Children's Home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC447645 Inspection date 18/09/2013 Inspector Judith Longden Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 20/06/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is part of a private children's care organisation and is registered to accommodate two young people with emotional and/ or behavioural difficulties.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress .

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Progress

This home was judged as adequate at the last full inspection in June 2013. Since that time the home has demonstrated improvement in the quality of care and the outcomes for young people. The home has addressed and met the six requirements made at the previous inspection. As a result the safety of young people and management of the home has improved.

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Progress

The home was required to submit reports carried out in respect of Regulation 33 and reviews in respect of Regulation 34. These are now submitted regularly to Ofsted as required. These requirements are met and as a result the care and welfare of young people is monitored.

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Progress

In addition the home was required to revise it's Statement of Purpose. This has been updated and now provides full and accurate information. This means staff, young people and the placing authority are clear about the services provided by the home.

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Progress

A further requirement was made in relation to the recording and safe disposal of medication. Medication is marked with a date of opening and a new recording format has been introduced to ensure all medicines are checked for dates of opening and expiry and disposed of appropriately. This ensures medication is safe for young people to use.

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Progress

A requirement was made to review the use of door alarms. The home has detailed risk assessments in place for the use of door alarms. These have been regularly reviewed with young people, placing authorities and with other agencies as part of a comprehensive risk management strategy to reduce the number of incidents of young people missing from the home. Some young people have now moved to other placements and the use of door alarms has been reviewed and as a result they are no longer used. This will again be reviewed when new young people come to the home and their use will be dependent on the needs of young people.

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Progress

A requirement was made to ensure staff are suitably deployed, skilled and trained to meet the needs of young people. The number and deployment of staff is reviewed alongside other strategies such as the use of door alarms in order to minimise the risk of young people going missing. Staff are trained in safeguarding and issues of self harm and have attended workshops on missing from home organised by the local police. The majority of staff have attended training on child sexual exploitation and the remaining staff are booked on another course to be held later this year. This means staff receive sufficient training to enable them to meet the needs of young people.

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Progress

Staff have identified the learning from recent training and their experiences in the home and are more aware of triggers to behaviour and how to be more proactive. This has led to an improvement in relationships and the quality of care provided.

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Progress

The home works closely with other agencies to protect young people as far as possible when they go missing. A range of risk assessments are in place that highlight triggers for absence and the particular vulnerabilities of young people. These are reviewed with other agencies following every episode of absence in order to re-assess the risk and identify the best options for keeping young people safe, for example the use of structured and supervised activities with staff and friends. When young people are missing the home follows procedures and staff actively look for young people and try to maintain telephone contact. Young people are responded to positively on their return. Link work sessions with their key worker identify triggers for that particular period of absence and staff develop strategies with the young person to prevent re-occurrence. A professional said, 'we couldn’t have asked for more in terms of support for young people missing. Other places are now judged by

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Progress

The home has made good progress in relation to young people's education. All young people have been receiving full time education. One young person had not been in education for 18 months but since coming to the home has gained a number of qualifications. Contact with family members has also improved since the last inspection.

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Progress

No requirements or recommendations are made as a result of this inspection.

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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