Children's Home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Wiltshire

Unique reference number SC059717 Inspection date 07/08/2013 Inspector Bridget Goddard Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 28/11/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is one of four settings in the area owned and managed by a national childcare agency. There are operational links with the organisation's fostering service and school. The home is registered to care for six young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. The home currently accommodates girls only, and provides short-term and long-term placements.

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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

Young people make very good progress in this home, and develop strong attachments to staff. Exceptional clinical and management support contributes to an outstanding quality of care, which place young people's needs at the centre of the home. There are effective relationships with education providers, and staff support young people's educational progress well. Young people benefit from a good range of activities in and out of the home. However, they are insufficiently supported to take part in physical exercise.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is good at managing risk and has strong relationships with local police. Structured support is lacking for inexperienced agency staff. Leadership and management are highly effective and efficient. It is well-supported by rigorous external and internal monitoring. Communication with local authorities is excellent.

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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 children are encouraged to participate in a range of positive activities that contribute to their physical health (NMS 6.3)  ensure that agency staff are properly managed, supported and understand to whom they are accountable. (NMS 19.2)

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people are clearly benefiting from a stable and secure placement. Some young people have made exceptional, positive changes to their lives, but all young people are making significant progress. Young people have developed strong attachments to staff. Some have extended this skill to sustain important relationships with family and friends. This helps them understand their background and who they are. Most young people have developed important life skills since being in the home. They are rightly proud of these and for some young people this has given them career options.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people have better attendance at school than they did before living at the home, and some have excellent attendance. Some young people are predicted to achieve examination success which will open career doors for them. Others have achieved educational skills they previously did not have, and are continuing to grow these.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have clearly developed more of an emotional range than they previously had. This means that some are better at regulating their own behaviour, and others are better able to make wise choices, and cope with disappointment. However, some young people are still attracted to risky behaviour particularly at times of stress, but this is well-managed by the home. Young people are generally in good physical health and are involved in their everyday health needs. However, not all young people are confident about taking physical exercise regularly.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are rightly proud of their home, and show this through contributing to menus and cooking, and the general décor. Some take on responsibility for helping to look after the health and safety of the home, and this gives them a strong sense of belonging. All young people contribute to the domestic life of the home, and some young people take a major role in daily chores and preparing meals. This helps prepare them for successfully achieving independence.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people are very much at the centre of this home, and their needs are the most important. Young people know and trust this, and as such relationships with staff are usually very warm and constructive. Sometimes this is not the case and serious challenges occur. However, thanks to the exceptional clinical and management support they receive, staff are able to see through the presenting behaviour to the meaning underneath. This enables them to continue to work with young people where others may not have been able to. Local authority colleagues say, 'others were not able to stabilise her, this is the only placement that has.' Young people say, 'I owe it all to this home, I wouldn't be where I am now.'

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Quality of care

Young people are confident about their views being heard, and are routinely involved with menu planning. They suggest activities they want to do, and also contribute to holiday activity planners. These are planned and displayed in advance, and give young people a strong sense of positive order and something to look forward to. Any items raised at young people's meetings are discussed at staff meetings, which ensures issues do not get lost. Young people are also actively involved in their own case planning, signing documents and sometimes commenting. Some rules for certain activities in the home are devised by young people and are openly displayed. This helps give young people an excellent sense of community and of boundaries.

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Quality of care

Young people are confident in making complaints. They see it as the home being concerned that they are happy, and generally they are satisfied with the outcomes. Sometimes, they do not receive exactly what they want and again this helps them appreciate limits. Local authorities are very happy that young people are cared for in line with their placement plan commenting that, 'the level of care given is excellent.' Very high quality care planning ensures that young people's individual needs are clearly identified and effective strategies are developed to meet them. Care planning documents are regularly reviewed and shared with all staff at team meetings. This helps staff deliver consistent care and enables them to openly work with young people on their personal targets.

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Quality of care

The home is highly effective in meeting young people's psychological health needs. This can be indirect through staff benefiting from in house guided reflection on young people's behaviour, or young people directly receiving therapeutic services from the same resource. This helps ensure young people receive a knowledgeable and consistent approach in what is a very nurturing environment. Another top priority of this home is meeting young people's educational needs. There is a dedicated education room, and staff use this to support young people's studies and show-case their achievements. There are effective relationships with education providers, which helps promote the important of young people's attendance and achievement.

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Quality of care

Staff encourage young people to take part in any activities they have an interest in. Staff will go along with young people to clubs to support them. Some young people prefer to stay around the home chatting with and enjoying activities with staff. This helps young people develop a healthy sense of relaxation and calm. The home is well-equipped to meet this with homely lounges and a large cooking and dining area. Young people take pleasure in customising their bedrooms, which further helps them feel comfortable.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. Young people say they feel safe, and demonstrate this by their usually relaxed and trusting behaviour towards staff. Staff are regularly trained in safeguarding, and demonstrate a sound understanding of what to do if they have concerns about young people. This safeguarding knowledge is underpinned by an appropriately protective approach to young people's welfare. This is demonstrated by carefully completed and regularly reviewed risk assessments. Local authorities say, 'the home manages risks really well.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has clear and visible no bullying expectations. This is supported by attentive staff. Young people are aware of what to do if they are concerned about bullying, and would seek out staff. The home has strong relationships with local police. These are effective in in helping to protect vulnerable young people. The home has clear and individualised protocols for each young person, which helps keep them safe. Some young people are now much less likely to go missing, or put themselves in risky situations. However, where young people are engaging in risky behaviours, the home thoroughly monitors incidents, and effectively involves others in good, protective plans.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff generally have a good understanding of when to use restraint. Such events are unusual, and staff are committed to a de-escalation model of behaviour management which is usually successful. Staff including agency workers are appropriately vetted prior to working at the home. However, although agency workers receive an on-site induction some have no experience of previously working in such a home. This means they may be insufficiently familiar with working with complex and challenging young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff conduct regular safety checks on the home, and it is well maintained. Fire drills including evacuations are routinely held, and are more frequent if there are new young people. Some young people are rightly proud of their role as fire marshal, and take an active part in helping check the safety of the premises.

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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

Young people strongly benefit from highly effective and efficient management. The manager is at the centre of this home, working closely with staff, young people and external contacts. She also maintains a rigorous monitoring schedule to further improve the quality of care. The manager is well-supported in her role by the effective, overview monitoring of the Regulation 33 visitor, and by the broader organisation. Staff think that the organisation as a whole is, 'very good with well- structured systems'.

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Leadership and management

The manager uses a range of monitoring techniques including currently supervising all staff, doing some shifts, and maintaining an overview of all key documents. She also notes trends and patterns and uses role play with staff to develop care practice. Her routine document and supervisory monitoring is particular vigorous, and frequently involves staff re-doing documents and reframing recent incidents. These high expectations of staff are balanced by giving individual staff responsibilities for aspects of life at the home. This gives staff their own areas to develop and shine in. This overall strategy is clearly effective in that staff describe the manager as, 'fantastic', 'fair but tough', 'supportive' and 'approachable'.

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Leadership and management

There have been some significant improvements to life at the home in the last year, for example formal complaints from statutory bodies and neighbours about disruption have ceased. Numbers of young people in the home have been kept lower than previously, and new admissions have only been accepted after careful matching. This has resulted in a more positive environment for young people and also for staff. There is a comprehensive development plan in place with further plans for gradually developing the home further. Some of this development is informed by the regular formal and informal consultation with young people, their relatives and local authority colleagues.

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Leadership and management

Staff benefit from regular supervision, routine appraisals and clinical meetings. They particularly value the availability of training opportunities which help develop them professionally. Young people benefit from this well trained and generally very satisfied group of staff. Local authority colleagues appreciate the, 'excellent communication offered'. Monthly summaries contain both detail and a useful overview analysis, and files are well signposted and clear.

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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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