Hazeldene

Hazeldene Inspection report for residential family centre

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Unique reference number SC399219 Inspection date 31/07/2013 Inspector Andrew Hewston Type of inspection Full

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Setting address 20 Corton Road, LOWESTOFT, Suffolk, NR32 4PL

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Telephone number 01502 560344 Email daniel.f-p@break-charity.org Registered person Break Registered manager Carole Anne Childs Responsible individual Hilary Bridget Richards Date of last inspection 18/05/2010 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 centre provides accommodation and assessment for up to four families. A community based assessment team is also based on the premises. The unit forms part of a private organisation.

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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 centre is highly responsive to the needs of families and staff effectively assesses parents’ abilities to care for their children. Families are fully involved in their assessment; this is strongly encouraged by the staff team. Parents are supported in developing their parenting skills through well-presented training sessions. Recommendations regarding children's futures are based on comprehensive and rigorous evidence.

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Overall effectiveness

Families feel safe within the centre and staff are proactive in supporting families and their safety. Good links are in place with families social workers although greater communication needs to be developed with the Local Safeguarding Children Board. Although the current safeguarding arrangements strongly support the safety of children this does not fully fall in line with regulatory expectations. Greater cross boarder arrangements for reporting of safeguarding issues could further support the safety of children.

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Overall effectiveness

The centre's environment provides a homely place for families to live. Observational techniques are fully understood by families and are not intrusive; balancing the need for evidence of parenting skills with families’ privacy. Family’s well-being is supported through the promotion of health services and encouraging parents to be involved with additional external groups. Parents are positive about the relationships that are in place between themselves and the staff team.

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Overall effectiveness

The centre is well managed and a skilled and professional staff team work consistently well with the families. Records are well maintained and understood by both staff and parents. There is a good working relationship between the centre and a range of external professionals working with the families. Complaints systems are fair but recording of outcomes does not always provide clarity. Incidents of concern are dealt with appropriately. However, notification of such events is not routinely passed to Ofsted as required.

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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, Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2002) ensure the prompt referral to the local authority in whose area the residential family centre is situated, of any allegations of abuse or neglect affecting any child accommodated in the residential family centre (Regulation 12(2) (b)) 14/11/2013

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure parents receive prompt feedback on any concerns or complaints raised (NMS 2.4)  ensure there is an effective system in place to notify the appropriate authorities within 24 hours of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with Regulation 26 (NMS 21.1)

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Quality of assessment

Assessment processes are consistently strong and centre on the needs of the child and how these are able to be promoted by the parent. Placement planning is thorough and covers a good range of areas relating to the care of children alongside the assessment of parenting capacity. The assessment process includes a high awareness of the expectations of the placing authority, to ensure that necessary information is available for court decisions to be made following the assessment. A social worker states that the centre is 'excellent at making sure that the information required is fully responded to.'

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Quality of assessment

The staff team consult extensively with the external professionals throughout the assessment process, including social workers and health professionals. This ensures that a comprehensive view of the parents and their care of the children is developed. Parents’ views are sought consistently as part of both the planning of the placement and the whole assessment process. This continual consultation is effective in both developing and informing the final assessment report.

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Quality of assessment

Planning throughout the placement and the assessment reports consider the training and assistance that is given to families. This allows reports to give a clear awareness of the support that families have needed. Reports are objective and evidenced based with a clear focus on parents’ strengths, areas of necessary development, on-going risks, and future support structures that would further enhance the care of the child.

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Quality of assessment

Initial planning takes into consideration the range of information that is available from differing sources from the point of admission. This includes areas such as pre- birth assessments, family histories, referral and social work documentation. Plans are then reviewed on a regular basis by experienced and suitably trained staff who have a strong awareness of the assessment process. This ensures that planning is linked to the most up-to-date information regarding the family and the care of the child.

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Quality of assessment

The centre uses a good range of assessment tools including the parenting assessment manual and the Solihull approach. These allow for visual awareness of any gaps that there may be in the knowledge of families relating to the care of their children. Such an approach helps to support those families where individuals may experience some learning difficulties. Assessments are thoroughly grounded within the Working Together guidance.

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Quality of assessment

Surveillance within the centre is minimal and responsive to both the length of time that families have been in residence and their risk assessments. It does not intrude on the privacy of the parents and children. Parents are fully aware of when surveillance is being completed because it is primarily based on physical observation rather than any reliance on technological recordings.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

The quality of the care, support and guidance is good .

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Quality of care, support and guidance

The care of children and their families is central to the service that is being provided within the centre. This is completed from prior to families’ admission up until the point that they leave.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

The environment throughout the centre is of a high quality. Bedroom areas are spacious and suitably decorated and furnished. Parents state that the beds are 'extremely comfortable, which is a shame when you have to keep on getting up.' Each family has their own kitchen areas which are appropriately resourced. All family areas afford an appropriate level of privacy, while being accessible for observational tasks. Communal areas are of sufficient size that all families can meet together. They are comfortable and have a good range of facilities for keeping children active and occupied. A large and well-tended garden offers a good range of activities for children as well as an area for families to relax outside.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

Relationships between families and staff are of an extremely high standard and based on mutual respect. Families state that they get on really well with the staff team and they can raise issues with all staff members whenever they occur. Consultation with families is strong through a good range of discussion forums. Families are encouraged to be involved with all levels of recordings and planning. Weekly reviews of assessments are well presented and fully allow families to respond to or challenge records made. Monthly meetings for all families are effective in highlighting current issues within the centre, although records do not always show the management response to issues raised during the meetings.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

A good range of external support groups are promoted to families through discussions with staff or on the families' notice board. These allow parents to become involved with local groups to further enhance their parenting skills or to gain additional advice from those not connected with the centre. A wide variety of internal support sessions are available for families to help to develop skills or parents’ emotional resilience. These are able to be presented through a range of formats including discussions, practical sessions or DVDs, depending on the needs of the families. Plans and on-going assessments inform the nature and development of sessions that are presented by the staff.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

Healthy lifestyles are promoted within the centre. Strong links are in place with local health professionals, including regular health visitors, who attend the centre as well as being available within local surgeries. All necessary medical consents are obtained at the point of admission and arrangements for the administration of medications are made clear to all families. Medication cabinets are available within each family’s kitchen area to promote families independence with regard to medication. Such arrangements are positive and are in place with necessary risk assessments. The centre has a bicycle available for families to use if they need to visit the local area to promote their independence in a healthy way.

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Safeguarding children and parents

The service is adequate at keeping children and parents safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Families feel safe within the centre and children's welfare is paramount throughout the placement period. Risk assessments are developed from the point of families’ admissions, relating to a wide range of possible concerning issues, including drug, alcohol, family and psychological issues. Risk assessments form a part of the placement planning and also inform practice within the centre as well as directing possible future areas of work and support.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Staff are fully trained in safeguarding issues and there are appropriate policies in place that supports children's and adult's safety. Staff are highly responsive to areas of concern that have been raised or observed, quickly taking all necessary actions to ensure the safety of individuals. Recordings of concerns or issues are completed well and examined by the management team swiftly. The centre is placed close to the boarder of Suffolk yet all placements come from Norfolk and are supported by Norfolk social workers. Reporting of safeguarding concerns is primarily through individual families’ social workers and Norfolk’s safeguarding team. Although this supports families and children very well, due to the social workers direct awareness of the placements and issues relating to them, it negates the expectations of initial communication with the Local Safeguarding Children Board with Suffolk. This could potentially affect the safety of children and

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Safeguarding children and parents

adults due to the current system not being fully in line with legislation procedures. However, there is no evidence of this negatively impacting on the service to date.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Recruitment processes are strong and ensure that all staff are fully checked prior to working with families. This is further enhanced by a robust induction period for staff that ensures the most appropriate staff are working with the families.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Health and safety checks are completed on a regular basis and ensure the safety of both the families and the staff team.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the residential family centre are good .

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Leadership and management

The centre is effectively managed by qualified and experienced team. The staff group is made up of a range of suitably skilled and qualified professionals, who offer a multidisciplinary approach to assessment and support of families. The Statement of Purpose gives a clear picture of the centre and the objectives that it works towards. A summarised version of this is provided to families, including information regarding access to external bodies.

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Leadership and management

The centre has a development plan in place that examines areas to move forward with. There is strong monitoring of records and systems that is completed on a monthly basis. These ensure that the management team have a clear awareness of current issues within the centre. There is a consistent expectation of improvement.

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Leadership and management

All staff feel well supported and supervision arrangements are robust, with any missed meeting being picked up swiftly. Staff state that supervisions are positive meetings and allow practice development. This is also true of staff team meetings, where a range of issues are discussed, including the development of practices to support the differing needs of families. Staffing of the centre is appropriate with little use of agency staffing to ensure a consistency in personnel for the families. A good range of training experiences are completed by staff and management support individual staff interests and professional development including social pedagogy and advanced social attachment theory. No concerns have been raised regarding the centre’s financial viability.

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Leadership and management

Monthly external monitoring visits are sufficiently thorough and give a good awareness of the running of the home and any particular issues that affect its running. They show that regular consultation is completed with the resident families. The centre notifies the appropriate agencies when an incident of concern has been identified. However, there have been times where Ofsted were not informed of significant events that require formal notification. Whilst this has had no detrimental impact on the safety and welfare of young people and their families, Ofsted, as the regulator of this service, is not able to assess the level of potential risk between inspections. Issues that have not been notified to Ofsted have been, however, fully examined by placing social workers and safeguarding boards to ensure family members safety.

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Leadership and management

There were two requirements and six recommendations made at the last inspection to develop practice. All of these have been responded to and met; including the development of a policy relating to child protection and that local safeguarding procedures are available within the home. Whilst there is further work to develop this policy, practice remains strong and focused on the safety and welfare of young people. Placement plans are now in place for all families and these include risk assessments that are regularly reviewed.

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Leadership and management

Improvements in the centre now ensure that there is a meeting room that families are able to use in private and families fully utilise the medication cabinets within the kitchen areas. The recruitment process now clearly shows that all necessary checks are completed on all staff prior to starting at the home and necessary records are examined on a monthly basis.

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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 inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of residential family centres.

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