monitors these drills to ensure all young people and staff routinely participate and know how to safely evacuate the building in the event of a fire.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are outstanding .

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Leadership and management

Leadership and management are outstanding. Managers are highly motivated and enthusiastically drive a strong, child-focused approach across all aspects of care practice. They have high expectations of staff to provide young people with a positive care experience that improves their future prospects and outcomes. The effectiveness of this approach is evident in the progress all young people make during their time at the home.

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Leadership and management

The home meets the aims and objectives of its Statement of Purpose that is comprehensive and regularly updated. Additional information in the form of the children’s guide provides young people with good information about the home. This ensures young people and stakeholders are clear about the purpose of the home and the service and support provided.

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Leadership and management

There is a firm commitment to developing and improving the service to ensure standards of care are continuously high. External monitoring processes compliment internal management systems. This ensures practice is rigorously evaluated and when shortfalls are identified they are addressed in a timely manner. This ensures a high quality of care is consistently maintained for young people.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from being cared for by a stable, suitably qualified and experienced staff team who place young people’s needs at the centre of their work. New staff are thoroughly inducted to the home and are expected to complete the Children’s Workforce Development Councils induction standards within six months of employment. Staff are well supported both in daily practice and through formal supervision and appraisal that clearly focuses on professional development and improving practice. Mandatory training, including behaviour management, safeguarding and first aid, is kept up to date. As a result, young people are cared for by a focused staff team who have a clear understanding of their individual roles and responsibilities.

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Leadership and management

Young people’s case file records and other written documentation are of a good standard. They are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure they provide an accurate reflection of young people’s needs, their individual development and progress. Files are confidentially and securely stored and arranged in a manner that makes them usable by staff and accessible to 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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