Children's Home run by Sunflower Children Care Services in Leicestershire

Unique reference number SC449099 Inspection date 13/09/2013 Inspector Caroline Brailsford Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 05/12/2012 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 service is a privately-operated children's home, registered for up to three young people aged from 9 to 17 years. Children and young people may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. There is also a registered school attached to this home.

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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

The level of care provided to young people is adequate because of shortfalls in leadership and management and safeguarding, which are judged as adequate. The manager has not ensured that several notifications have been sent to Ofsted so that the safety and young people can be appropriately regulated. In addition, there are shortfalls in the risk assessment process in the home where the important information pertaining to individuals is not always fully captured, or a trail of the action taken in response is not clear. As a result, there are two requirements made in relation to these shortfalls that have the potential to impact on young people in the future.

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Overall effectiveness

Despite the above shortfalls the outcomes for young people are outstanding in most other aspects of their lives, including some areas of safeguarding where young people are significantly safer as a direct result of living at this home. For example, they go missing much less and their behaviour is vastly improved and they are safer as a result. In addition, the excellent progress that young people make with regard to their behaviour impacts very positively on other areas of their lives. In particular, they can now engage very positively in their education and in conversations about their health and safety, and the quality of their contact visits with significant, appropriate people in their lives has improved.

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Overall effectiveness

The views of young people are established and integral to their care and the running of the home generally and the care planning process is individual, with young people always being at its centre.

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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 that if any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall, without delay, notify the persons indicated in respect of column 2 of the table; this is in particular relation to notifications to Ofsted (Regulation 30 and Schedule 5) 18/10/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the home is conducted so as to make proper provision for the welfare of children accommodated there, this is in particular reference to risk assessments and documentation relating to young people's important welfare concerns. (Regulation 11,1(a)) 18/10/2013

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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 that the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated, this is in particular reference to the back yard wall to the left hand side of the property. (NMS 10.3)

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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 feel happy living at this home and they make excellent progress to develop a positive self-view. Life story work is used to assist young people to fully understand their backgrounds and young people complete this this at their own pace and in a way which is meaningful to them. A range of resources is available, which helps young people to make sense of who they are. In addition, young people collect memorabilia and write postcards from places they have visited for their own life story box. This increases their understanding of their life to date and also in relation to why they are living in care. Young people have clearly been well assisted to develop and make sense of their own background, allowing their self-esteem to develop and increase in a very short space of time. The greater self-confidence that young people's develop as a result of the care they receive has impacted very positively on

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Outcomes for children and young people

many other areas of their lives, for example in their behaviour, education and contacts.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make very significant progress with their education at this home. One teacher said that one young person had 'come on in leaps and bounds' with their education since being admitted to this home and that the progress was 'incomprehensible'. Teachers also reported that one young person had jumped from a speaking age of 7 to 13 in a period of 5 months. In addition, another young person who did not access education prior to coming to the home can now read and write and has made excellent progress in this area. The young people attend the home's own registered school which is also on the same site, but separate to the home itself. Care staff work at both settings, so they fully understand the educational needs of the young people. Education therefore continues throughout other times of the day, so that young people engage in learning in the evenings, weekends and on activities, for example, reading food packets when cooking and reading and understanding

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Outcomes for children and young people

signs when out on activities to increase their reading level. Where young people have struggled with attendance and progress in the past, they themselves now think that education is very important and have been helped to see their own progress. As a result, their confidence and ability to learn has significantly improved. Young people also benefit from opportunities to develop practical knowledge and life skills. This supports the development of their independence and helps them become more self- reliant and responsible.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people have made excellent progress with regard to their health. Relationships between staff and young people are extremely good, which allows for some excellent direct work where young people learn a lot about their own health. This promotes young people's understanding of health issues. Young people participate in activities which help with their own fitness and are better informed to make choices about what they should eat to promote their good health, with the assistance of the staff. Where some young people had significant issues in relation to self-harm prior to being in this placement, these have reduced to the extent that incidents are few and far between. One young person was particularly pleased about this and indicated that there has been a great reduction in their self-harming behaviour, commenting 'my self-harm has reduced so much'. In addition, health professionals stated that staff have been 'excellent' in supporting young people with

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's contacts with people important to them have also vastly improved. Young people now have regular visits with appropriate people who are important to them; whereas before this was not possible due to the young person’s vulnerability and behaviours. One relative said 'staff are sensitive and do everything they should'. Staff build on all contacts sensitively so that young people develop relationships that will be important to them for their future. Arrangements are negotiated and agreed sensitively with placing social workers and always in consultation with young people.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding . Young people receive very high standards of care and support because staff see them in an extremely positive light. In addition, staff to get to know young people well in a very short time. Staff really do value each young person for the attributes they bring. They use every opportunity to praise young people and all progress is celebrated, which enables young people to quickly develop a more positive self-view.

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Quality of care

Young people are very clear about what behaviour is expected of them because staff are consistently good at reinforcing this. This approach is part of the home’s drive to ensure that young people act responsibly and learn from their life experiences. As a result, they make excellent progress in a very short time. One young person said with regard to his behaviour 'I am a different person', demonstrating the fantastic progress that they have made. These improvements make a significant difference to other aspects of young people’s lives, for example, in their education where positive behaviour in the classroom means that they are fully open to learning. Staff consistently look at any barriers to learning and fully involve the young person to promote all areas of achievement as much as possible. One teacher reported that 'staff are proactive to help students'.

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Quality of care

Young people are fully involved in discussions about their care and also in planning for their future. Regular opportunities are provided for young people to contribute ideas and suggestions in relation to the running of the home. Young people feel listened to and changes are made because of this consultation, for example, choosing the décor in their bedroom and activities provided for them. Staff ensure that young people are fully aware of the ways they can raise any issues or concerns about their care. Young people feel very confident about this process. They also know that they can talk to a range of people in the home to resolve issues informally. This highly inclusive approach ensures that young people consistently have a voice in their own care. Where young people are not happy about important issues that are outside of the home's control, staff actively encourage them to represent their own views and are passionate about the fact that all young people

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Quality of care

Young people’s care planning is highly individualised as is the care that is delivered. The documents involved provide clear information to staff about how each need should be met. However, these documents do not always fully reflect the details of the actual care delivered. This does not impact on young people because the staff fully understand their individual needs and know what care should be delivered to meet them. This approach ensures that the quality of care is outstanding. The monitoring of the plans, progress and difficulties that young people face is excellent and multi-disciplinary working is a top priority, helping to maximise young people’s progress. For example, there are regular meetings with teachers and social workers. In addition, young people have their own care plans in which they know they are the centre. Young peoples' plans are extremely user friendly and sit alongside the full

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Quality of care

care plan. They fully reflect the young people's views about how they wish their care to be delivered, for example, their night time routine and how staff can help them to settle for bed. They also show the young person's understanding about each issue, for example why the young person thinks they are in care. High staffing ratios ensure that the care planned for young people can consistently be delivered to a very high standard. This high quality work informs future planning at the earliest opportunity so that young people can develop their full potential.

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Quality of care

Staff maximise the life chances for young people by consistently encouraging them to aim high in every aspect in their life. For example, at a recent career day, young people had the chance to speak to solicitors and lawyers as well as people from the fire service and other professions. The constant focus on promoting positives and celebrating improvements, further encourages young people to grow in their confidence. During their time at this home young people develop an eagerness to learn and develop very well in all aspects of their lives.

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Quality of care

The home’s location and design is well suited to young people's needs. The locality provides good access to a range of amenities, services and transport links. There has been progress on improving young people's bedrooms since the last inspection and each young person's own room is highly personalised. In addition their privacy is well respected and they are able to keep their possessions safe. The building is generally well maintained. However, there is a wall to the exterior of the back yard where the rendering and plaster is falling off. This looks unsightly; therefore a recommendation has been made.

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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

Young people's behaviour has significantly improved as a result of the positive approach taken by staff. There is still a high number of restraints in the home, but this reflects the complex needs of young people. All physical interventions are clearly recorded and the manager has a very good oversight of all incidents, making sure that she speaks to the young person themselves. Young people are very clear that all physical interventions are of a last resort and that staff complete them safely. They also feel well supported afterwards. Staff training in behaviour management re- enforces and further promotes the positive approach to young people. This has helped young to make progress and develop their self-esteem.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has safeguarding policies which include procedures to be followed in the event of a child protection concern. Care staff are very clear about what they must do, reporting that they would always respond immediately and discuss concerns with their manager without delay. However, this inspection identified that risk assessments are sometimes poor in relation to specific concerns about individuals. For one young person, a very significant welfare concern was not fully risk assessed. In addition, the young person's risk assessment documentation did not contain any information about how the risk should be reduced. This has the potential to impact on young people's welfare, because important information about young people could be missed and this could put them at risk. However there is no impact on young people to date. This is because the staff are knowledgeable and fully aware of what they must do to keep the young person safe. Important safeguarding information is

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Safeguarding children and young people

not always fully recorded in the young person's file and it was not clear from some of the documentation seen that important safeguarding matters are always passed to the young person's placing authority in a timely way for their consideration. However, there is evidence of liaison with the appropriate placing authorities, showing that any omissions are isolated.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Where young people have been missing and there have been concerns about their welfare, there has been an improvement in their safety as a direct result of the action staff have taken. Staff have been proactive in working with other agencies, for example social workers and the police. One young person reported with regard to the issue of going missing ‘I like it here so I don't run off any more'. Staff are also very clear that their work has significantly reduced the risks of children in their care going missing. As a result, young people are safer and staff are effective in reducing the risks presented by this behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Recruitment practices are good, which helps to protect young people from the risk of harm and abuse. All staff receive training in health and safety procedures including fire training. Weekly tests of the fire alarm system and regular fire drills help to keep young people and staff safe. A robust risk assessment process in relation to the building further helps to promote the safety of all who use it. For example, a risk assessment about the busy road to the front of the property describes clearly the steps staff should take to minimise any risk.

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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’s Statement of Purpose covers all the requirements as detailed in Schedule 1 of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2001. The document reflects correctly the work taking place and the home operates within its conditions of registration.

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Leadership and management

Progress in meeting the recommendation from the last inspection report has taken place. The young people now enjoy more personalised bedrooms of which they are very proud.

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Leadership and management

There is a procedure for notifying appropriate authorities of significant events as required under Regulation 30 of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2001. However, this system has not always been effectively implemented, so that it does not consistently help to protect young people from the risk of harm. On a number of occasions the home has failed to notify Ofsted of incidents where young people have been involved in serious accidents and illnesses which have involved hospital admissions and serious safety and welfare concerns for young people. This does not allow for Ofsted to appropriately check that the actions taken ensure that young people are protected in accordance with the Regulations. This has not yet impacted on young people; however it may do so in future if this is not put right.

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Leadership and management

The training, induction and supervision of staff are good. Staff receive appropriate training and this helps to ensure they are able to meet the needs of young people. Most staff have attained the National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in Caring for Children or an equivalent qualification. Staff training since the last full inspection has helped to keep young people safe and promote their welfare. This training has included mandatory training in first aid, safeguarding and behaviour management.

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Leadership and management

Young people and staff speak highly of the manager. One young person said the manager is 'excellent'. A staff member also said 'the manager manages really well'. Effective monitoring by the manager has taken place in the home and there have been regular visits from the provider which helps to make sure that the young people make progress. Some areas of monitoring are very robust, in that there are confidential questionnaires sent to staff, young people, parents and placing authorities. The information is scrutinised for patterns and trends and shared with other homes within the company to promote good practice. These questionnaires help the home measure the progress that young people are making, ensuring that young people experience good outcomes in many areas of their lives.

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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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