New Park Project (The)

Unique reference number SC065046 Inspection date 27/08/2013 Inspector Thomas Webber Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 12/07/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This setting is a small children's home owned and operated by a private provider. The home caters for up to four children and young people.

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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

At the last inspection this home was rated inadequate in all judgements. Although the home is now judged as adequate, there are some aspects of the care and services provided which are good. The manager has successfully complied with and addressed the various enforcement notices, requirements and most of the recommendations identified at the previous inspection.

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Overall effectiveness

The staff have found it difficult to deal with the challenging and risk taking behaviours of some young people. Despite this, some young people have made very good progress in various aspects of their lives. Educationally, exams have been taken and passed and young people are proud of these achievement and are looking forward to going onto further education. Some young people have matured and made real progress socially and emotionally with the support of the staff. Other young people still struggle to see the problems associated with their risk taking behaviour.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are cared for by a committed staff team who are mostly qualified and have a number of years' experience in working with young people. The staff are now receiving regular supervision and continue to be supported in the delivery of care to young people. Staff are still not receiving sufficient specialist training to equip them to effectively care for young people with challenging needs.

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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

 review incidents of challenging behaviour, examine trends or issues emerging from this, to enable staff to reflect and learn to inform future practice. (NMS 3.21)  only provide admission to children whose assessed needs can be reasonably expected to be met by the home. (NMS 11.2)  ensure that there is a good quality learning and development programme which staff are supported to undertake. It includes in-service training to enhance individual skills and to keep staff up-to-date with professional and legal developments. Staff are equipped with the skills required to meet the needs of the children and purpose of the setting. (NMS 18.1)  visits carried out under regulation 33 include relevant checks set out in regulations and guidance including use of restraint. (21.7)

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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

Staff have a good understanding of the specific needs, abilities and vulnerabilities of young people accommodated. Despite the problems recently experienced at the home, young people have made various degrees of progress socially, emotionally and educationally. Young people are very appreciative of this and acknowledge the progress and achievements they have made.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The level of personalised care and support provided contributes to the overall personal growth and development of some young people. The risk taking activities of some young people inhibits the contribution that staff can make to their personal wellbeing.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people live in an environment where their healthcare needs are met. They are given appropriate health advice and support which helps them to make informed decisions and to begin to take some responsibility for their well-being. However, this is not always followed as some continue to choose to involve themselves in behaviour that could put their wellbeing at risk.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Given the starting points of the young people prior to being placed in the home, most have achieved good to excellent school attendance. This contributes to young people making good progress at their educational placements and assists them to strive towards achieving their educational ambitions. GCSE exams have been taken and passed and college placements obtained for those who have now finished school. The young person spoken to during the inspection is proud of their educational achievements and is looking forward to going to college.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are provided with effective support which enables them to maintain contact with their families and people who are important to them. This includes assistance with transport as well as providing supervision during the contact arrangements where appropriate. The practical support has, in some cases, contributed to increased contact with some families as well as the contact being unsupervised. Staff ensure that effective communication is maintained between themselves and young people's families and respective placing authorities. This ensures that all parties are kept informed regarding the care and well-being of young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The home provides young people with experiences to promote their skills in independent living. Young people learn how to budget, prepare and cook meals, undertake various household chores and manage their money. These acquired skills support young people to grow in confidence and suitably prepare them for their transition towards independent living.

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Quality of care

Despite the best efforts and intentions of staff, they have not been able to meet the challenging needs of all young people accommodated. As a result, this has led to the discharge of one young person. A notice has also been served to terminate another young person's placement once the staff have supported them to make a successful transition to college and an alternate placement has been found. Given these disappointments, staff make every effort to support young people to make progress. Staff are also fully committed to assisting young people to achieve their individual aspirations. This provides young people with the necessary support which also helps them to make progress in various aspects of their lives. There are good relationships established between the staff and young people. Young people spoke positively about the care and services they receive and their overall experience at living at the

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Quality of care

Staff are committed to meeting the individual day to day care needs of young people accommodated within the limitations placed on them by the challenging behaviour of some young people. Detailed placement plans are established for this purpose. As a result of one of the recommendations from the last inspection, measuring outcome planners have been introduced to identify progress achieved. These and other relevant working documents are regularly reviewed and revised to ensure that they reflect the changing needs of young people. Young people are fully supported to attend and contribute to their statutory reviews.

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Quality of care

Young people are encouraged and supported to adopt a healthy lifestyle. However, despite the best intentions of staff and external support agencies, some young people continue to engage in unhealthy risk taking behaviours such as drug taking and alcohol. In one case this has led to the hospitalisation of a young person. Young people are registered with the various local healthcare services and are fully supported to attend or make their own appointments. Young people confirmed that they are happy with these arrangements. Young people also receive specialist support and intervention to meet their specific physical, emotional and psychological needs. In addition, they are provided with advice and support regarding unhealthy risk taking lifestyles. Robust systems and practices are now established for the safe storage and administration of medication which promote the safety and well-being of young people.

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Quality of care

Staff fully support the educational aspirations of young people. All young people receive education with various placements being used. This ensures that their individual educational needs are appropriately met. The level of support that staff provide and the well-established routines and expectations within the home, has contributed to improved attendance for some young people. Staff work in close partnership with young people's educational placements and this ensures that effective communication is maintained between them and that any concerns are promptly addressed.

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Quality of care

Young people's views are actively sought about the care and services provided. This is currently achieved on an individual basis and through the completion of questionnaires. Young people's meetings have still not commenced due to the lack of interest by young people. However, the manager has plans to reintroduce these in September. Young people are aware of how to complain and feel comfortable in discussing any concerns or worries with particular staff who they get on with. No complaints have been received since the last inspection. Previous records indicate prompt action is taken to address and resolve all concerns raised. During the inspection, some amendments were made to the recording process to ensure that a more robust system is maintained.

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Quality of care

Young people now live in a home which is well maintained being clean, tidy, comfortable and well-furnished and in good decorative order. The home maintains an on going maintenance and redecoration plan. As a result a number of physical improvements have been carried out to enhance the overall living environment of young people. Young people are provided with their own bedrooms which are personalised to their individual tastes. The home also provides young people with sufficient communal space together with bathing and toilet facilities to meet their individual and collective needs. Suitable locks are provided to the bathing and toilet facilities to promote the privacy and dignity of young people. A broken lock to the bathroom was replaced during the inspection.

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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

The home has not recruited any new permanent staff since the last inspection. However, previous inspection reports confirm that robust arrangements are in place for the careful vetting and selection of new staff. These procedures ensure that new staff are suitable to care for vulnerable young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

During this inspection there was only one young person present at the home. The young person confirmed that they felt safe living at the home despite the difficulties experienced. The manager ensures that any potential or actual safeguarding issues are referred to the local Safeguarding Children Board and are responded to promptly. All staff receive appropriate training and as a result have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in this area of practice.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There have been a number of incidents where young people have gone missing from the home and, in some cases, they have been absent overnight. Concerns have been heightened within the staff team as this is now emerging into a pattern of behaviour by one young person in particular. As a result, discussions have taken place with all relevant agencies in an attempt to minimise the risks to this young person. Staff are well aware of the procedures to follow when young people go missing and take appropriate action to secure their safe return at the earliest opportunity. Young people are given every opportunity, on their return, to discuss and reflect on their decisions and actions and consider the impact of their behaviour on their own safety and well-being. The manager has updated the recording format to ensure that it records what action should be taken to prevent future incidents.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Incidents of bullying and intimidation continue to occur between two particular young people. Despite the best efforts and continual intervention of staff, they have not been able to effect a firm resolution to this aspect of behaviour. The home has now taken the decision to terminate the placement of the instigator of the bullying. As a result, the frequencies of incidents in relation to bullying and intimidation have reduced but not sufficiently for the home to review their decision. Although the recordings of incidents of bullying are reasonable, the manager made some amendments to these during the inspection to ensure that the records are comprehensive.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The manager and staff acknowledged that the home was extremely chaotic to work in particularly during July when the last inspection took place. Staff struggled to effectively meet the needs of most young people living at the home. Staff also found it difficult to manage the particular challenging and risk taking behaviours displayed despite being appropriately trained in the use of restraint and de-escalation techniques. Although detailed behaviour management plans are in place to provide staff with guidance and assistance to help young people to manage their challenging behaviour, these were not effectively implemented. Since the last inspection records indicate that there has been a slight increase in the use of physical intervention but a reduction in the number of sanctions applied. As there has now been a change in the composition of young people accommodated, the dynamics within the group has

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Safeguarding children and young people

shifted and staff are now better able to deal with the negative behaviours of some young people.

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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 is managed by a Registered Manager who has considerable experience in residential childcare and is suitably qualified. She is also the manager of another home within the company and is supported in her role by a team manager in each of the homes. This inspection took place following a full inspection in July 2013 where the overall judgement was rated as inadequate. This led to the issuing of three enforcement notices together with a further nine requirements and eight recommendations.

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Leadership and management

Since the inspection the manager has ensured that the home has complied with the three enforcement notices, the nine requirements and five of the eight recommendations. Given the difficulties experienced by the home previously, the organisation intends to review the strategic management arrangements within the home.

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Leadership and management

The manager ensures that there is a sufficient number of staff on duty throughout the day and night in order to meet the needs of young people. Since the last inspection, the manager has ensured that additional staff are on duty when required. Young people are cared for by a staff team who have a variety of experience in working with young people. Most staff have also achieved the national vocational qualification level 3 in Care with the remaining member of staff enrolled onto the relevant course. The organisation is committed to supporting staff to undertake additional training to enhance their skills, knowledge and competence. However, the range of specialist training provided so far has been somewhat limited. Although there are plans for further specialist training to be provided to staff within the next couple of months, it will still not be sufficient to meet the complex needs of young people admitted to the home.

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Leadership and management

There are early indications that staff are now receiving formal individual supervision on a regular basis. Records also show that staff continue to receive appropriate support and that their working performance is adequately monitored. In addition daily handovers and regular staff meetings are held which enable staff to raise and discuss particular issues relating to the care of young people as well as any specific working practices within the home.

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Leadership and management

There are effective internal monitoring processes in place which monitor the care provided to young people. One of the recommendations made at the last inspection concerned the external monitoring to the home where some of the checks were not being routinely undertaken. Unfortunately, the external monitoring visitor is now using out of date national minimum standards as part of his checks and is still not addressing the previous recommendation during the visits. The home's records are up to date and stored securely. During the inspection the home updated some records to ensure that they are comprehensively maintained. Staff support young people to understand the contents of some key documents relating to their care.

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Leadership and management

The home tends to admit young people on an emergency basis. It was noted at the last inspection that the home has struggled to effectively manage some aspects of the challenging and risk taking behaviours of some young people admitted to the home in such circumstances. A recommendation made at that inspection related to ensuring that the home can reasonably meet the needs of any young person admitted on an emergency placement. However, there have been no admissions since July 2013 and therefore this recommendation is reinstated.

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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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