Children's Home run by Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) in Leeds

Unique reference number SC001531 Inspection date 22/10/2013 Inspector Michael McCleave Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 01/05/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is run by a charitable organisation and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people. The home provides care for young people with emotional and 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 is well managed and staff are positively motivated in their work with the young people. This is a nurturing environment where the care needs of the young people is the key focus for staff. As pointed out by a relative of a young person, 'we cannot fault the care provided for our grandson.'

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Progress

The manager has introduced changes to the way the home operates in order to bring about a more inclusive approach to ensure that everyone has ownership in the life of the home. For example, young people are now actively involved in the recruitment and selection process for new staff. This is a significant improvement to promoting equality and diversity. Additionally, the professional development of senior staff is being improved through their involvement in assisting the manager to monitor the quality of children's records.

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Progress

Since the last full inspection the manager has made good progress in completing the recommendations made at that inspection. These relate to improving the processes to be followed when a restraint is used, ensuring that the children's guide is up-to- date, enhancing the safety of young people during the recruitment process to ensure that references are checked, developing staff training and improving monitoring of records. A recommendation to ensure that children's records give a clear account of their life at the home remains to be completed. Some records indicate the tasks to be carried out but do not give a detailed evaluative summary of outcomes achieved. This limits the quality of information about the lives of the young people during their time at the home.

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Progress

The young people enjoy living at this home and clearly benefit from the support of the staff. All the young people currently have full-time places at school or college. Staff have a strong commitment to ensuring that all the young people gain value from their education. For example, one young person said, 'they pushed me to apply to college and I am glad they did otherwise I would have left school with no job to go to.'

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Progress

The home continues to ensure the safety of the young people. Where there are safeguarding concerns, the manager and staff are aware of the procedures to follow. They share relevant information with the local authority placing social workers. Some young people are currently placing themselves at risk through inappropriate association with adults in the community. The manager is actively pursuing this with the local authority safeguarding service and police.

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Progress

The manager is clear about the areas for development at the home. The day-to-day operation and professional practice are regularly monitored for quality by the management team. These measures aim to promote an increased awareness among staff in order to ensure that they evaluate the impact of their work with the young people.

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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 information about a child is recorded clearly and in a way which will be helpful to the child when they access their files now or in the future. (NMS 22.5)

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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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