Children's Home run by Lincolnshire County Council in Lincolnshire

Unique reference number SC042967 Inspection date 21/08/2013 Inspector Caroline Oldham Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 29/01/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is managed by a local authority and provides longer-term care for up to six young people. The home aims to provide young people with care and support for their emotional and behavioural 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 manager is currently recruiting to vacancies within the management and the staff team, but generally the staff team is well established. They know the young people very well and provide personalised, well-planned care. Each young person has a clear very detailed care plan designed to meet their specific needs. Although this plan is followed through into the day-to-day care, this is not always well documented. Given their starting points, young people are making very good progress and their behaviour is improving.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people say that they are well cared for; they like their key workers, the range of activities, and generally respond well to the clear rules and expectations. They re- engage with education and make excellent progress. There are many opportunities to prepare for independence, and the home works closely with other agencies to give young people appropriate opportunities to experience the working environment. Some young peoples' psychological health needs are very complex, and these impact on their general health and wellbeing. The home is proactive in engaging with specialist agencies to offer support and advice.

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Overall effectiveness

Leaders and the manager have thorough systems in place to monitor progress, and are fully aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. There is an excellent system for monitoring maintenance and ensuring that repairs are carried out to ensure the safety of the young people. Social workers, other professionals, parents and young people all have a good understanding of the purpose of the home. Staff feel well supported through team meetings and training, although formal supervision is not occurring on a regular basis. There are good risk assessments and well considered safe working practices, which help to keep young people safe. Not all significant incidents requiring notification under Schedule 5 are reported in a timely manner to the relevant agencies. Risk- taking behaviour is diminishing, and young people are learning to keep themselves safe. Overall, young people make progress in keeping themselves safe, and avoid

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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

 the registered person has a system in place to notify within 24 hours the persons and appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with Regulation 30.  ensure that each child's Placement Plan is monitored by a key worker who ensures that the requirements of the plan are implemented in the day-to-day care of that child (NMS 25.2)  ensure that staff are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experiences staff. (NMS 19.4)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people come to the home with complex needs, but through the persistence of the staff team and the support of other professionals, young people form, and sustain, friendships and attachments. They grow in confidence in their newly found skills such as cooking. Young people are doing well in their educational placements which are tailor made to meet their needs. Some were reluctant to do any sort of academic work and now are happy to work in all the core subjects. Young people benefit from the opportunities for voluntary work placements and apprenticeships schemes, they learn about the expectations of the world of work and what areas interest them. Some go on to have permanent jobs in their chosen placements. Young people's health is generally good, and all are encouraged to eat a good diet and enjoy the range of physical activities such as football, badminton and swimming. Young people are encouraged to eat sensibly and appropriate psychological support

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Outcomes for children and young people

is offered to help them. Young people receive good primary health care and so have the appropriate glasses and any other items that they may need. Appointments with specialist such as physiotherapists ensure that they receive guidance for exercises when following an injury to help a return to good health. Young people are generally in good health and are learning about leading a healthy lifestyle.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people are learning to cook, and can keep their rooms clean and do their laundry. They are proud of their achievements and enjoy showing their certificates, and making drinks and meals for visitors and other young people. Many go on to semi-independence or independent placements and manage well in the community. The staff are very supportive in helping re-establish and maintain contact with family, friends and other people who are important to them. They welcome visitors to the home and work closely with social workers, family members and young people to develop contact. Consequently for some young people, some relationships have been rekindled, and contact visits are longer. This enables young people to form more meaningful relationships and to understand their past and value their relationships.

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Quality of care

The staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding of the young people in their care, and this helps them to form strong, sound relationships with the young people. Staff are skilled at using these relationships to help young people to learn respect for themselves and others, and to develop confidence. Young people also form friendships with other young people within the home and within the locality.

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Quality of care

Young people are actively involved in decisions that affect the day-to-day running of the home, where appropriate. This is done through a mix of regular group meetings and individual conversations. Young people have the opportunity to be involved in redecoration, choosing menus, group activities, and individual hobbies and interests. This helps the young people to see this provision as their home, and how their involvement can influence decisions.

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Quality of care

All young people have very clear placement plans that set out their specific individualised needs. The plans include any relevant information about psychological issues, disability, and religious and cultural backgrounds. There are individual crisis management plans, which are updated monthly to look at safety concerns, current issues, behaviours of concern and intervention strategies. Direct work is regularly recorded and a new system has been introduced to focus on clearly defined tasks arising from the placement plan. This is an excellent development to highlight progress, but currently the documentation fails to demonstrate the progress of the plan in the day-to-day care of the young person. Consequently, staff and young people cannot clearly see that the issues identified in plans are being followed through, and that young people are making progress. Social workers are kept updated via monthly summaries and regular contact via email and phone.

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Quality of care

Excellent working relationships with the local police with strategies to work together towards the best outcomes for young people have been established. They are proactive in seeking good working relationships with other agencies, the local community and education facilities. This ensures that any potential difficulties are appropriately dealt with, and young people engage in positive activities within the community such as volunteer placements and apprenticeship schemes. When a young person is initially admitted, they are registered with local health professionals. When young people have medical needs these are swiftly responded to and appropriate appointments are arranged to ensure identified concerns are responded to fully. The staff team are extremely proactive in ensuring that young people have good mental health support. They push to get appropriate assessments to help young people receive the appropriate care they need. All young people are

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Quality of care

encouraged to be active such as playing football, cycling, skateboarding and swimming and to eat a healthy diet. Young people have plenty of support and opportunities to be healthy.

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Quality of care

Social workers and other professionals speak very highly about the home, they say; 'Whoever you talk to (the staff) know what's going on, there is good communication within the team. The manager is marvellous; he has a wonderful demeanour, he is a good leader and sets a good example.’ Many commented on the strong relationships that the staff build with the young people and, in particular, the very good relationships built with key workers. Social workers are particularly complimentary about the broad range of activities they provide, and how staff are very focused on the welfare of the young people. They say, 'it is all about the young people' and 'they just need to keep on doing what they are doing.’

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Quality of care

Significant strides have been made for young people to re-engage in education after significant periods of non-attendance in school. All young people are currently in education or work placements, and are encouraged to attend regularly. The home works creatively with other agencies to provide tailored packages of education and work experience to meet the individual specific needs of each young person. They strive to find areas of work and subjects that interest young people. This enables young people to gain confidence and to be motivated to learn.

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Quality of care

The home is well placed close to the centre of the town and is served well by public transport. There are shops and other facilities close by. The layout is spacious, and photos and pictures personalise the environment. Young people display pride as they show visitors the photos and murals. Outside there is a large area of grass for football and games, and a patio area for barbeques. The home is extremely well cared for, with any maintenance requirements quickly dealt with, to ensure the home remains welcoming and safe for 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

The young people come to this home with some very high risk-taking behaviours. Thorough risk assessments are undertaken and regularly reviewed, in addition to other documentation to support managing young people's behaviours. The staff team work very hard to keep and to ensure that their needs are appropriately met. They work closely with other agencies for support and have increased staffing levels to provide appropriate levels of care. Young people rarely go missing from this home. Young people reduce their risk taking behaviour, and they say that they feel safe and secure. All the staff receive safeguarding training and regular refresher training, and their practice and knowledge is good. The staff are very clear about how they would deal with any issues of concern. If there is any allegation of concern, this is quickly responded to and action is taken. Where there are concerns of possible bullying

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Safeguarding children and young people

behaviour staff are quick to implement strategies to keep young people safe. Young people confirm that bullying is swiftly dealt with and they are well supported, this ensures that young people are kept safe and cared for appropriately.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are very clear about the rules and expectations of the home. Those that are able agree a rights and responsibilities agreement. However, incidents of damage and angry outburst do occur from time to time. Sometimes young people need some physical intervention from staff to stop them from harming themselves, property, or other people. At all times, staff use the minimum intervention. If it is an agreed strategy they call the police, to ensure the safety of staff and young people. Sanctions are rare and, wherever possible, a restorative justice approach is encouraged. There are excellent highly individualised incentive schemes in place to reward good behaviour and young people are very enthusiastic about achieving the rewards. Given their starting points, young people are making significant progress in managing their behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff recruitment and selection process is rigorous, and comprehensive checks are made to ensure that young people are always cared for by appropriately experienced staff. There have been few changes to the staff team since the last inspection. This ensures that children and young people are cared for by a consistent team of staff who know them well.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The environment is monitored by a system of internal safety checks and risk assessments. In addition, services such as electricity, electrical appliances and fire fighting equipment are regularly checked by the appropriate professional companies. Consequently, children and young people live, and are cared for, in a safe environment.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager is very popular with staff and young people. The staff say that they are very well supported. The manager has a monthly meeting with the managers of the other Local Authority homes to look at emerging themes and issues following the managers’ internal review of the service. In addition, the registered person carries out comprehensive monthly monitoring visits.

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Leadership and management

The evidence on files shows that there is an excellent compliments and comments system which young people use well. This ensures any minor issues are quickly resolved. There have not been any formal complaints. Significant events are always notified appropriately to the relevant authorities, and appropriate action taken following an incident. These are not always notified within 24 hours which means that the relevant authorities are not informed of significant incidents in a timely manner, which limits their capacity to respond.

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Leadership and management

There were no recommendations or requirements made at the last inspection. The home continues to be well managed, although gaps in the senior management staff team have impacted in some areas of the provision. The manager has an excellent grasp of how the home is operating, and its strengths and weaknesses.

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Leadership and management

The staff team say that they feel very well supported and regular staff meetings are a good opportunity to discuss the care of each young person in detail. They are encouraged to attend specialist courses such as therapeutic play and life-space interviews. This training is helping them to provide levels of care appropriate to the current needs of the young people. All staff have additional responsibilities drawing on their skills and areas of expertise. They talk with passion about their work and the progress that the young people make whilst in their care. Due to the depleted management team not all staff have received regular supervision. This means that staff feel that, although each shift works well together, the whole staff group does not have a unified focus and training needs are less easily identified.

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Leadership and management

The staff say that, generally, they work well together and strive to provide a consistent approach in their work. Social workers emphasise the good communication between staff. Staffing levels are adjusted according to the individual needs of the young people and this ensures there is plenty of opportunity for individual key working and interaction between staff and young people. All the staff are suitably qualified or working towards professional qualifications. The home is financially well resourced.

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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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